Take the plunge

N

Nick R.

Guest
I'm really close to buying a Bessa R w. 35/2.5 I sold all my slr and medium format stuff years ago when I found that the equipment was getting in the way of taking pictures, if that makes any sense. I wasn't really shooting any film at all until this summer when I picked up a Canonet GIII at a flea market. It really got me started taking pictures again. The simplicity of composing and shooting an uncomplicated but good quality camera made me rediscover why I originally loved photography. Since then, I've tried a lot of used rangefinders of that era. They're all great and unbelievebly inexpensive. Anyway I'd like to move up to something new without losing the simplicity of the fixed-lens rangefinders. It looks like the Bessa is a good start and in my price range. I actually like the idea of a plastic body as long as it's well built. My Konica S3 isn't as versatile as my canon but because it's lighter, I take it everywhere. Unlike my old SLR stuff, I want a camera that I don't feel is a major hassle to carry, yet has a lens as good as or better then the Konica. I guess what I'm asking is does the Bessa offer me more in performance than the FLR's without giving up their spontaneity and portability?
-Nick
 
PRO:
no worries about outdated mercury batteries
very good clear & bright, parallax corrected finder
exchangeable lenses (and M39 lenses are not that expensive...)

CONTRA:
considerably larger than, say, an Olympus 35 RC - though not as big as a Yashica Electro 35 GTN
luder shutter than most fixed-lens RFs

Roman
 
Roman said:
PRO:
no worries about outdated mercury batteries
very good clear & bright, parallax corrected finder
exchangeable lenses (and M39 lenses are not that expensive...)
Click to expand...
Good points, especially the bright finder. And exchageable lenses might not be important to me now, but later on, who knows?


CONTRA:
considerably larger than, say, an Olympus 35 RC - though not as big as a Yashica Electro 35 GTN
. . .
Roman
Click to expand...
Few things are :)
 
Hey Nick! I started with an Agfa Silette...then this board have me good advice and I went with the GIII....then added 2 SPN's and 1 GSN. Finally I broke down and the board again helped my spend my money and I bought an R2.

WOW!! Is all I can say....all that I have been missing..You WILL NOT regret it. Bessa's are so beautiful.

:)
 
Biggest difference that I noted when I moved from the fixed-lens classic rangefinders to the Bessa R - the brighter viewfinder. Not brighter by a little, brighter by a whole lot!

I still love (and use) many of my fixed-lens rangefinders. In fact, I just got back from vacation - a train trip from North Carolina to Boston, MA and back. I took two cameras - my Bessa R and my Yashica Electro 35 CC. Worked a treat!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks
 
Thanks for the comments. I'm starting to feel more confident about spending the cash.
 
Plunge away Nick. As wonderful and fun as those fixed lens rangefinders are, they simply are not as good of users as the Bessas are.
 
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