Second Body - which one?

[Mr. Inky]

Hello Everyone,

I have a Bessa R2A, which I absolutely love, and am now looking to buy a second body. As far as lenses, I have the following:

• 15/4.5
• 21/4
• 28/1.9
• 35/1.7
• 50/1.5

I will evenutally get the 75/2.5 to complete my lens kit, but right now I'd rather put that money towards another body (I will get the 75 as a portrait lens, but I'm pretty happy with portraits taken with the 35 and 50). The biggest driver for getting another body is that I'd like the flexibility of using different types of film. Right now, for example, once I load a roll of B&W, I'm stuck shooting B&W until the roll is finished. In terms of a second body, I'm deciding between another R2A or an R3A. The 1:1 viewfinder is intriguing to me, and I'm guessing it would be better for focusing and framing the 50 and 75. That said, the R2A has the 35mm framelines (and, in a pinch, I could use the entire frame for the 28). Any thoughts or suggestions? Given my lenses, would you get another R2A or an R3A? BTW, I ruled out the R4A as I have external finders for my wides (15, 21 and 28) and don't want to be limited with focusing longer lenses.

Thanks!

 

[oscroft]

Well, my first thoughts when I started reading your question and saw the lenses you have was "He needs an R4" 😀 (Personally, I'm a bit of a wideangle freak and I really find the parallax-corrected frames of the R4 to be far better than external VFs).

Anyway, if I had a choice between and R2 and an R3 and I already had an R2, I'd go for an R3 because of the 1:1 VF (in fact, I am actually pondering the idea of getting an R3 sometime in the future - I use a 50 quite a lot, and I also have a 75 and love it but don't use it that often on my M6 with its 0.72x VF -(almost the same as the 0.7x VF on the R2)).

But as you say, you'll lose the 35 framelines and the approx use of the whole frame for 28, and so will have less flexibility using two different films. Whether the 1:1 VF for better use with 50/75 or keeping the 35/28 use is more important is a question only you can answer.

 

[Terao]

How about a Bessa T? Much cheaper (particularly used) than any of the R-series.

 

[Doug]

I agree with Alan, and suggest you reconsider the R4. Has parallax-corrected framelines for all your lenses except 15mm. Too cool to pass up!

I know some people find a 1:1 viewfinder intensely interesting, but I've never found it attractive myself as I favor wider lenses... and find the R3's 40mm frames annoyingly hard to see, though the 50 frames are fine. 🙂

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Get another R2A so you can skip between cameras with no changeover issues.

 

[mfogiel]

I would say: get the R4A and the 1.33 megaperls magnifying eyepiece. This will fix your problems with using the wider lenses, and with this magnifier you can use the 50mm frames on the R4A without any problem - BTW yoy will probably also find it handy with the 50 , 75 and 90mm frames on your R2A. My set up is currently R4A for the 25 and 28 frames, ZI for the 35 and 50, and the R3A for the 50,75 and 90. I wear glasses, so the first frame is almost always impossible to see. The magnifier adds flexibility, and IMHO is a must for shooting with anything longer than 50mm.

 

[oscroft]

the 1.33 megaperls magnifying eyepiece

Can you get such things to fit a Leica M6?

 

[mfogiel]

No Alan, but you can get a Leica 1,25 eypiece.

 

[RML]

Maybe I shouldn't suggest this but how about a Bessa L? For a backup camera there isn't (wasn't?) a cheaper camera. And with those 15 and 21 it'll work well with the auxiliary VF.

 

[0bli0]

i also agree - the r4a sounds like a great choice. i have the megaperls magnifier on mine and it's great for both wide and normal (and above). i originally thought i'd take it off when i used my 28 and 21, but i havent at all and still happy with it.

 

[Mr. Inky]

Thanks to everyone for the feedback. Looks like I will be considering the R4A after all🙂 I tihink it will come down to me looking at both the R3A and R4A at B&H and seeing if the 1:1 viewfinder outweighs having framelines for the wides. I've read mixed things about focusing the 50/1.5 wide open with the R4A, so I'll have to look into that as well.

Thanks again!