R4M or R4A?

[Prosaic]

I decided to go with the M.

Good choice. I am pretty sure a mechanical Bessa will last for decades with a little care. Not so sure about electronic shutters, whether assembled in Germany or Japan...

 

[BOSS65]

I don't find the battery debate a big deal. Just carry extra batteries with you. I have a 3M and carry an extra battery for the meter. Pick the camera that you think will become second nature to you. Good Luck.

 

[peter_n]

Batteries are a red herring. Why many photographers are afraid of battery failures when so many other things they use also depend on batteries is weird. It seems like photogs are congenitally unable to carry spares for cameras only. I had an R4A and I'm sorry I sold it. I only sold it because I didn't take the camera on trips so it simply wasn't being used enough. I found it extremely well made with a terrific VF (sharp LED display too) and the only thing I didn't like about it was the matte black finish, which is a trivial issue. I used it quite a bit on manual as Tuolumne makes a good point above, if you use the cam with a 21 or 24mm lens correct exposure can be tricky and the AE needs to be used with care. I used an incident light meter with mine.

 

[martushka77]

Hello to everybody, I am before my decision R2M/R4M or R2A/R4A. The question of batteries is for me crucial - is it really a very big difference in power consumption between As and Ms..? And if I switch bessa A into manual mode - does it still takes so much of batteries..? In M models I understand there is a internal light meter...?
thanks a lot for your help!

 

[oscroft]

Batteries? Hmm.

I have to confess, for several decades I've preferred mechanical shutters that will work without batteries, because I've been a bit obsessive about being caught out somewhere important with a dead battery.

But you know what? In nearly 40 years, I've never been stuck with dead batteries. Almost all of my cameras have taken small mercury batteries or LR44/SR44 batteries, and I've always had several of them in my bag. (The closest I've been to a problem was when I was living in Thailand in the eighties with my Spotmatic, and I realised I was down to my last battery - and mercury batteries were getting hard to find. But even then, I found a seller in Singapore about 6 months before the battery I was using failed).

R4A or R4M? I've got an R4A and an R3A, and I went for the A models largely because I really quite like having the choice. I like having the AE metering (The Rs and an Olympus OM2), but I also like manual metering (M6, OM1), and meterless cameras (M2, FSU cameras, etc) - I just like the different mindsets and thought processes that go with the various approaches.

So I'd say don't worry about dead batteries, and instead choose the kind of metering options that you personally prefer - and buy your batteries 10 at a time and always have a couple of spares in your bag.

 

[fuwen]

Batteries? Hmm.

I have to confess, for several decades I've preferred mechanical shutters that will work without batteries, because I've been a bit obsessive about being caught out somewhere important with a dead battery.

But you know what? In nearly 40 years, I've never been stuck with dead batteries. Almost all of my cameras have taken small mercury batteries or LR44/SR44 batteries, and I've always had several of them in my bag. (The closest I've been to a problem was when I was living in Thailand in the eighties with my Spotmatic, and I realised I was down to my last battery - and mercury batteries were getting hard to find. But even then, I found a seller in Singapore about 6 months before the battery I was using failed).

R4A or R4M? I've got an R4A and an R3A, and I went for the A models largely because I really quite like having the choice. I like having the AE metering (The Rs and an Olympus OM2), but I also like manual metering (M6, OM1), and meterless cameras (M2, FSU cameras, etc) - I just like the different mindsets and thought processes that go with the various approaches.

So I'd say don't worry about dead batteries, and instead choose the kind of metering options that you personally prefer - and buy your batteries 10 at a time and always have a couple of spares in your bag.

Kind of agree, that for the past 20 over years as a non-professional photographer I have been using fully electronic bodies (Praktica BX20s, Rolleiflex SL2000F, Contax RTS III / Aria) and have not run into problems due to batteries.

I am using a R4M now but that is because I was looking for a R4* and this one came along first with a good used price.

 

[martushka77]

Alan, Fuwen, thanks a lot for your comments!! they are really useful - I still have to think what to choose, still hesitating between R* A and M......🙂 and then - lenses - the next story 🙂

 

[oscroft]

and then - lenses - the next story

Ah yes - get lots of those 😀

 

[nome_alice]

i had the same thoughts between the R2A and R2M and went with the A because i'm piss weak, totally not hardcore and didn't realise using a camera which runs for a year on a few calculator batteries was such a sin.

oh, and add to that i also shoot with a Leica M3 and a Hasselblad 500C/M so for me the whole reason for getting the Bessa was to have something i could use on the fly without having to think too much (another sin i know)

🙂