R3a and R2a with pancake lens

[Meino]

So I'm looking to purchase a Bessa R3a or R2a, but i'm leaning towards the R2a because it has brightline at 35mm and the R3a doesn't have that. This all wouldn't matter if I didn't want a certain lens: the 35mm, 2.5 pancake lens. Unfortunately the orginal pancake is discontinued (i don't think it would've fit the mount anyway without an adapter), but they have a 35mm 2.5 -II pancake lens. I like the pancake's ability to focus quickly for street photography and the like. I'm just wondering if it sounds like a good pair the R2a and the IIpancake one. I feel like maybe for the same price I should go for the R3a with the 1:1 ratio? Does it really make a big difference with the framing or with any other aspect? Is there any place that I could look for the discontinued pancake lens and an adapter for the m mount? Hope this isn't all too incoherent. Thanks for responses.

 

[JoeFriday]

good question.. I've been wondering about that exact same combo.. altho I'm leaning toward the R3a due to the 1:1 viewfinder

 

[aizan]

if you're doing street photography, i'd say the benefit of a 1:1 viewfinder is greater than the disadvantage of 40 instead of 35mm framelines.

you can keep an eye out for the classic pancake on ebay, photo.net, or on this forum.

 

[JohnM]

Great combination

Great combination

I have the R3a - the 1:1 finder is nice, but not worth it if the 35mm focal length is your ideal. The 40mm framelines are pushed way out to the edges and, in my opinion, I would not want to try to imagine the frame for a 35mm.

If the pancake II is your pick, I would go with the R2a - that would make a great combo.

And if anyone is interested, I have a brand new lens LH-4 lens shade (for PII) that I'd sell for half of whatever the going price is at cameraquest. I wound up with it through a weird series of events relating to the LH-5 shade I needed for the 40 Nokton.

 

[Huck Finn]

Meino, check out the current thread entitled: "35 mm Lens on R3a 40 mm frame lines." Anders has posted pictures demonstrating the difference between what showed up on his picture & what he saw through the frame lines. Judge for yourself. it should answer your question.

99.9% of rangefinder photographers are shooting without a 1:1 viewfinder & they're taking some pretty good pictures, so you'll be part of a large group if you chooise the R2A. The 1:1 finder is designed for the focusing needs of shooting with longer lenses. Since you're planning to shoot with a wide angle lens, the perfect match for it is the R2A.

 

[tomchuk]

And if anyone is interested, I have a brand new lens LH-4 lens shade (for PII) that I'd sell for half of whatever the going price is at cameraquest. I wound up with it through a weird series of events relating to the LH-5 shade I needed for the 40 Nokton.

You've got mail 🙂

 

[peter_n]

Is there any place that I could look for the discontinued pancake lens and an adapter for the m mount? Hope this isn't all too incoherent. Thanks for responses.

A small number of us here use the original CV 35mm/f2.5 pancake, but so far I haven't seen any FS posts here for that lens or on eBay either. I think we all like the lens a lot and don't want to sell. 🙂 I've read that the PII is just as good, so if you're OK with the tab on it I would look to getting that lens.

 

[Doug]

I rather suspect we'll have some R3a buyers who are not pleased with their choice. Some may or may not figure out they'd have been better off with the R2a instead. The 1:1 finder may be nice but it brings baggage with it... Though I'd buy an R3a if my main interest was with the 50mm and up, and/or lenses wider than 28mm for which any of the bodies would need an accessory viewfinder.

 

[sf]

about r3a vs r2a for the pancake 35

about r3a vs r2a for the pancake 35

If brightlines make you feel secure in composing a photograph, which makes sense, and you generally like to keep the brightlines tight to the intended edges of the image, then maybe the r2a is the best choice. Not to mention if you are planning on using wider angle lenses.

But. . . I am thinking that I might get that pancake just for the nice compactness it offers, so that I can fit the camera in smaller pockets and for focusing quickly, and on an R3A, it might actually be useful to produce images with a little extra cropping space outside the brightlines, just for post processing's sake. Who knows how you do things, but I find that I often like having some space to play with. A 35mm will shoot pictures with extra space outside those 40mm brightlines, and it might even save you from shooting something too tight. I've had framing trouble resulting from photos where I composed with brightlines as framelines.

just my opinion. But, if you do not do lots of postprocessing as far as cropping is concerned, maybe the accuracy of the r2a brightlines will be safe and easy in the field.

 

[stet]

Is there any place that I could look for the discontinued pancake lens and an adapter for the m mount? Hope this isn't all too incoherent. Thanks for responses.

A small number of us here use the original CV 35mm/f2.5 pancake, but so far I haven't seen any FS posts here for that lens or on eBay either. I think we all like the lens a lot and don't want to sell. 🙂

I lucked out pouncing on one that an RFF member put up, and I'm super happy with it. I was sweating that lens bad, but I thought one would never come up for sale. One of the many things I've learned about this board is to check often and jump fast.

BTW, what was the production run of the original pancake?


-Rick

 

[peter_n]

That's a good question RicK and I don't know the answer to it. It was discontinued about a year and a half ago, apparently because it was expensive to manufacture. The barrel and rings are brass (you've probably noticed that the build quality is outstanding) and the anodized finish is very hard wearing. There is absolutely no wear on mine and I bought it almost two years ago. Glad to hear that you managed to get one - if it didn't come with the little 43mm screw-in hood Stephen Gandy is still selling those. 🙂

 

[stet]

nope, don't need it. pfogle was generous enough to include it -- as a surprise. 🙂 It does feel really sturdy, and the bulky Canon 7s doesn't feel unbalanced at all, as I thought iut might. But it's teeny!

So is it safe to say the pancake had a five-year run, 1999-2004?