The L

[newspaperguy]

Get the "L" from CameraQuest while Stephen still has them.
It will work fine with your J-8 on any kind of distant photos.
Take a look at your hyperfocal distance scale... you'll see if you stop down to f16, you're in focus from, what... 3m to infinity?
But you will really love it with a wide angle lens. No J-12s !

Rick

 

[kuvvy]

I will be getting an L while they are still available but I'm unable to stretch funds to include the 25/4 lens that I would like. Is anyone here using non CV lenses with their L?

I have 3 lenses for my R and they are all 50s!

Paul

 

[rover]

Someone was selling an L and 25 here. The ad may still be in the 35mm classified section.

I bet you can turn one of those 50s into the little L kit.

 

[Roman]

I just picked up my L from the customs office today; since Stephen Gandy only had the silver one left, iI will have to decorate it with a bit of black tape; it feels very practical, but also a bit more cheaply made than the Bessa R.

Roman

 

[Pherdinand]

I will be getting an L while they are still available but I'm unable to stretch funds to include the 25/4 lens that I would like. Is anyone here using non CV lenses with their L?

I have 3 lenses for my R and they are all 50s!

Paul

Then why don't you just sell two to sponsor that wide angle!

 

[Bertram2]

. So what is it about the Bessa L that you like, love, lust, despise, confuse, consider, or obsess about?

I use this combo too, half of my RFF portfolio is shot with L+4/25, and since a while i have a CV bubble attached .
What makes it unique is size, weight and simplicity, and the simplicity makes it fast !
Working with a preset focus you you cannot be faster at all with any other camera.. Shooting B&W C41 I do not meter for each frame at street shooting , I just check from time to time whether the preset stop is still o.k. for the light or
not. Best of all is that this simple, fast thingy is an absolutely optical top
performer .

So for me the thrill is going back to the beginning at the age of ten, when I started with a VF camera, 45mm fixed lens, no built in meter. but a fine Gossen handmeter from my father.. I still own it , a 1964 Dacora Dignette (the meter too !), and it still works !
When I had been in Paris last year the L+4/25 was the only combo I used after some days, the rest of the gear was left in the hotel room all the time. You begin to ask yourself then what the rest was good for ?

What I think is that simplicity is fun nowadays for all those who are tired of reading fat handbooks and fiddeling around with endless custom menues to make a fully-auto-dancing-and-singing-multiple-mode-AF- plastic thing run.

Best,
Bertram

 

[kuvvy]

Then why don't you just sell two to sponsor that wide angle!

I may have to Pherdinand. The only reason I have 3 (oh god I've got 4!) is when I bought my R from anoher member he included a couple of standard lenses. One of them a collapsible 50/3.5 I will be flogging as it's not my cup of tea. One is a Jupiter 8 that I bought 3 weeks ago with a Zorki 4K attached to it!
The other I am still waiting for from another RFF member, a CV 50.2.5.

I will have to go through some of my stuff.
I have an OM-2 spot/program, a Trip 35, and an SP and the collapsiable 50 that I will be selling so that should raise a few coppers.

Paul

The reason I asked about alternative wides for the L is that I am off to a camera fair on Sunday and could have a rummage for something useful.

 

[Doug]

Excluding the Voigtlander lenses leaves older screw-mount Leitz as choices, plus third-party lenses of the same era... and stuff from the former Soviet Union. There's the Orion-15, a 28mm f/6, which is uncommon, and the more often seen Jupiter-12 35mm f/2.8. See http://www.fedka.com/catalog/default.php?cPath=24&osCsid=f06eb791cbafca673f74bca8ff095499

 

[a giant rat]

i'm new, hello. can anyone tell me what the finder for the 25mm lens is like? i have no idea about finders. do they have lines floating and free space around the edges, like the internal finder on the R?

also what is it like to look through with glasses/spectacles? are the lines if there are lines near the edge, easily viewable etc.

thanks

 

[Roman]

I think here are two types of 25mm finder - an older one without framelines, and a newer one - that's the one I have: the framelines are fixed (of course...), with space around them, and a broken line on top for use at close distances (so you don't cut off something); I just checked with a pair of sunglasses: while all sides ar still visible (but at the very edge, with no more free space around), with the glasses it is not possible to see all 4 corners at the same time...

