GAS attack up the yin yang

[Avotius]

I am so desperate to get my leica 35mm asph on a body to do some shooting but a leica body is probably a year or more away because they are so bloody expensive so I am looking for a cheap alternative to hold me over untill then.

I see the Bessa R2 is M mount but since I know nothing about CV I would like to call on anyone out there to tell me about this cameras reliability. Also I would like to know about the framelines with a 35mm lens. I wear glasses and would need to be able to see the 35mm framelines with them on and so on.

Also what is the going rate for one of these on ebay or something like that, I have seen some auctions but not really sure what to bid, plus I dont want to spend 500 some dollars on a camera that I only want to use for a short time then turn into my backup.

 

[pvdhaar]

Get a Bessa-T. $185 at cameraquest. Cheaper second hand..

 

[Avotius]

Get a Bessa-T. $185 at cameraquest. Cheaper second hand..

eh...kinda looking for something that has framelines so I dont have to spend even more money to get a 35 viewfinder thing too

 

[kully]

One thread down is about my buying my R2a.

I wear glasses with a high diopter correction and I can see the 35mm frame lines fine.

Reliability, I was concerned about this as well - but searching a lot I found many happy CV Bessa owners.

This morning I (almost) cacked my undies when I dropped my one day old R2a onto the hard work floor from about 5' up (I do this with all my cameras, it seems). I checked it over, looked at the rangefinder patch alignment - all seemed fine. Don't take this anecdote as anything though - it may fall to bits on the way home.

 

[rover]

Bessas are fine cameras. If you can find a good R2 for a fair price you won't put too much of your Leica savings on the line and you will be able to enjoy that great lens for the next year instead of looking at it on a shelf.

 

[Avotius]

Bessas are fine cameras. If you can find a good R2 for a fair price you won't put too much of your Leica savings on the line and you will be able to enjoy that great lens for the next year instead of looking at it on a shelf.

yeah, I need to get that thing out of the dry box and on a body, how much should a good r2 cost?

 

[mr_phillip]

You can expect to pay around $200 for a used R2 (maybe a little more from a dealer), if you find one for less then you get to feel smug all day long 🙂

From my own experience, the 35mm lines are perfectly visible while wearing glasses, and build/reliability of these cameras is really good. It'll make for a great little backup when you finally get that Leica too.

 

[Avotius]

awsome, thats exactly what I wanted to know, thanks everyone