Earlier, Chippy wrote:
Originally Posted by CLE-RF
Anyway, i found myself a nice black Bessa RF with the Heliar 105/3.5 lens for not too much. Fully functional, black paint in as-new condition, clean shutter. Ready to go, so to say.
What can I expect from this camera? I'm interested in both image quality opinions as well as material/built quality remarks or observations.
its definitely one of the pretty (the best looking maybe!) 6x9 RF folders (IMO of course), it reminds me of the time when Zeppelins must of been a sight to see in the sky, also some of the sports cars were being built with those lovely curves, the bessa fits in well with those curves built into its body and sleek black top
image quality can vary, sometimes not as contrasty as you may wish (or used to in later lens) but can produce lovely shots, black and white a specialty, [under magnification] the highlights bleed into the darker areas which gives the picture a nice glow...this is some test shot i did and happened to have handy (sorry for the poor pic-but it was close by and was just a test shot) with a bessa rf w/heliar ages ago, think i was comparing it at the time to a coated heliar and also put it under the pump with using tranny, which it did very well i thought
;hence the harsh shift in tone and the redness in the skin, thats the film not the lens (colour fringing was not noticable any more than the coated heliar, in fact uncoated gave slightly more saturated tones..obviously for a proper shots i needed scrims and reflector shades to control the light more for this shot using tranny, but it gave me the comparison at the time under uncontrolled conditions, over a number of rolls, which funny enough the uncoated heliar seemed fair better in many areas, except of course very occasional flare with uncoated lens, but a hood would of made the difference
however overall the Bessa RF does very well IMO, for portrait you have to be a bit more diligent with parallax than you wold have to using the post war bessa, the pre-war bessa has a bit more..two separate windows i personally find a pain but if you get used to it your ok (worse if your swapping cameras regularly) and some people would successfully argue that the veiw and RF windows are better/brighter to look through, separated...
there are a few different models (upgrades each year or so) of the pre-war bessa so the RF image can be different depending on which you have, also things like the ability to close the red window and other small upgrades change as the model gets newer
their build quality is up there amongst the best, but is not a hockey puck by any means (needs to be looked after), it has it weak points, so it can be damaged if undue abuse or accidents have happened, as such condition is everything when it comes to the body/struts of these to ensure its struts and hinges are good before purchase ideally...RF finders can be adjusted and put right as can shutters etc
did you manage to get one with the swing away yellow filter? thats something i really like with bessa RF (its like closing a porthole! and i have few different colour filters to fit), the shutter button release is in exactly the same position as the Bessa II so i am not quite sure what Sevo means..IMO the ergonomics work very well (it one of those love hate things with the shutter release on the bessa's-but if you get along with it then its great and doesn't induce any undue shake IMO due to holding it and bracing as you 'squeeze' the trigger, dont press or pull). main difference for day to day shooting between the Bessa RF and Bessa II is the film wind knob is on the bottom and the twin windows, as i mention before twin windows bug me some but otherwise...
another great handling feature of the Bessa RF is you can focus without opening the front up which brings less attention when preparing a shot , just less work opening and closing when you feel like trying a composition out
another test shot ,,not noticable with this pic but the heliar can become unsharp because of diffraction (par for the course really), so best not to stop down too far