Which Bessa is for you?

Which Bessa is for you?

  • L

    Votes: 43 4.2%

  • T

    Votes: 59 5.8%

  • R

    Votes: 143 14.0%

  • R2

    Votes: 73 7.2%

  • R2M (Jahre 250)

    Votes: 16 1.6%

  • R2M

    Votes: 53 5.2%

  • R2A

    Votes: 112 11.0%

  • R3M (Jahre 250)

    Votes: 40 3.9%

  • R3M

    Votes: 91 8.9%

  • R3A

    Votes: 157 15.4%

  • R4M

    Votes: 118 11.6%

  • R4A

    Votes: 113 11.1%
  • Total voters
    1,018
I've recently bought (well, traded....) an R4M with 35mm Nokton f1.2 (Mk I) and 21mm f4 Color-Skopar. Although I have lots of other cameras (and I've used Leicas in the past) I got this for street and travel shooting / interiors / low light. The Color-Skopar could do with being a bit quicker but I'll just uprate XP2 Super a couple of stops.
 
After owning and keeping 4 Bessas, the (next) one for me is a compact, fixed 35mm lens rangefinder camera I hope they make one of these days... The best 35mm fixed lens compact camera ever... 🙂 I'll buy 4 when they come: 1 for my girl, 2 for my twins, and mine!
Cheers,
Juan
 
CV glass and other cameras

CV glass and other cameras

Ko.Fe. said:
. . .
Personally, I'm not into any Japanise RF LTM glass. Saving money for collapsible LTM 50mm Leitz and one day may be switching from 35 2.5P CS to slower Leitz. Not going to sell my "white" J-8 for it, with FSU glass, if you have good copy, better keep it.
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What camera are you using? I really like the Leitiz Elmar 50/3.5 on my IIIf and it makes historical sense too (even though the Summitar may well have been the original lens on the camera). But at times I want more contrast than these older Leitz lenses are capable of and the CV lenses provide that at a reasonable price. I can't say anything about the Jupiter lens. I wasted money twice purchasing FSU glass. Never again.

Ko.Fe. said:
I have P version of . . . [the Color Skopar 35mm F/2.5] and really missing convenience of focus tab [on the Classic version].
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Good point. I have the Color Skopar C or "classic" model with the focus tab; it is really nifty! Of course the Elmar has a focus tab too, but for some reason the Color Skopar focuses faster than the Elmar or any other lens I have.
 
Sold Bessa R, Summar and Summitar 50/2. I switched to M4-2 with CV 35 PII and Industar-22.
Both lenses providing good contrast and sharpness in prints.
Trying to find J-3 under reasonable price as fast lens, which renders with "character".
 
My "old" R3A brought back to life and use thanks to the 12 mm lens and the trigger winder. It is a heavy package now and the R3A's big finder is very useful for speedy focusing.

14303556915_e75d8b9ac3_o.jpg
 
My Bessa gear - (taken with a cheap digital PS)
460853687_c8d39ed107_z.jpg


The R3A with the 50/1.5 and 75/2.5 saw the most use. The R4M and 28/3.5 used almost as much. The 50/2.5, 35/2.5 and 21/4 also were used on the R4. I sold all of my Bessas and lenses a month ago and am missing them a lot. I hope the new owners will enjoy them as much as I did.
 
I bought an R2M a few years ago, sold it to focus on medium format, then bought back a R3A which I like a lot. Very efficient camera. I now look at buying an R4M for the 28mm and 35mm.
 
I recently bought an R4A specifically for the 21 (and 15mm) lenses. A 50mm is my go to lens, so it works well.

I'm already planning on picking up an R2 or an R3M for lenses longer than 50mm, though.
 
My fave has been the R4a wide-angle with built in bright lines and RF down to 21mm! no extra VFs needed.
(BTW- one available in the classifieds, and full disclosure: its mine!. I could only top the R4a with the wide angle M7, which I now have).
 
I Have Bessa L and now R. Bessa L was great for "tourist photos", landscapes etc and worked very fine. I have 15mm heliar and 35mm voitgländer. I allso have 50mm industar but havent developed photos with it yet. I have liked lightness of these. I bought R becose of RF and that's superb. Seller said that this R over lightens photos about 1/3 but let's see... For half-automatic photoing I use my Nikon FM.

I just ordered Mr Zhou's half-case for Bessa R.

Edit: Only drawback with these have been my big finger in pictures 😉
 
ray*j*gun said:
My actual fav is the R2s but it wasn't listed on the survey...
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Mine as well.
Bought one a few years ago to go along with my S3 and SP Nikons. On the plus side, the R2S has a much stronger rangefinder spot than the Nikons, as well as an on-board meter and shutter speeds that top out at 1/2000th. On the minus side not as robust a camera as any of the Nikons.
And while I've not had any problems with the Bessa, the camera just doesn't quite feel as though it will last as long as the Nikons.
Still for the money, I'm sorry I didn't buy at least one more.
And now they're out of production, scarcer than hen's teeth and cost a fortune if you can even find one.
 
The R2C is not on the list either. Lately I am walking around with the CV Color Skopar 25. Awesome camera, terrific lens.
 
My R3a gets the most use compared to my old M4-2. Seems the metering and lighter weight is what the doctor ordered. 😀
 
Where to buy a R4M in Europe

Where to buy a R4M in Europe

Much to my satisfaction I have a R2M 250 years set with additional lenses. Now I want to add a R4M. Importing to Europe would cost too much taxes etc. So I have to buy in Europe. After some research I found variuos prices. A well known Austrain shop and a well known UK dealer are at the same rather high price level, but I found one at Amazon France. The price difference is near 200 Euros cheaper. Should it be safe to order at Amazon, at this moment they have a prolonged return period. Thanks for any thoughts about this. I purchased in the past some digital equipment from Amazon and did never encountered any problems, but these where cheap things compared to the Bessa.
Many thanks in advance
Best
 
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