Kodak Retina IIa

[lxmike]

Iv'e owned various rangefinders in the past, Leica CL, IIIa, Olympus 35 RC, SP, RD, XA, Retinette IIb, Minox GL, GT, the list is too long and punctuated with a few regrets, regarding some that have came and gone but I do not think I was prepared for the beauty of the Retina IIa, what a joy to look at and hold. A few ergonomic anomalies but all in all a beautifull beast indeed. What was even more surprising, compared to my other cameras past and present, is how quiet the leaf shutter is, a real sweet sound. I'm more than happy to say the least

 

[oftheherd]

Never had one, but I don't think I have ever seen a post here at RFF that that didn't speak well of that camera. I'm curious what you mean by ergonomic issues. If you continue to like this camera, you might want to consider the Welta Weltini. I don't know of any ergonomic issue with it. Just a pleasure to use.

If you want a little smaller and don't need the RF, the Welti is smaller and lighter.

 

[former member]

Which lens do you have on the IIa? Most common is the 50mm F2 Xenon, which is a fine lens.

Some "features", when the film counter gets to "1" (countdown), the lever advance will lock-up until you manually advance the counter to start a new roll. The focus must be set to Infinity to fold the camera. The lever advance is a real "trick" to get back onto the camera, if you ever pop the top to clean the viewfinder.

 

[lxmike]

just one issue really, the position of the focus slider/knob is not quite to my liking apart from that I'm happy with the quirks of the Retina IIa as I have owned other retinettes before.

 

[lxmike]

One question Brian, the front ring of the xenon lens where the lens nomclature is written is milled in a way that allows you to grip and turn it also it seems to allow the front to screw out. Is this mormal

regards Mike

 

[mh2000]

I don't mind the focusing much, but I hate how you have to hold the camera and the position of the shutter release... but yeah, I love the camera and just brace however I can.