Roman

 

[digitalox]

I have the new 25mm finder too, its nice and bright. My only complaint would be the white framelines are hard to see in bright light.

 

[kbg32]

I use my L with a couple of Canon Serenars - 28 f3.5 and 35 f2.8. Can fit it into the pocket of my jacket.

Keith
www.pbase.com/keithbg

 

[a giant rat]

i want a wide angle but i dont want to jam my eye around to see the edges in the viewfinder, and the glasses must remain on. are the frame lines difficult to see with glasses on on the 21mm and the 28mm finders? on the bessa R the 35mm ones are ok, but i would like something wider.

thanks for the answer

 

[Sonnar2]

Boys, 4 years ago I've got a L together with a 15mm lens for 1500 DM which was about 750 USD that time. Even for that price I was absolutely happy with that camera and lens. In fact, it was the Bessa-L that brought my back to photography. Now you can have it for less than half price with a lens, happy guys 🙂
The Bessa-L was the best gateway drug for SLR photogs who like true wideangle lenses (15-25mm). Compact, lightweight, robust, battery-independent... not fast, not great comfort, but a great travelkit. Over the years I added the Bessa-R, Canon RF's and a dozen screwmount lenses (Canon, VL and one Nikon). If eventually I buy a Leica or Zeiss-Ikon than thanks to Mr. Kobayashi, head of Cosina/Voigtlaender...
cheers, Frank

 

[rover]

i want a wide angle but i dont want to jam my eye around to see the edges in the viewfinder, and the glasses must remain on. are the frame lines difficult to see with glasses on on the 21mm and the 28mm finders? on the bessa R the 35mm ones are ok, but i would like something wider.

thanks for the answer

The 21mm viewfinder works fine with my glasses. Like you, the 35mm framelines in the Bessa are good too.

 

[rover]

By the way, I know a "Little Johnny" joke that stars a giant rat.

 

[sockeyed]

Someone's selling and L with a 15mm Heliar on photo.net. $325

http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00B6ho

 

[Jim H.]

Had to try one!

Had to try one!

I had see for myself what the little L was all about. I recieved mine this week with the 21/4 and finder attached (all black). I really like the size of the camera. I haven't got my 1st roll developed yet. I know I've blown quite a few of the shots but it's the user, not the camera. It takes a little getting use to for me, the zone focusing thing. I'm sure I'll catch on. If 1/2 of my shots turn out good I'll be happy for the 1st roll. I'll post a few when I get the film developed. Happy L hunting!

PS: Not a lense I will be shooting with every day. You almost have to be in the picture to use this lens. I can't even imagine what the 15 is like.

 

[nihraguk]

I've also just received my brand new Bessa L + Color-Skopar 21/4 combo! One question for you folks who own one: how do you bring it around, without getting the accessory finder dirty/scratched by the contents of your bag? I stuck the camera+finder in my bag today, and the finder already has some stains that I've had to wipe at.

Or do you guys just let the finder get dirty/oily?

edit
btw, for RFF members based in southeast asia, I bought my L and lens from a Dr Joseph Yao based in Hong Kong. He may be contacted at joseph@yao.com, and he tends to respond to emails promptly. I've found him a great seller to deal with: he is communicative, polite, and a gentleman. Even though he clearly stated that he would only send out the camera+lens after he received payment for first-time buyers, he made an exception and sent out my package even before he received my bank draft (it was taking its time, probably because of the Chinese New Year). He did this entirely on his own accord and initiative - I didn't articulate any such request.

I therefore recommend him wholeheartedly to anyone who would be interested in a Bessa from Hong Kong.

 

[Doug]

Congratulations to Jim an nihraguk... My L came with the 25mm lens, wider than I'd experience before, and it does take some re-training! Good to hear another recommendation for Dr Yao.

On the issue of carrying the L in a camera bag... First make sure your bag is clean and without oil or grease! My various bags have movable partitions, so I arrange these so that each camera has its own partition and does not contact other gear. Same for lenses, if possible, or I may put a lens in a soft pouch. I also use small jewelers' draw-string pouches for accessory viewfinders.