PhotoEd
Newbie
Hello everyone!
I am a Dutch photog that just got his Bessa R3a. I must say that I like the camera a lot. I'm not completely new to rangefinders because in the past I owned several Leicas (M6, M4-2, CL), Konica Hexars, a Minolta CLe and a Contax G2. Not all at once, but nicely spaced one after the other. With every camera I felt there was something missing so that's why I moved along in my quest for the perfect camera... After a lot of money spent and 38 cameras further (I know, a good photo is not because what's between your fingers, it's what is between your ears....) I finally drew the conclusion that it is non-existend. After my Rolleiflex 2.8GX was stolen late last year, I moved back to 35mm film. I bought some nice Canon FD gear on eBay and for the first time in 6 years I just bought a Rangefinder camera again.
Now about that R3a. It's a nice camera, feels okay, looks okay and has a great viewfinder. Very handy to have an automatic shutter. In fact, this was the only thing I missed in my M6. For this reason I sold my M6 and bought a Contax G2 some 7 years ago. I figured this setup was more up to speed to catch my fast moving children. Regret ever since.... :bang:
Auto focus is something that is just not my cup of tea.
The viewfinder of the R3a is beautiful, but I don't like the 40mm framelines (anyone interested in buying a brand new 40/1.4 Nokton with hood?). They're just too tight. The 50mm and 75mm are the lenses best for this viewfinder/camera. So I bought a Leica M-50/2.8 and the combination is almost perfect. The Elmar cannot be fully retracted in the body at infinity; it can at the closest focus setting up to approx. 0.8m. There is no need to worry of damaging the shutter, because the back side of the lens will rest against a little ridge in the camera. With the 50mm you really can focus and frame with both eyes open and the frame lines seem to float in space this way. Very nice!
The feel of the camera is just okay. The film advance lever has a little bit of play, the camera back closes without a positive "click", the strap lugs are wrongly placed and the rewind lever doesn't look and feel like it will live forever. For the rest it is a lovely camera for an incredible price.
So, after walking around with my new rangefinder in a far and foreign city I feel like I just came home again.... Now thinking about how to expand this set-up. Would the R3a be accurate enough to focus the new 75/2.0 APO-Summicron anyone knows?
Edwin
I am a Dutch photog that just got his Bessa R3a. I must say that I like the camera a lot. I'm not completely new to rangefinders because in the past I owned several Leicas (M6, M4-2, CL), Konica Hexars, a Minolta CLe and a Contax G2. Not all at once, but nicely spaced one after the other. With every camera I felt there was something missing so that's why I moved along in my quest for the perfect camera... After a lot of money spent and 38 cameras further (I know, a good photo is not because what's between your fingers, it's what is between your ears....) I finally drew the conclusion that it is non-existend. After my Rolleiflex 2.8GX was stolen late last year, I moved back to 35mm film. I bought some nice Canon FD gear on eBay and for the first time in 6 years I just bought a Rangefinder camera again.
Now about that R3a. It's a nice camera, feels okay, looks okay and has a great viewfinder. Very handy to have an automatic shutter. In fact, this was the only thing I missed in my M6. For this reason I sold my M6 and bought a Contax G2 some 7 years ago. I figured this setup was more up to speed to catch my fast moving children. Regret ever since.... :bang:
Auto focus is something that is just not my cup of tea.
The viewfinder of the R3a is beautiful, but I don't like the 40mm framelines (anyone interested in buying a brand new 40/1.4 Nokton with hood?). They're just too tight. The 50mm and 75mm are the lenses best for this viewfinder/camera. So I bought a Leica M-50/2.8 and the combination is almost perfect. The Elmar cannot be fully retracted in the body at infinity; it can at the closest focus setting up to approx. 0.8m. There is no need to worry of damaging the shutter, because the back side of the lens will rest against a little ridge in the camera. With the 50mm you really can focus and frame with both eyes open and the frame lines seem to float in space this way. Very nice!
The feel of the camera is just okay. The film advance lever has a little bit of play, the camera back closes without a positive "click", the strap lugs are wrongly placed and the rewind lever doesn't look and feel like it will live forever. For the rest it is a lovely camera for an incredible price.
So, after walking around with my new rangefinder in a far and foreign city I feel like I just came home again.... Now thinking about how to expand this set-up. Would the R3a be accurate enough to focus the new 75/2.0 APO-Summicron anyone knows?
Edwin