Looking for advice on first RF

[goodrich62]

I first shot an RF in the mid to late 50's. My father had one that he got in the service not even sure now what kind but have very fond memories of him with his RF me with my brownie going shooting and coming home and developing the film in our pantry/darkroom.
Anyhow I got seriously back into photography about 6 years ago and went form a Minolta SLR, Nikon D70 now a D200. I miss not only the feel of the RF but also look of the shots and developing. So I'm looking for a RF not necessarily for every day shooting but for special stuff and to re-discover the joy.
I don't mind technology so I would Like at least fair to good metering and a budget that put the Leica out of my range $700 is about my tops for a body and good all round lens to start.
I also would be interested in MF RF I've seen some in the classified for around my max price point. Is the operating expenses that much greater for MF? What other issues might I run into with MF?
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks
Rich

 

[gb hill]

Hi Rich and welcome to RFF. I think for that price range one of the Bessa cameras would suit you just fine. Have you been to Camera Quest website?

 

[cmedin]

Medium format is wonderful. As for operating expenses... film isn't that expensive, the only trouble you might have is if you want to do color as many pro labs have shut down and depending on where you live you might need to mail the film off. Black and white, medium format all the way, easy to dev at home and print and/or scan.

When talking about Leicas, don't forget the screw mount ones which are well under your max budget (figure $300-400 for a good setup) and are wonderful to shoot with if you're into the split rangefinder/viewfinder. Obviously you'd need to add a meter since none of them have them built in.

Back to medium format, you could easily score a good Fuji setup within your budget. But again, are you planning on developing/printing/scanning on your own? If not, then medium format might be a big hassle and not very economical for you.

 

[goodrich62]

Thanks gb an other question please

Thanks gb an other question please

Hi Rich and welcome to RFF. I think for that price range one of the Bessa cameras would suit you just fine. Have you been to Camera Quest website?

Thanks,
I've spent a lot of time at Camera Quest great site. Although a new R2 or 4 are out of my range some of the used stuff looks good.
I see you have a R and a L, both screwmount I believe, do you see any advantage for the screw mount vs the M or the other way?
Thanks
Rich

 

[goodrich62]

Thanks Cmedin

Thanks Cmedin

Back to medium format, you could easily score a good Fuji setup within your budget. But again, are you planning on developing/printing/scanning on your own? If not, then medium format might be a big hassle and not very economical for you.

Thanks,
The only thing I worry about with Fuji is the fixed lens. I have no one style and not being able to change lens for wide, normal, macro concerns me. If I knew I was only going to use it for one style I'd be more open but when I look at my SLR lens collection they range from 18 mm for wide to 500 for Birding with a 60mm and 180mm macro for good measure and I use them all.
I know I won't use the RF for all styles but I would like to cover wide to normal and maybe macro. Normal to start.
Do you have any thoughts on the Bronica 645's
Rich

 

[photophorous]

Considering that you've been using a DSLR, you might prefer one of the Bessa R#A models. The A means it has an aperture priority mode. I have the R2A and I love it. I also have the 35/2.5 PII lens and I can highly recommend it also. The 35/2.5 Color Skopar Classic is the same optically and cheaper, so it would be a good choice too. Keep an eye on the classifieds and you should have no trouble getting this set up with in your price range. A Bessa R with would be a cheaper alternative, and you could even afford one of the few remaining new ones at Camera Quest.

Paul

 

[gb hill]

Thanks,
I've spent a lot of time at Camera Quest great site. Although a new R2 or 4 are out of my range some of the used stuff looks good.
I see you have a R and a L, both screwmount I believe, do you see any advantage for the screw mount vs the M or the other way?
Thanks
Rich

The biggest advantage in the screwmounts Rich is the price. I really can't tell you anything about the m-mount because I have not had one. One nice advantage to a R2a,R3a would be that with an adapter you can use SM lenses and on my R I'm limited to SM lenses only. The up side is that Leica, Voigtlander as well as Canon makes some impressive glass. I have some russian lenses but these can be a hit or miss. The 35/2.5 color skopar has become my primary lense for my bessa R and I love it. The Vf is very clear and with the ttl metering it's a great camera. I would think that with a $700 budget you could get a nice RF as well as a MF camera. There is a sticky on the Canon RF forum that will give you a good discription on Canon SM lenses. MOF i'll put it right here. Oh, and you don't wan't to use the RF to shoot macro.

