R or R2 (again?)

[crayonstickguy]

i'm sure that this is a thread that's been posted ad nauseum...but as i couldn't find it i'll plead ignorant.

in recent weeks i've discovered the joy of an affordable, reliable, and well-made manual rangefinder camera. no guesses which brand.

what i would like to know is, is the R worth considering, espcially given it's rather plentiful supply and great camera/lense bundles? or is it worth saving up for the more reliable (?) - certainly more substantial - R2? certainly more costly; but could last a lifetime.

the R has the appeal of affordability, whilst the R2...it feels too goo an offer to miss, before they run out all together and become collector's items.

also, is it worth considering either an R2C or R2S? they all seem to be much the same price. i don't have any lenses so i'd have to buy. i do know that the CV lenses seem great value new. being in NZ there just isn't the availablity of used 39mmLTM lenses; certainly not in shops where you can check quality.

[i include the following to give you an uderstanding of where i am at present. i own a seagull Df300 (think minolta x300) w/ a great 50/1.7 minolta lens. i do have 2 zooms, but i never really use them. i've always prefered primes. and when i discovered the voigtlanders, and this little cult of prime-lens users i felt...well..normal.

i also am about to purchase a sony W5 digicam: fast, reliable, and a nice accompniment to a purely manual camera.]

cheers
m.

 

[wlewisiii]

Welcome to our loonie bin! There are a couple of questions to ask yourself:
- do you expect to buy a classic (Nikon, Contax, or Leica) eventually? If so, you'll want one that fits the lenses you'll pick up.
- do you have any particular "look" that you like? That's the only real difference in the systems; I prefer the look or feel of Zeiss lenses to those of Leica so for me I have a Contax III, a couple of Kievs and a R2C on my wishlist.
- finally what is your budget? Not just for the body, but will you want more than one lens? The Color Skopar 35/2.5 that comes in the R package is a great place to start, but will you want other ones soon? There are good reasonably cheap Russian lenses available however they are easier to find in good condition in Contax/Kiev mount than in LTM. OTOH, there are many more LTM lenses in the world and OTGH, they will all also fit on a M mount camera with an adaptor.

Hope this helps,

William

 

[Theo-Prof]

Welcome to the forum,

I was in a similar situation as you and finally decided to get the R. Since I had little experience with rangefinders I decided to go the least expensive route just to see if rangefinders were for me. I started with the R and 35/2.5 bundle. I really liked this combination and soon added the 15/4.5. I just got back from vacation and the only camera I used was the R with the two lenses, even though I brought all my other camera gear on the trip. (Hiking with a small fanny pack is much easier than hiking with a Lowe Pro backpack filled with heavy SLRs.)

The R2 with the M mount certainly would be far more flexible since there are more lenses that can fit the M mount than LTM. However, it was the quality and relatively low price of the voigtlander lenses that got me thinking about buying a rangefinder camera in the first place. Since I planned to buy Voigtlander lenses anyway, I went with the R and its screw mount since this camera is compatile with all the CV lenses except the 35.1.2, 40.1.4, and PII 35/2.5, lenses which I do not plan to purchase anyway.

Whether you go with the R in LTM or the R2 with the more useful and admittedly quicker lens mount, you will be able to use LTM lenses on any Leica mount camera you might buy in the future, whether LTM or M.

Kevin

 

[einolu]

There are a lot of LTM lenses, much more than M-mount, although you will have to buy used gear most of the time.

 

[childers-jk]

I too went throught this same process, and I went with the Bessa R. I picked up a really good J-8, and this is what I took on vacation. I am very pleased with the quality of the pictures, and the R performed great. I don't know about the R2, but I would assume the same for that. If it is a matter of money, the R and a couple of lenses may suite you.

Jeff C.

 

[jorisbens]

The difference in price between the R and R2 is rather big and I think that one or two "new" (really new or second hand) lenses are more usefull than a metal top and bottom plate. You can go for the lovely CV 15/4.5 like Kevin did. But it's all op to you 😛

Joris Bens

 

[pvdhaar]

Keep in mind that the price difference between the R and the R2 is still larger when you factor in the cost of the M to LTM adapters...