Which camera?

[Jonas Haag]

I'm thinking of buying a voigtländer Bessa camera, dont know which one really, I have thought of Bessa R3A, Is this a good camera, or is there any other camera which is better? I'm very new with rangefindercameras, so if you could give me some advices on what sort of camera would be good for me. Maybe Bessa isnt the best "beginners" rf-camera?

/Jonas

 

[kmack]

Now, there you done it, opened the "Best Rangefinder" question again.

The best camera is the one that currently has film in it. 😀

The R3a is a good camera, but there are a lot of others out there that are also "good cameras". It depends on what you want out of a camera, what features, the lens systems etc.

Spend some time perusing the forums and gallery, get the lingo down and figure out what you want to shoot and how.

Don't forget to look at some of the older fixed lens RF's.

(Personally I think the Crown Graphic is the best rangefinder camera ever make 😉)

 

[wlewisiii]

Also Mr. Gandy has some very good comparison & overview articles at http://www.cameraquest.com/classics.htm Read & absorb them & you'll be much more able to decide what you need.

Good luck!

William

 

[Vladimir Estragon]

You can spend a lot of time doing research, or you can go on over to cameraquest.com, buy yourself a nice Bessa R with a 35mm lens for $399, and get out there and shoot. You'll learn more about rangefinders in one hour of shooting than you will in a week of web surfing.

 

[chris000]

Well I'm not sure that I'm qualified to judge one camera aganst another, but I own an R3M which I have not had very long but it is fast becoming my first choice from my camera collection (and I own a few!).

I agree that the best option is to get one and get shooting, you know you won't regret it 😀