Soon to be Bessa R2 owner

[PaulW128]

After being a member of this esteemed forum for a little over two years, I finally pulled the trigger on my very first rangefinder. I've always had a soft spot in my heart for the R2, especially the Olive R2. Call me shallow, but there is something so sexy about an olive R2 and a silver lens!

I had been checking out the classified ads and Ebay somewhat more seriously of late and by pure dumb luck, I stumbled upon an olive R2 on KEH's website. Listed as "LN-" @ $415.00. Needless to say, I jumped and it should be here in a day or two.

I also ordered from Mr. Gandy the C/V 35mm 2.5 Color Skopar, which Stephen was nice enough to ship same day!!

Will post some photos once I receive the camera and lens. Thanks for letting me share my enthusiasm. I love this forum!!! I visit every day, great bunch of people!!

Best
Paul

 

[Roger Hicks]

Dear Paul,

Hard to find a better (let alone prettier) camera for the money.

Cheers,

R

 

[PaulW128]

Thank you Roger!

 

[ethics_gradient]

Welcome to the fold!

 

[zozio32]

I did the same a month ago, with a black one 🙂
I am very please with it.
Seems a very good start in the rangefinder world

 

[hipsterdufus]

Two years? Wow, someone is a lot more patient than I am... 😛

Anyhow, enjoy the R2. That's my "Leica" and it performs really well.

 

[PaulW128]

Thanks guys. It was tough trying to resist the urge to get a Leica m2/m4/m6 but I thought the Bessa would be a good compromise..

Best
Paul

 

[tyrone.s]

Congratulations. I think the olive / silver Bessa's are the prettiest colour combination of all the voigtlanders.

 

[heatherselkie]

Wow, I couldn't wait 5 minutes to get a rangefinder camera and bought one I totally regret. I wanted an olive bessa R2(love at first sight I am afraid) as well and am working on getting one. I am new to rangefinder photography so I hope it will be good to learn with. There's nothing wrong with aesthetics being top of the list, but sometimes it gets one into trouble.

 

[Griffin]

Soon to be Bessa R2 owner

Today or tomorrow my Bessa R2 will arrive in the mail. As money is tight as ever, it'll take me a while before I can put some proper glass on it.

Can anyone recommend a nice budget lens (somewhere between 28 and 50mm) get me going until I can afford a proper lens unit? I don't think I can stand having this camera body lying around helpless, begging me for something to do for the next half year. 😱

Thanks in advance!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Canon 50mm f1.8 can usually be obtained for less than $200. Its a screwmount lens, so you need an adapter. I'd avoid the Russian lenses. They simply do not focus right on Leica and Bessa bodies. I had one reset for proper focus up close by Brian Sweeny and it is accurate at and near the 1 meter distance but severely front focuses at middle and long distances. When set for accurate focus at middle distances it back focuses badly up close. Mine makes a nice portrait lens, but is no good as a general purpose lens. I use a 50 Summicron for that. If I needed another 50 now and wanted it cheap, I'd go for one of the old Canon rangefinder 50mm lenses. They made a f1.4, f1.8, and f1.5 versions. The f1.8 is the cheapest and is very good.

 

[Krosya]

Voigtlander Color-Skopar 35/2.5 is a very good and not very expensive lens that will be a great starting point for an "all-around" lens, IMO.

 

[binky]

second on the VC 35/2.5 and the Canon

the Canon 50/1.8 LTM is an excellent choice, though these are getting more expensive

There is also the VC 50/1.5 (also LTM) and the 28/3.5

these are by no means choices "to keep you going until you can afford proper lenses"--they are actual keepers for most people

 

[tyrone.s]

What's your idea of budget?

 

[Yashi]

Jupiter 8 50mm. A lens when stopped down a bit becomes very very nice. I have two and the price was around $15 each.

The lens is LTM. Get a cheap adapter. No need to buy the expensive one.

Here is a sample picture out of 17 rolls from my Asia trip last year... Nothing special just to show that the combination works....

 

[thomob]

Canon 50mm f1.8 can usually be obtained for less than $200. Its a screwmount lens, so you need an adapter. I'd avoid the Russian lenses. They simply do not focus right on Leica and Bessa bodies. I had one reset for proper focus up close by Brian Sweeny and it is accurate at and near the 1 meter distance but severely front focuses at middle and long distances. When set for accurate focus at middle distances it back focuses badly up close. Mine makes a nice portrait lens, but is no good as a general purpose lens. I use a 50 Summicron for that. If I needed another 50 now and wanted it cheap, I'd go for one of the old Canon rangefinder 50mm lenses. They made a f1.4, f1.8, and f1.5 versions. The f1.8 is the cheapest and is very good.

i agree, when i picked up my Bessa R i couldnt scrounge together enuff for a "great" recent lens, but i got myself a Canon 50 1.8 and i dont regret it. its a nice lens and produces good quality images.

 

[Griffin]

What's your idea of budget?

I was hoping to stay under the €100 mark.

Thanks a lot for the replies all!

 

[Chriscrawfordphoto]

Jupiter 8 50mm. A lens when stopped down a bit becomes very very nice. I have two and the price was around $15 each.

The lens is LTM. Get a cheap adapter. No need to buy the expensive one.

Here is a sample picture out of 17 rolls from my Asia trip last year... Nothing special just to show that the combination works....

The Jupiter 8 is sharp at all apertures when its focused right. Problem is it won't focus right on a Leica or Bessa, so you have to stop down to mask the fact that your photos are simply out of focus.

 

[Krosya]

The Jupiter 8 is sharp at all apertures when its focused right. Problem is it won't focus right on a Leica or Bessa, so you have to stop down to mask the fact that your photos are simply out of focus.

It's simply not correct - some Jupiters may not focus correct, yet many do. I used to have one that was just fine on Bessa, RD1s, Hexar RF and Leica M5. There are plenty examples here on RFF and Flickr of this as well.

 

[Yashi]

The Jupiter 8 is sharp at all apertures when its focused right. Problem is it won't focus right on a Leica or Bessa, so you have to stop down to mask the fact that your photos are simply out of focus.

Strange mine does. I checked some closeups and these are in focus. Maybe because I use F4 -8 with the Jupiter. It may be possible that there is a modification and I did this when I got the lens. Cant remeber.... Anyway, for me not a bad lens for the Bessa.