new to rangefinders

[bluedust]

to be honest with you I just do not have the finances to get a bessa R yet. I was going to stretch it and sell a canon lense to afford it.

I have now decided to do the sensible thing and save up for a bessa R or R2a depending on how much overtime I am paid.

The oylmpus rc fell through on ebay. The guy was messing me about. So now I have to the canon gIII ql17 and I love it. With this camera I get to grips with RF shooting and developing. My girlfriend is buying me a film/slide scanner for my birthday at the end of the month so hopefully getting my shots online will be easier. I am glad I got the canon rf because now I have more of an idea what I want out of an RF and I have only had the canon for 2 days. Once I have prints coming out the way I want then I will make the big leap.

To help me decide which bessa I get I would be interested to know what the metering system is like on the bessa R, R2a and the R3.

 

[Kevin]

Hi Bluedust,

As a film user, you have to take special care of costs as well as your processed negatives. The goal is to shoot as much as you can with the lowest possible expenditure, which implies processing film yourself or having it done for you without prints. You can then either have your lab make a digital cd for you or you can invest in a scanner and do it yourself.

Before you give a new lab your business, test them first with a roll of film. Ask them to leave the negatives uncut and examine the results when you take them home. Are there any scratches, fingerprints or dirt on them. Did they cut the roll into strips even though you asked them not to? Did they put the uncut roll into a plastic sleeve? There is nothing more annoying than paying someone to damage your negatives.

You should also buy lots of plastic archival negative sheets to store your negs for the long-term.

 

[bluedust]

ok so I took the plunge!

I took back canon gIII ql17 because of the whole battery issue and bought the bessa r. I am confident I have made the right decision. I went with the 35mm p/cake lens and I believe this combination will satisfy my original requirements: a descrete portable (backpack free) photographing solution that does not comprimise quality.

Now I should have a camera that I can take everywhere with me.

 

[FrankS]

Congratulations, BD!

 

[DougK]

Well done, bluedust. I would have hung on to the Canonet though, but that's the collector in me. Enjoy the Bessa, I love mine.

 

[Doug]

I think your choice really is a step up, Bluedust, including improvement in versatility. Good move! 🙂