To RF or not RF?

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puqq

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Jun 3, 2010
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I have been offered a Bessa R2 with CS 35mm 2.5 for a reasonable price (approx £220).

CONS:
-Still, this is an expensive investment.
-At the moment, I have a Canon digital system and Olympus OM20 with 24mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.4. I think that this kit covers most of my needs.
-Quality vise, I use Canon flatbed scanner for 35mm film- this would be the bottleneck in both cases.

PROS:
-Voigtlander's low light capabilities, small size, RF viewfinder and overall look is so tempting. I had tried R2A with 40mm 1.4 a while ago, and it was astonishing...

I keep thinking of additional PROs/CONs. Any ideas?
 
Well if you don't like it you should be able to sell it for more money in the classifieds (unless there's something wrong with it that you haven't told us such as impact damage etc.).

S
 
puqq said:
I have been offered a Bessa R2 with CS 35mm 2.5 for a reasonable price (approx £220).

CONS:
-Still, this is an expensive investment.
-At the moment, I have a Canon digital system and Olympus OM20 with 24mm 2.8 and 50mm 1.4. I think that this kit covers most of my needs.
-Quality vise, I use Canon flatbed scanner for 35mm film- this would be the bottleneck in both cases.

PROS:
-Voigtlander's low light capabilities, small size, RF viewfinder and overall look is so tempting. I had tried R2A with 40mm 1.4 a while ago, and it was astonishing...

I keep thinking of additional PROs/CONs. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum!

Given the kit you already have, you don't need a rangefinder kit. But if you want the rangefinder, and can afford it without impacting your other obligations, why not buy it?
 
Steinberg2010 said:
Well if you don't like it you should be able to sell it for more money in the classifieds (unless there's something wrong with it that you haven't told us such as impact damage etc.).

S
Click to expand...

The kit seems to be OK and well worth the price. Probably, I would be able to resell it for a marginal profit. However, in case I decide to keep it (which is likely), it would be quite an expensive investment. (no longterm considerations here)
 
The R2 (136x79x34mm) isn't terribly smaller than an OM-20 (135x84x50mm) except regarding its depth (w/o lens). Thus, I wonder whether size alone is strong enough a reason to get a rangefinder.

I would get the Bessa and Skopar at that price as it really is a very good price indeed. Owning and using the camera will make it clear to you whether you are in need of a rangefinder or not; whether it benefits you photographically. And if it doesn't, as others have mentioned, you'll still be able to make a little profit from selling the gear again.
 
The biggest difference between the 2 cameras being considered is the viewing system: RF vs SLR. Not much difference between them in terms of size or quietness. The R2 has only a modest advantage there.
 
Don't buy it - buy a dedicated film scanner instead. You'll get much better results than with any flatbed scanner.

Thomas
 
Or go another route altogether - medium format! That will move your (technical) image quality into another dimension, even with a flatbed scanner!
 
ChrisN said:
But if you want the rangefinder, and can afford it without impacting your other obligations, why not buy it?
Click to expand...

I agree but with some note - don't buy into new system and if you want to give a try to rangefinder, why not start with fixed lens manual RF, of course, if typical focal lengths met on this cameras (40-45-48mm) isn't something you can't deal with? Of course if 28mm is your favourite FL, then 45mm is either deal breaker or new challenge. This not-expensive cameras do what people expect from rangefinders, costing much less then system RF's. If you decide it's your game it's easy to enter it.
 
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