Thoughts about the Voigtlander Bessa R

It's a great light tight box to mount your lenses on and put your film in. I have one and my only complaint is the placement of the strap lugs, which is a pretty silly thing to complain about.
 
Good camera

Good camera

I have used one at the time it came out. The viewfinder is very good, I'd say on par with my M6. The rangefinder base is probably too short for tele lenses with apertures larger than 2.8, but that's about the only potential problem for me. The mechanical feel (film winding and shutter) is plenty good enough. Louder than an M6 because of the metallic shutter of SLR descent, but nothing to worry about. The body is plastic but it does not show on the pictures 😉.

Of course you'll be limitied to 39mm screw lenses, meaning older Voïgtlander models and much older Leica models. I have used the Ultron 35/1.7, the Color Skopar 21/4 and the Heliar 75/2.5 and I found them very good. Not as biting as Leica, but certainly very very good value.

I could certainly be happy enough to have "only" a Bessa R to take pictures.
 
Great VF and metering. For me, a great body except I couldn't live with the feel of the plastic body. It was too light and cheap feeling for me. A nice R2 was a very good step up.
Many get great things from their Rs. The plastic body has little effect on the photographs....
 
Morca007 said:
I have one and my only complaint is the placement of the strap lugs, which is a pretty silly thing to complain about.
Click to expand...

The Bessa R fits into the lower half of the ever-ready case for the Kiev 4, including screw placement. That makes a nice and cheap half-case that dampens the sound a little bit and has perfectly positioned strap lugs 🙂
 
fidget said:
Great VF and metering. For me, a great body except I couldn't live with the feel of the plastic body. It was too light and cheap feeling for me. A nice R2 was a very good step up.
Many get great things from their Rs. The plastic body has little effect on the photographs....
Click to expand...


Only the top plate and back door are plastic, the main body is a sturdy aluminum casting.😛
 
oh my, thanks people... i plan to use a 35mm lens for it, since i cant afford to get all lenses that you can fit to its built in framelines.. thanks you guys.. if you have more advices for me, please go on and give them, i'll appreciate it and keep in mind.. thanks again!
 
It's a solid reliable camera. I don't think it feels cheap, although not as nice as a Leica. Still the viewfinder is great, meters well, and is nice and light. I have a bessa R2A that I use more, but I still put film through the r occassionally.
 
If you can afford an R it is a better choice than any fixed lens RF, if for no other reason because of the big bright viewfinder.

Note, I have never seen a Hexar AF live in person, but that is in a different category than a Canonet, Himatic or Electro too, so we will take that one out of the mix.
 
I must say when I got the Leica my first impression was "so how is this substantially better". After years of using the Leica, if it were to be stolen now, I'd rather get a Bessa than another Leica.
 
Bought one, sold it. Realized what a mistake I made in selling it,
bought another. A keeper.

Attaching the CV side grip takes care of the balance problem...
the camera then hangs level from the neckstrap.

(Or get a really nice 1.2/50 for weight 😉)
 
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I got an R recently to provide me with a non-Leica camera that was reliable and useful but not costly. I want to make the R my travel camera and beach camera locally. If it gets damaged, so be it.
 
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