Voigtlander Bessa Leica Mount Cameras Made in Japan by Cosina in partnership with Voigtlander, the many modern Voigtlander Leica Screw Mount and Leica M mount bodies offer inexpensive and often unique options into entering the world of Leica rangefinder photography. |
View Poll Results: Which of these CV Bessas is most likely to become a classic?
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Bessa L
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13 |
4.53% |
Bessa R
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55 |
19.16% |
Bessa R2
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22 |
7.67% |
Bessa T
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23 |
8.01% |
Bessa R2M/A
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23 |
8.01% |
Bessa R3M/A
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40 |
13.94% |
Bessa R4M/A
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77 |
26.83% |
None.
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34 |
11.85% |
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Greatest CV camera? |
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01-05-2016
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#1
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American abroad
traveler_101 is offline
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 1,065
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Greatest CV camera?
Now that Cosina has stopped production of its Bessa cameras, perhaps we can hazard a guess about which, if any, of these cameras is most likely to be remembered thirty years from now. Will there be a Cosina-Voigtlander "classic"?
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01-05-2016
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#2
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Dad Photographer
raid is offline
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Florida
Posts: 31,057
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WOW. 100% of the votes went to the R.
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01-05-2016
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#3
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Moderator
f16sunshine is offline
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Seattle
Age: 51
Posts: 6,257
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For me it's the R2... The Olive in particular. That's just me.
The Camera that is not on the list is the Bessa iii / Fuji GF670.
Definitely will be highly sought for as long as 120 film is available.
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Andy
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01-05-2016
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#4
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American abroad
traveler_101 is offline
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 1,065
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raid
WOW. 100% of the votes went to the R.
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Raid, do you have a R?
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01-05-2016
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#5
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American abroad
traveler_101 is offline
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 1,065
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Quote:
Originally Posted by f16sunshine
For me it's the R2... The Olive in particular. That's just me.
The Camera that is not on the list is the Bessa iii / Fuji GF670.
Definitely will be highly sought for as long as 120 film is available.
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Oops. I knew I would forget one. I should have said "which 35m camera" . . . It will be interesting to see what percentage of the vote goes to R2.
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01-05-2016
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#6
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Registered User
Huss is offline
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Venice, CA
Posts: 8,040
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R3A 1:1 finder, same guts as the Zeiss Ikon.
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01-05-2016
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#7
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Registered User
ferider is offline
Join Date: May 2005
Posts: 11,249
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Bessa T. Only one I kept (I used R, R2 and R3a), just because it's different.
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01-05-2016
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#8
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( IRL Richard Karash )
ColSebastianMoran is offline
Join Date: Sep 2010
Posts: 2,372
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What about R2S? Pretty damn nice!
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01-05-2016
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#9
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Growing with experience
kshapero is offline
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: South Florida, USA
Age: 70
Posts: 9,888
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Don't like this poll The 2,3,4 A and M's perform differently.
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01-05-2016
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#10
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Moderator
jsrockit is offline
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: Santiago, Chile
Age: 46
Posts: 20,059
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R4 in either form. It's the one that really offers something different in RFs.
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01-05-2016
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#11
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IMAGES
back alley is offline
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: true north strong & free
Posts: 49,198
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i agree with the rockitman!
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01-05-2016
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#12
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Social Documentary
kxl is offline
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Sunny SoCal
Posts: 2,988
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Definitely the R4
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01-05-2016
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#13
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Registered User
nobbylon is offline
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Nederlands
Posts: 2,683
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I voted R2 because that's what started me on my RF journey.
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01-05-2016
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#14
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eXpect me
santino is offline
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Autriche
Posts: 1,069
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Bessa L or T - both are so "old school" and minimalistic.
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01-05-2016
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#15
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rangefinder user and fancier
xayraa33 is offline
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 5,886
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The Bessa T has always caught my interest.
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01-05-2016
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#16
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Moderator
Doug is offline
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Pacific NW, USA
Posts: 13,139
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I voted R4 and it now looks like I'm in good company!
I have an R4A, T, and L, all unique in their own ways.
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01-05-2016
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#17
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Ride, dive, shoot.
coelacanth is offline
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: San Francisco, CA
Posts: 3,476
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re-realizing Bessa is now completely discontinued. I wish I could get an R4M at some point for a reasonable price.
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01-05-2016
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#18
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Late adopter.
PMCC is offline
Join Date: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,027
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Doug
I voted R4 and it now looks like I'm in good company!
I have an R4A, T, and L, all unique in their own ways.
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My favorites as well. As you say, each is unique in its own way, and I'm happy to have used them, but personally I don't see any of them becoming "classics" -- for me, the build quality is not quite there, prone to jamming and sensitive RF alignment. All great fun though. The T literally fell apart during a bumpy bike trip through southwest China -- but easily put back together once back in HK. My fourth favorite was the R, which did survive the rigors of two years in Mali and a year in China in the custody of one or another of my globetrotting kids.