Canon Lens Price & Info Guide - updated again

 

[cmedin]

Thanks,
The only thing I worry about with Fuji is the fixed lens. I have no one style and not being able to change lens for wide, normal, macro concerns me. If I knew I was only going to use it for one style I'd be more open but when I look at my SLR lens collection they range from 18 mm for wide to 500 for Birding with a 60mm and 180mm macro for good measure and I use them all.
I know I won't use the RF for all styles but I would like to cover wide to normal and maybe macro. Normal to start.
Do you have any thoughts on the Bronica 645's
Rich

Hi Rich,

You are right in that the fixed lens can be somewhat restrictive at times for most. I'm used to walking around with a single prime on whatever camera I'm carrying so it never really bothered me though.

As for the Bronica, if you're talking about the rangefinder 645 I have no personal experience with it but have heard nothing but praise from the owners here.

RF for macro can be difficult due to parallax issues.

A medium format RF body + a few lenses can get pretty big and heavy. If you have a $700 budget you can do what I did and get a a Fuji RF for a relatively compact carry camera and an RB67 for SLR-type work.

 

[goodrich62]

The biggest advantage in the screwmounts Rich is the price. I really can't tell you anything about the m-mount because I have not had one. One nice advantage to a R2a,R3a would be that with an adapter you can use SM lenses and on my R I'm limited to SM lenses only. The up side is that Leica, Voigtlander as well as Canon makes some impressive glass. I have some russian lenses but these can be a hit or miss. The 35/2.5 color skopar has become my primary lense for my bessa R and I love it. The Vf is very clear and with the ttl metering it's a great camera. I would think that with a $700 budget you could get a nice RF as well as a MF camera. There is a sticky on the Canon RF forum that will give you a good discription on Canon SM lenses. MOF i'll put it right here. Oh, and you don't wan't to use the RF to shoot macro.

Canon Lens Price & Info Guide - updated again

Thanks,
I'm learninjg about the macro stuff but Ive got that covered with my slr and macro lenses most times with a tripod so that was a shot in the dark.
I'm leaning more towards the 35mm RFs and really like what I see or the Bessa.

 

[goodrich62]

Hi Rich,

You are right in that the fixed lens can be somewhat restrictive at times for most. I'm used to walking around with a single prime on whatever camera I'm carrying so it never really bothered me though.

As for the Bronica, if you're talking about the rangefinder 645 I have no personal experience with it but have heard nothing but praise from the owners here.

RF for macro can be difficult due to parallax issues.

A medium format RF body + a few lenses can get pretty big and heavy. If you have a $700 budget you can do what I did and get a a Fuji RF for a relatively compact carry camera and an RB67 for SLR-type work.

Cmedin,
Thanks for the tip on macro it makes sence but I've that covered in the slr world. I am starting to lean to the 35mm altough the MF has a lot to offer and my local shop still develops it, untill I set up a dark room. The big pain for me is a scanner there are a lot of good 35mm scanners at reasonable prices but only a few for MF and they cost a lot. In this day and age not having availability to electonic versions
is not something I can easily give up

 

[goodrich62]

Considering that you've been using a DSLR, you might prefer one of the Bessa R#A models. The A means it has an aperture priority mode. I have the R2A and I love it. I also have the 35/2.5 PII lens and I can highly recommend it also. The 35/2.5 Color Skopar Classic is the same optically and cheaper, so it would be a good choice too. Keep an eye on the classifieds and you should have no trouble getting this set up with in your price range. A Bessa R with would be a cheaper alternative, and you could even afford one of the few remaining new ones at Camera Quest.

Paul

Paul,
Thanks. I'm leaning more and more toward Bessa. As long as the A does not cost too much more and I can shoot manual I may go that way, but even with my slr I shoot a lot of manual exposure. It's just the way I learned almost 40

 

[shadowfox]

The biggest advantage in the screwmounts Rich is the price. I really can't tell you anything about the m-mount because I have not had one. One nice advantage to a R2a,R3a would be that with an adapter you can use SM lenses and on my R I'm limited to SM lenses only. The up side is that Leica, Voigtlander as well as Canon makes some impressive glass. I have some russian lenses but these can be a hit or miss. The 35/2.5 color skopar has become my primary lense for my bessa R and I love it. The Vf is very clear and with the ttl metering it's a great camera. I would think that with a $700 budget you could get a nice RF as well as a MF camera. There is a sticky on the Canon RF forum that will give you a good discription on Canon SM lenses. MOF i'll put it right here. Oh, and you don't wan't to use the RF to shoot macro.

Canon Lens Price & Info Guide - updated again

gb, I just want to add that with screwmounts, you have at your disposal older lenses that will give you that vintage look (I love the pictures I've seen from the Summar).

But I guess if you go with M-mount, you can always use the LTM adapter.