Anyone here use a Voigtländer Bessa, or a Zeiss Ikon 35mm (film) rangefinder?

[Naboo32]

I did a forum search, but I couldn't find anything about these two current models of rangefinder, except that Andysnap has a Bessa 3A (the model that I would choose from that range, too ).

I'm curious to know how they handle, how the image quality is with the appropriate lenses in the 35-50mm range and how they compare to the Leica equivalent :shrug:!?

So, if you have (or have had) one of these cameras and can bring anything to the thread, I'd love to hear it . Cheers!

Andy

 

[woof woof]

I had a Bessa R until I recently sold it here. It was a lovely thing but I just wasn't using it so it went to a new home.

I had the Voighlander 35mm f2.5 lens and the package was really pretty faultless as far as I could see.

The rangefinder was nice and bright, brighter than Leica as far as I've read, and the exposure meter meant that you couldn't really go wrong. Images looked good to me and the sunstars in particular impressed me.

I'd recommend a Bessa to anyone interested in rangefinders as they look lovely and they're a joy to use and the only reason I sold mine was that these days I'm digital.

 

[Alan Neilson]

I agree a lovely camera I picked one up second hand quite a few years ago not used it that much but was fun to use when I did, I got it with a 35m 1.7 and also a 15mm 4.5 sadly not with the viewfinder then later picked up a 75mm for it. If you intrested in using a film rangefinder then one to recomend.

You might get more replies if this was posted in the film camera section though

 

[acs]

Not sure you can go wrong with any provided you pick one with the framelines you want. ...though you can always use an external finder.

You can get a very nice used Leica for the price of an Ikon.

R2a has 35/50/75/90mm framelines
R3a has 40/50/75/90mm -- no 35
R4a has 21/35mm, 28mm and 25/50mm
Ikon has 28+85/35/50mm

Have a nose round http://www.rangefinderforum.com/

 

[Naboo32]

Thanks guys, this is all good info (well, not for my bank balance ).

I had a Bessa R until I recently sold it here. It was a lovely thing but I just wasn't using it so it went to a new home.

I had the Voighlander 35mm f2.5 lens and the package was really pretty faultless as far as I could see.

The rangefinder was nice and bright, brighter than Leica as far as I've read, and the exposure meter meant that you couldn't really go wrong. Images looked good to me and the sunstars in particular impressed me.

I'd recommend a Bessa to anyone interested in rangefinders as they look lovely and they're a joy to use and the only reason I sold mine was that these days I'm digital.

Not sure you can go wrong with any provided you pick one with the framelines you want. ...though you can always use an external finder.

You can get a very nice used Leica for the price of an Ikon.

R2a has 35/50/75/90mm framelines
R3a has 40/50/75/90mm -- no 35
R4a has 21/35mm, 28mm and 25/50mm
Ikon has 28+85/35/50mm

Have a nose round http://www.rangefinderforum.com/

I agree a lovely camera I picked one up second hand quite a few years ago not used it that much but was fun to use when I did, I got it with a 35m 1.7 and also a 15mm 4.5 sadly not with the viewfinder then later picked up a 75mm for it. If you intrested in using a film rangefinder then one to recomend.

You might get more replies if this was posted in the film camera section though

Damn, we have one of those !


(Just checked) ... So we do! I'll ask a Mod to move this.

Thanks again for the help !

 

[Andysnap]

Andy,

I chose the R3a as it seemed to me to be the best all round camera in the range and I've been told that the 40mm f1.4 is made especially for this model. I haven't saved up enough yet for the 40mm but I do use a Jupiter f2 50mm which is producing some nice results. I find the camera is a joy to use, fits well in the hand, goes in a pocket (big pocket mind) and is a design classic. The viewfinder is definitely brighter than the admitedly few, Leica viewfinders I've looked through and the focusing is simple.

All in all I would recommend it to you. I'll get some pics up this weekend for you to have a look at.

Cheers

Andy

 

[Naboo32]

Andy,

I chose the R3a as it seemed to me to be the best all round camera in the range and I've been told that the 40mm f1.4 is made especially for this model. I haven't saved up enough yet for the 40mm but I do use a Jupiter f2 50mm which is producing some nice results. I find the camera is a joy to use, fits well in the hand, goes in a pocket (big pocket mind) and is a design classic. The viewfinder is definitely brighter than the admitedly few, Leica viewfinders I've looked through and the focusing is simple.

All in all I would recommend it to you. I'll get some pics up this weekend for you to have a look at.

Cheers

Andy

Stupendous !

Yeah, the 40mm f/1.4 would be my lens of choice. The idea of buying one of these is to carry it around more than I do my DSLRs, hence I want 'small' and (for now) just one small lens.

Still, we're talking about a grand for the pair , so I'm very much in the (cautious) planning stages with this purchase. I don't doubt that it's worth that kind of money though, as long as the image quality is in line with expectations.

(No pressure )!

 

[Andysnap]

I picked mine up 2nd hand from Real Cameras for £299 and apart from a little brassing on the rewind handle its like new. Ffordes have an excellent++ 40mm in for £319 and New for £409 but its more than likely that they would both be cheaper in Germany.

Andy

 

[Naboo32]

I picked mine up 2nd hand from Real Cameras for £299 and apart from a little brassing on the rewind handle its like new. Ffordes have an excellent++ 40mm in for £319 and New for £409 but its more than likely that they would both be cheaper in Germany.

Andy

That seems like a very good price, Andy. I've only found one retailer in Germany who stock the full range and their price is about 550GBP for a brand new R3A. Haven't seen any used ones yet, but I've only been thinking about this option for a couple of days so far :|.

You're right though, being in Germany is an advantage when it comes to buying certain camera equipment, as private sellers will sometimes only sell/post nationally.

Also, I checked out the Rangefinderforums.com link, which acs kindly posted a link to earlier. It's great! Full of RF owners (obviously) and has loads of useful info and example shots. In fact, it turned me on to the idea of maybe picking up a Leica CL with 40mm f/2 and trying RF 'on the cheap', as this combination comes in at about 350-400GBP, second-hand .

Anyway, looking forward to seeing some pics, when you have the chance.

 

[pepper]

I have a Bessa R and a Bessa R2a, the Bessa R is my favourite as it was my Fathers and it was what I first used to get back into film photography after my Dad died.

I then bought an R2a which is lovely and enables me to use the M lenses I also have, but as I also have a Leica M2 I've decided to use that instead!

The R2a was bought from here and is in great condition!...