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01-05-2016
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#19
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Registered User
benlees is offline
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: Edmonton, AB
Age: 47
Posts: 1,554
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Voted Bessa L- only one I've owned. Feels cheap, was cheap, but works just fine. Like it a lot.
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01-05-2016
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#20
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Registered User
ruby.monkey is offline
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: The Garden of England
Age: 49
Posts: 4,594
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I like 'em (having owned an L and an R3A, and currently enjoying a T), but I can't see any of them becoming classics.
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01-05-2016
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#21
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Registered User
bgb is offline
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: New Zealand
Age: 62
Posts: 974
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So no more camera bodies from CV ever? Just lenses?
Sorry if I sound stupid but I just re read this thread and noticed the what it's all about,I was thinking it was one of those " which is your favorite " threads.
Cancel that question as I just did a search and found the head bartenders thread.
Sad days indeed.
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Brian
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01-05-2016
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#22
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Registered User
Whateverist is offline
Join Date: May 2008
Posts: 244
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Looked back on fondly? Most of them. Greatest? Depends on what magnification you prefer. But classic? The L. There's hardly anything like it and I doubt there will be in the future.
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01-05-2016
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#23
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Registered User
tyrone.s is offline
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Down Under
Posts: 237
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I had a post that my *&^*&^*)(* Windows 10 Surface Pro ate! F*(&*(*((* windows!
Take two.
On reflection I think they'll all be remembered in some sort of conflated manner. People will see them as niche at the time, but lots of niche variation at the time. You can go rangefinder, or viewfinder-less, you can have high magnification or low magnification, screw mount or M mount or Contax / Nikon Mount. You can go plastic, metal, limited edition, regular edition, black, grey, blue, olive and that plasticky silver. They came with as great and as varied a range of wide-angled and normal lenses as has ever been offered by any maker. They were expensive enough, but not rolled in unobtanium dust by German pixies; so they appeared cheap and people (i.e. men mostly) could 'come into the fold' (after arguing value with significant others) and buy a new rangefinder.
I think these qualities will get conflated into a conceptual idea that will see all Bessa's remain memorable.
If I had to pick one though, I would go Bessa R. The L was first of course, but it feels more like a camera to sell a lens than a product like the R that people might have actually been looking for or become converted by - even if they didn't know they were looking for something like a new rangefinder. I think the R though was good enough that it would have appealed to those that already knew about rangefinders, but in a left of centre sort of way. However unlike the L, it wasn't so off the grid that it wouldn't also appeal to rangefinder neophytes. And it spawned a line of successor models.
I remember thinking back in 2003/4 as I ogled Bessa's on Stephen's site that a Bessa L was pretty cool, but a viewfinder-less camera body, for $79! How was that going to work? So perhaps the L is too niche to ever be truly memorable. But the R spawned a line of cameras and did so using existing manufacturing tech in an interesting and unexpected way to produce a rangefinder, as opposed to a light tight box. All whilst digital was sweeping the world.
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01-05-2016
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#24
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Registered User
jamin-b is offline
Join Date: Jul 2013
Posts: 443
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsrockit
R4 in either form. It's the one that really offers something different in RFs.
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Agreed! But I also like the R3A - my intro to rangefinders and still a workhorse...
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01-06-2016
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#25
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Registered User
Roger Hicks is offline
Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Aquitaine
Posts: 23,947
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Another vote for the R2 olive -- the only one I still use much. Frances likes the T.
Cheers,
R.
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01-06-2016
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#26
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Registered User
maitani is offline
Join Date: Jan 2011
Posts: 737
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Bessa R2S (Nikon RF mount) - and the Bessa IIIW imo.
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01-06-2016
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#27
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Thread Killer
ChrisPlatt is offline
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Queens NYC
Age: 58
Posts: 2,856
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The Bessa R was the original CV rangefinder, and there has been nothing like it since.
The M mount Bessa models may be better built and offer more features,
but the Bessa R sold at a price point that enabled many to join "the club".
Chris
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01-06-2016
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#28
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Registered User
newt_on_swings is offline
Join Date: Nov 2012
Posts: 30
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The R or the R4. Both amazing cameras. The R came onto the scene with a really bright view finder and the fact that it used screw mount lenses of old was awesome. Battery lasts forever on it too. Cons were the shorter base length and the plastic build. But mine has held up very well with handling, scratched to hell inside (those darn collapsible lenses) and out but working smooth.
The R4 and its huge 21mm finder is probably the biggest change up in the range finder world to date. No need for external finders for 21mm and 25mm lenses. Amazing.
