Voigtlander Bessa R w/ 35/2.5 C

[tedwhite]

Thanks, Joe. I'll be on guard. However, I've got an Oly XA, which weighs nothing, and a Kodak DX6490 (hell of a good camera: Schneider/Kreuznach lens) that feels like a toy. Then I pick up my Spotmatic with the Vivitar 28/1.9 (58mm) or the Super-Tak 135/2.8 and it feel like an adobe brick. So I've got experience with both weights. Maybe the trick with the lighter ones is a feather touch on the shutter release.

Sometimes I don't understand bidders on ebay. A "like new" Bessa R just went for $233.50. For sixteen bucks more the bidder could have bought it new from Stephen with a warranty.

A CV Color Heilar 75/2.5 went for $229. That's not such a bad deal as new they are $295.

Ted

 

[back alley]

bidders can make me weep at times.

my bessa outfit cost me a small fortune. i paid almost full price in canadian money. i was too timid to buy from a u.s. dealer. i didn't want the hassle of shipping and customs etc. if i only knew then...oh well.
joe

 

[tedwhite]

Bit of good news first: I sold my Maxxum system on ebay (auction just ended tonight) for considerably more than I paid for my Bessa R and the 35/2.5. As the Maxxum stuff was fully amortized (the bulk of it bought in 1985-86) I kind of feel like I just got a brand new camera free.

The bad news is that I thought Gandy shipped it the same day I paid for it (Friday). Didn't ship it until today.

"The horror, the horror." - Joseph Conrad (Heart of Darkness)

 

[back alley]

quick, order the 75 before you waste that extra cash on something stoopid, like food or rent.

joe

 

[Natalia]

Bit of good news first: I sold my Maxxum system on ebay (auction just ended tonight) for considerably more than I paid for my Bessa R and the 35/2.5.

my OM-4 stuff will have to go to FleaBay if no one here (or on photo.net) buys it soon. GOTTA GET GLASS for my Bessa R2A. :bang:

 

[tedwhite]

Joe:

A prescient comment, indeed. Could not have improved on the phrasing.

Food? Any human can go a few days with out it. Rent? No rent, just a mere $422 monthly mortgage payment. So, compared to most folks' mortgage payments, I've got a bit of wiggle room.

Have you got the 75? Es bueno?

Ted

 

[back alley]

si!

it's a great little lens, good for portraits or just to get in a bit closer.
and if you can cover it, get the grip too, makes it a nice hand holdable outfit - especially with a nice wrist strap.

joe

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

No rent, just a mere $422 monthly mortgage payment.

WOW! Arizona here I come. Lets see I would get landscape, sunshine, locomotives... all for a mortgage way less than half of what I would pay in rent in SD.

Jealous, over the state and the Bessa. (not for long on the Bessa though) 🙂

 

[tedwhite]

Holy smoke! Bessa R with 35/2.5 arrived today.

It's tiny! With the lens on and "loaded" with a roll of film, and hefting the Yashica GSN in one hand and the Bessa in the other, the GSN feels like a brick. Then I tried a Pentax Spotmatic with a 28/1.9 (58mm filter size). Two bricks.

Rangefinder is in perfect alignment, and I must say, while the packing is stilll not up to Leica packing standards (but then neither is the camera) is was sturdily packed and arrived in proper shape.

NOW FOR THE BIG SURPRISE: Well, not so big really. I am left eyed, so my left eye is fixed on the viewfinder, of course, and my somewhat large and oily nose (nose oil is a valuable product for maintaining that beautiful shine on your very expensive British pipe) is therefore pressed against the plastic door.

So I've got this unsightly dark spot in the center of the film door. I don't know what it's made of, but it sure is absorbent. My first impulse was to reach for the duct tape, but I thought better of it and reached for the roll of high quality electrician's black tape.

So my camera is already "modified" and hasn't even been out of the house yet.

ONce again, I was not expecting a camera so light and so small, but, on reflection, it's what I like so much about my Olympus XA.

Cheers,

Ted

 

[back alley]

thank the heavens it finally arrived!

i too am left eyed and i just keep wiping that spot all the time.

light, small and wait till you see some results from that lens.
my 2 shots in our rff book were made with the 35/2.5 lens.

enjoy!
joe

 

[chug]

heh, im left eyed too. Maybe we should do a poll to see how many left eyed Bessa R users there are here 😉 I also wipe the oily patch away after each shot. It keeps it looking neat and new and sexy.

 

[Fedzilla_Bob]

I can see it now after-market back cover skin for Bessa Rs.

Maybe some bogen Gaffer's tape - it won't leave a sticky residue.

I went out and purchased a Hakuba Neoprene strap at Long's drug store today. In anticipation of my used Bessa's arrival.

 

[Doug]

I'm left-eyed too, but don't have a Bessa-R, just an L and a T. I don't look at the back cover of my cameras... 🙂

 

[tedwhite]

The back cover of the Bessa R seems to be ABSORBENT. Unusual.

I merely cut three 2" strips of black electricians tape and placed them when my nose goes. If I ever sell the camera I'll remove the strips and, if there's any sticky stuff, Goof-Off will take care of that.

 

[tedwhite]

Just put first two pics with Bessa R in my gallery. Little girl in coffee shop and the reflections in the mirror shot.

My scanner leaves much to be desired. However, both prints are very sharp.

Ted