Leica CL vs. Bessa R2

I'm awaiting my R3a and 40mm noctilux at the moment, was going to get another M body but someone pipped me to the post on a M4-P so decided to get bessa setup for near enough the same price...going to run a few films through it this weekend along with my CL..will be interesting...
 
Congrats on the CL! I could never get used to the strap attachments on the (wrong) side, so I got a Luigi 1/2 case (used) so now the camera hangs normally and is protected from bumps.
 
I buy mostly used cameras, but concerns over reliability and repair
prompted me to choose a brand new Bessa R2 over a used Leica CL.

"Excelsior, you fathead!"
-Chris-
 
ampguy said:
I would just consider paying ~$100 more and getting an m4-2/p and not hassling with the limitations of these baby rf's.

My drooling and fondling, er, I mean research, is making me lean in this direction myself after examining the same question. Albeit with a longer range time table...

My choice, considering the question posed, would be the Bessa. That's from the perspective of one who ain't got eather and on insuficfent fondling and a lot of lurking and shear speculation. Then again, how many things have we all bought (or married...) from that perspective? It's a camera. You can sell it and buy the other one.

Cold, calculating, scientific, objectivity points to the obvious choice, all things considered (who, what, when, where I photograph and what I do or should do with the images, etc.) leads to one unmistakeable conclusion: my beer money sould be invested in an 4/3 system digital SLR.

I should also lose weight, excercise more, go to church, save money, stop watching Lions games, and avoid internet porn.
 
ghost said:
cost.

with so many reports about meters and shutters going bad, i just don't trust the cl. bessa r2 all the way.
You are doing the right thing. The CL are great cameras, but when the electroncs fail, you can't get it fixed. The batteries are no longer available. Go with the Bessa series and sleep well.
 
Disregarding the specific models mentioned...the choice for a first RF camera is what's important here.
Is a 30 year old camera that may or may not need service a better choice than something relatively new and in known working order?
 
I've had good luck so far repairing CL, so before giving your dead CL to a kid as a toy or something, send me an email. I can maybe tell you how to fix it, or I can fix it or at least do something with the parts to save others..
Now that I know my way around in them, they aren't so bad at all, it's just they are different from what the normal camera tech is used to I guess.

Problems I've seen so far:
Meter! The wires can be corroded from dead battery left in too long, the corrosion goes all the way from the battery to the circuit board, so the wire(s) have to be replaced. Not too hard.
The meter movement itself tends to stick due to little pads on the ends of the needle's travel stops. Once that's gone, the meter often is healed.
Also the meter movement is sort of massive compared to the frail way it is mounted on pivots, the whole meter movement is rotated by pushrods by the shutter speed dial. A good drop can knock the meter out of it's pivots. Not too hard to put back.

The shutter can seem to fail if the meter cell arm gets out of whack.. there is a soft plate with not enough fastners in it for my tastes that holds the meter arm hinge pin.. So the arm can get un hinged- the shutter can't release unless the arm is working right.

There is only one right way to get all the gears back together in the advance/winding geartrain, but it's not too hard to deduce.

The circuit board is quite simple and tough, pure ceramic and gold, so not too hard to keep alive..

Remember, the R is sort of derived from the CL, especially the finder. The whacky mechanical meter jazz in the cl has been replaced by a sort of annoying led display, and the silk shutter by an off-the-shelf metal one. Both great cameras, comparing them is like comparing a 1971 car to a 1999 one..
 
I have both cameras, and after using them both for a number of years, I prefer the R2, if you have bigger hands its easier to hold, and I don't like the CL neck strap attachment at the end of the camera. The R2 is easier to load and rewind. Personally I feel that the now thirty year old CL,s are less likely to be reliable, if you are lucky enough to be confident about taking the thing to bits like clintock,fine, if not buy an R2.
P.S. I like the finder read out in the R2 !!
 
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