Bonus: the Zeiss ikon, what a beautiful camera. Huge ebl, amazingly bright finder (my 28mm lives on this one) and uniquely located film rewind on the bottom.
CV did a great job with these cameras and I am sad to see them go. They also were amazing at producing great accessories for their cameras and lenses too. I hope their lens production sticks around. They make great stuff that's within reach for the majority of photographers.
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01-06-2016
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#29
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Moderator
f16sunshine is offline
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Age: 51
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The R2s seemed to have a "next level" build quality.
There is something special about that model indeed.
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Andy
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01-06-2016
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#30
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Moderator
jsrockit is offline
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Many seem to be giving their favorite instead of answering... "Which of these CV Bessas is most likely to become a classic?"
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01-06-2016
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#31
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Registered User
Roger Hicks is offline
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Location: Aquitaine
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsrockit
Many seem to be giving their favorite instead of answering... "Which of these CV Bessas is most likely to become a classic?"
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Don't think so. For versatility and simplicity the R2 is hard to beat and that olive drab finish really is something special. The T is unique in not having a viewfinder. I mean, how are you defining "classic"?
Of course you can argue for any of them, especially the R (the original high-end) and the L (the original original). I'd argue against the battery-dependent A-series, though.
Cheers,
R.
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01-06-2016
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#32
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Moderator
jsrockit is offline
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Fair enough Roger, the original R being a LTM body in a "modern" style RF body makes sense too. However, it is a little cheap in its build. The T, sure that was unique. R2... it's nice, but doesn't offer anything that a Leica hadn't (that I'm aware of). Pretty camera in that color though. The L doesn't count as a RF to me. The R4 with a built in 25mm VF was special.
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01-06-2016
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#33
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American abroad
traveler_101 is offline
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Location: Oslo, Norway
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The "R" is classic because it, possibly more than any single camera, laid the foundation for the "rangefinder Renaissance." "Classic" in this sense refers both back to the period before the SLR, when the LTM camera dominated photography, but it also links to the crucial period - right at the turn of the 21st century - when the rangefinder re-emerged from relative obscurity to strongly influence photography again. The R showed it was possible to link the past and the present. Without that the whole course mirror less would not have been possible.
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01-06-2016
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#34
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Moderator
jsrockit is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by traveler_101
The "R" is classic because it, possibly more than any single camera, laid the foundation for the "rangefinder Renaissance." "Classic" in this sense refers both back to the period before the SLR, when the LTM camera dominated photography, but it also links to the crucial period - right at the turn of the 21st century - when the rangefinder re-emerged from relative obscurity to strongly influence photography again. The R showed it was possible to link the past and the present. Without that the whole course mirror less would not have been possible.
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You had me until the mirrorless part... since there were already digital cameras without mirrors, the real part, that would have came anyway, was the interchangeable lens. I doubt the Bessa had anything to do with the interchangeable lens part of mirrorless... since interchangeable lenses had been around forever. However, the first Mirrorless with interchangeable lenses was the Epson R-D1... 
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01-06-2016
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#35
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Registered User
Pioneer is offline
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I voted for the R because it offered metering in a fully featured LTM mount.
But I could just as easily vote for the R2C as it also offered a meter in a fully featured Contax mount.
I use them both regularly. The R2C is certainly built to a better standard than the R but that does not stop you from enjoying the unique experience of either one.
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01-06-2016
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#36
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Moderator
jsrockit is offline
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Good points Pioneer. Ok, I've owned and used a few Bessas, but never thought about what they brought to the table.
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01-06-2016
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#37
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Registered User
vitaly66 is offline
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Posts: 78
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I'm surprised no mention of the Bessaflex TM?
It's the only CV I wished I owned, seems like an excellent platform for all the fabulous M42 lenses out there.
And it appears pleasingly designed in an authentically classic sort of way.
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01-06-2016
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#38
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Photon Collector
bobby_novatron is offline
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Location: the Great White North (Canada)
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I'm a big fan of the R4A, I love the big 1:1 viewfinder.
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01-06-2016
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#39
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Growing with experience
kshapero is offline
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Location: South Florida, USA
Age: 70
Posts: 9,888
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The R3M is my Fav. Love that exposure readout. Always wanted an R4M. Maybe
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01-06-2016
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#40
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American abroad
traveler_101 is offline
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Oslo, Norway
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jsrockit
You had me until the mirrorless part... since there were already digital cameras without mirrors, the real part, that would have came anyway, was the interchangeable lens. I doubt the Bessa had anything to do with the interchangeable lens part of mirrorless... since interchangeable lenses had been around forever. However, the first Mirrorless with interchangeable lenses was the Epson R-D1... 
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You are thinking about tech, I am thinking about inspiration for the camera's form.
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