Ode to the Bessa R2

[charjohncarter]

Right now I have an old 90mm Elmar, a 50mm f3.5 Elmar, and a Canon Serenar 35mm f3.5 that I use often all work perfectly on my Bessar. I also have a 135mm Elmar (1953?), and a 100mm Canon Serenar that also seem to be fine, but I don't use them much.

90mm Elmar:

Tmax400 HC-110h by John Carter, on Flickr

 

[robert blu]

Egardner welcome to RFF!

You are correct, Bessas are good cameras! I never had the R2 but I still use my R !
Not sure which is the main difference between R and R2 , I'll look for that.

I like your photos! The coffee maker's shot is great!

robert

Edit: I just checked the differences, ok now I desire one 😀

 

[cassel]

Got a 7artisans 35mm f2 lens to try out on the Bessa R2 -

 

[matthewm]

Resurrecting this thread a little, but I'm currently looking at an R2 and I stumbled on a review online somewhere that claimed the R2 platform, specifically, wasn't desirable for 35 and 50mm lenses.

This doesn't really make sense to me since it has frame lines for both, but the reviewer mentioned that they found the R2 only suitable for much wider lenses, which makes the VF essentially useless.

Have any of you experienced this? I'm looking to do the R2 + 35 of some sort.

Beautiful images here, so far!

 

[cassel]

Resurrecting this thread a little, but I'm currently looking at an R2 and I stumbled on a review online somewhere that claimed the R2 platform, specifically, wasn't desirable for 35 and 50mm lenses.

This doesn't really make sense to me since it has frame lines for both, but the reviewer mentioned that they found the R2 only suitable for much wider lenses, which makes the VF essentially useless.

Have any of you experienced this? I'm looking to do the R2 + 35 of some sort.

Beautiful images here, so far!

The R2 is a nice camera all-in-all and I have enjoyed mine...
That said, I'm selling mine (here in the classifieds) because I find I just enjoy shooting other cameras more😉 - Really it's just a NEW vs. OLD camera system thing...

To address your concerns - the R2 is great with the 35mm, the 50mm and 90mm - no issues for me at all! Excellent viewfinder and meter!

 

[matthewm]

The R2 is a nice camera all-in-all and I have enjoyed mine...
That said, I'm selling mine (here in the classifieds) because I find I just enjoy shooting other cameras more😉 - Really it's just a NEW vs. OLD camera system thing...

To address your concerns - the R2 is great with the 35mm, the 50mm and 90mm - no issues for me at all! Excellent viewfinder and meter!

Thanks my friend!

 

[zuikologist]

The reviewer may have confused the R2 with the R4 - the R4 has frame lines 21mm-50mm. the R2 is great for the normal RF film set and no external finder of 28mm (using the whole vf frame) to 90mm.

Agreed, great photos in this thread.

The R2 is a nice camera all-in-all and I have enjoyed mine...
That said, I'm selling mine (here in the classifieds) because I find I just enjoy shooting other cameras more😉 - Really it's just a NEW vs. OLD camera system thing...

To address your concerns - the R2 is great with the 35mm, the 50mm and 90mm - no issues for me at all! Excellent viewfinder and meter!

 

[twvancamp]

Yep, as others have said you won't have any issues with 35 or 50 on your R2. They are great cameras!

 

[DougK]

The only camera I truly regret selling was my Bessa R and the CV Color Skopar 35/2.5 lens (well, and my Seagull TLR but that's a different story). It truly just felt right in my hands and was so easy to use that I didn't have to think, I could just take photos. My only other regret was that I didn't buy the CV Color Skopar 50/2.5 lens.

 

[charjohncarter]

My favorite camera to use is the R, but next in line is my P3n which has one more setting on the dial: 'A.' So if the R breaks or gets stolen (I do live in California) I'll buy the R2a.

 

[CLAdictic]

I can't wax lyrical about the R2, not having one, but I will shout for my R3A. Build quality, the body is metal, only plastic are the lever handles. Solid in my opinion.

 

[zenza]

Still loving my olive R2 6 years later. Not sure if it's the colour, but it's my favourite out of the assortment of Bessas I own. Who else is still using an R2 here?

Shot from a few months ago on FP4 pushed to 400.

 

[hilltime]

Still loving my olive R2 6 years later. Not sure if it's the colour, but it's my favourite out of the assortment of Bessas I own. Who else is still using an R2 here?

Shot from a few months ago on FP4 pushed to 400.

Photo of my R2 with my collection of Komura lenses which I keep the rare 36/F1.8 on quite a bit. It’s my most “modern” rangefinder camera even though it’s over 20 yrs old now. Still find it’s operation is satisfying without the price tag of it’s German competitors and is no doubt worth more now than when I purchased it.