John Henry
Member
I spent an afternoon last week in NYC ogling Barnack Leicas and a few other rangefinders. First stop was B&H, the bustling, all-things-photographic emporium just down the street from Penn Station. No Barnacks in the used department but I did see that the GS645S that I sold to them about a year ago was still on the shelf. I guess that there's not a lot of demand for fixed-lens, medium format rangefinders these days.
On my way out, I stopped for a look at a new Rollei RF with 40mm sonnar. I know that the camera is really a Bessa R2 but the viewfinder with the 40 framelines is very nice; very bright with lots of eye relief. But it's a thousand dollar kit and that seems a bit much. Does to me, anyway.
From B&H, it is a 20 minute walk to Photovillage on lower Broadway. Rich Pinto's elegant shop had plenty of Leica Ms to look at including a very nice M4-2 for $750 that tempted me but not a lot of Barnack stuff. one of the criticisms of the Barnacks seems to be the squinty, little viewfinder. Even though I wear contacts I had a difficult time using the viewfinder. For specs wearers it would be impossible. Maybe people had better eyesight when these cameras were first designed. Or smaller eyes. But then Rich introduced me to the CV brightline finder. What a difference! Super bright, bold lines with plenty of eye relief. The downside, beside the extra expense, is that it makes the compact Barnack that much less compact. I suppose that you can't have it all. I did get my hands on the basic Bessa R with the color Skopar 35mm lens. I thought that the camera and lens were better built than a lot of the reports I've read to the contrary would have it. At $399 for the kit, it has got to be one of the all-time best buys in 35mm cameras.
It's just a short walk from Photovillage over to Tamarkin's on Park Avenue [and then up 19 floors to the shop]. Lots of Barnacks here including a few IIIg s. Tamarkin's stuff all appears to be in really good shape and ready to go. I was especially taken with a nice looking IIf for $299 but wonder about the lack of slow shutter speeds. I was less intrigued by the much more expensive IIIg. Though the IIIg viewfinder shows bright framelines for the 50mm and [I think] 75, it's just about as squinty as the IIIc/f.
That was about it for an afternoon of camera looking in the Big Apple. A walk back to B&H for a brick of film that I forgot to get on my first stop there and then back to Penn Station to jostle with commuters for a seat on the 5:23 back to New Jersey. There are worse ways to waste time.
On my way out, I stopped for a look at a new Rollei RF with 40mm sonnar. I know that the camera is really a Bessa R2 but the viewfinder with the 40 framelines is very nice; very bright with lots of eye relief. But it's a thousand dollar kit and that seems a bit much. Does to me, anyway.
From B&H, it is a 20 minute walk to Photovillage on lower Broadway. Rich Pinto's elegant shop had plenty of Leica Ms to look at including a very nice M4-2 for $750 that tempted me but not a lot of Barnack stuff. one of the criticisms of the Barnacks seems to be the squinty, little viewfinder. Even though I wear contacts I had a difficult time using the viewfinder. For specs wearers it would be impossible. Maybe people had better eyesight when these cameras were first designed. Or smaller eyes. But then Rich introduced me to the CV brightline finder. What a difference! Super bright, bold lines with plenty of eye relief. The downside, beside the extra expense, is that it makes the compact Barnack that much less compact. I suppose that you can't have it all. I did get my hands on the basic Bessa R with the color Skopar 35mm lens. I thought that the camera and lens were better built than a lot of the reports I've read to the contrary would have it. At $399 for the kit, it has got to be one of the all-time best buys in 35mm cameras.
It's just a short walk from Photovillage over to Tamarkin's on Park Avenue [and then up 19 floors to the shop]. Lots of Barnacks here including a few IIIg s. Tamarkin's stuff all appears to be in really good shape and ready to go. I was especially taken with a nice looking IIf for $299 but wonder about the lack of slow shutter speeds. I was less intrigued by the much more expensive IIIg. Though the IIIg viewfinder shows bright framelines for the 50mm and [I think] 75, it's just about as squinty as the IIIc/f.
That was about it for an afternoon of camera looking in the Big Apple. A walk back to B&H for a brick of film that I forgot to get on my first stop there and then back to Penn Station to jostle with commuters for a seat on the 5:23 back to New Jersey. There are worse ways to waste time.
