Beginner Voigtlander Bessa R

Andrew Moore

Andrew Moore

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Hello guys

I'm looking at getting a film range finder that I can go out with some black and white film with and enjoy photography whilst being forced to take my time. (Unlike digital machine gun shooting).

I've been looking at he Voigtlander Bessa R with Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 Pii.

I think this combo should be perfect however I never realised how many R cameras there are! I believe I shall need an R2 to work best with the 35mm lens however there's R2, R2A R2M, then there are the Older bodies.

So has anyone used anyway of these and would anyone have any advice on what I should ideally be looking for and what camera body I should get within this range?

Budget is sub £500 so I'm guessing that leaves between £250 and £280 for a body once I've found a lens.

Thanks
 
Andrew Moore said:
Hello guys

I'm looking at getting a film range finder that I can go out with some black and white film with and enjoy photography whilst being forced to take my time. (Unlike digital machine gun shooting).

I've been looking at he Voigtlander Bessa R with Voigtlander 35mm f2.5 Pii.

I think this combo should be perfect however I never realised how many R cameras there are! I believe I shall need an R2 to work best with the 35mm lens however there's R2, R2A R2M, then there are the Older bodies.

So has anyone used anyway of these and would anyone have any advice on what I should ideally be looking for and what camera body I should get within this range?

Budget is sub £500 so I'm guessing that leaves between £250 and £280 for a body once I've found a lens.

Thanks
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Well Andrew for your budget I would think a Bessa R would be the best bet.

Here's a link to the CameraQuest page for the R. It's a bit over the top and sometimes difficult to follow but all the info is in there.
https://www.cameraquest.com/voigrf.htm

All the Bessa R series are extremely well made and the lenses are exceptional as well. The viewfinders are huge and bright and the rangefinder patch is also very easy to see making focusing pretty simple. I think your choice of lens is spot on as well, together they would make a very nice set. I had an R3A and the 40mm f1.4 and I really wish I still did.

Andy
 
Thanks Andy!

I'd had a read over that but it raised more questions than it answered as I admit I had skimmed it looking for info before realising there were many different versions of it.

I've found a body with a few extras for about £250 And a lens for similar so fingers crossed the bidding ends there. There may even be enough left over for an M to Fuji X adaptor so I can use the lens/lenses on my Fuji kit.
 
I had a Bessa R which I got from here. A great camera to use and a good intro to rangefinder photography. I can easily recommend it.

I warn you though that if you like shooting with a rangefinder, you will find it a gateway drug to Leica :rolleyes:
 
Ruffmeister said:
I had a Bessa R which I got from here. A great camera to use and a good intro to rangefinder photography. I can easily recommend it.

I warn you though that if you like shooting with a rangefinder, you will find it a gateway drug to Leica :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

And that's the reason I've decided upon the Bessa R. If I lose £50 after a few months then it's no issue really if an M6 or an M2 finds its way into my collection. :naughty:
 
That's it, it's supposed to be a less intrusive rangefinder when compared to the Contax G1/2 that I was also looking at. On paper the Contax does look a better option but the Bessa takes M mount rather than G mount so if I ever decide to go "Leica" for both film and digital I can if I already have a lens or two... when you think about it that way I could even at some point in the future bin off the Fuji kit but let's not get ahead of myself quite yet!
 
Just a general point about Voigtlander quality, it is superb. Ergonomically the R3a I owned was perfect and both the camera and lens had a wonderful, well built feel, maybe not quite Leica but very close and at a much reduced cost. Go for it, you won't regret it and they are only going up in value.

Andy
 
I had a Bessa R3A for a while, and a Leitz Minolta CL, sharing a M-Rokkor 40mm f/2 lens. The R3A was heavier but easier to use than the CL. The lens was small and very good, AFAICS. It's worth noting that (AFAIK) the 40mm focal length is very useful indeed, but a bit of an orphan in mainstream Leica terms; I don't think you will find many Leica's with 40mm framelines. I guess if they bring up 35mm framelines you can compensate.

One other thing I learned from my 6-month experience with rangefinders... a TTL meter is very useful indeed, not just for metering (d'oh!), but also when you can't get the meter to read it might eventually remind you to take the lens cap off!
 
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