The attraction in the rangefinder - it feels like doing didge with a
proper camera. Most of the controls are mechanical and I even have to
wind on. You have to focus - that makes you think about the shot. It
displays four functions on the top with needles! Like an older car.
You set AE, exposure comp., ISO and shutter speed on a wheel, like an
OM. The Leica style rewind knob becomes a wheel for scrolling through
images and options! Pull it up and it has seperate scroll functions.
It's heavy - actually feels more solid and easier to grip than an M8
to me. You FORGET TO CHIMP - you just keep shooting - like a Leica
with free film.
It makes you feel like a photographer again.
The difference between the R2 and R3 bodies (A or M) is the finder.
The 3 has a 1:1 finder with a 40mm frameline plus 50/75/90.
The 2 has a slight magnification with a 35mm framline, plus 50/75/90.
I would prefer the 3 because with a 1:1 finder, you can focus and
compose 'both eyes open' and get a floating frameline effect - great
if you're left-eyed. I also really like the old single-coated Leitz
40mm Summicron-C, an absolute bargain of a lens. You can pick up a
nice example for US$3-400 compared to a 'hell-of-a-lot-more' for a 35
or 50 'cron and it is just as good. Really. And the later multi-
coated 40mm M-Rokkor is equally bloody good.
The Epson R-D1(s) has the 1:1 finder as well (because on that, 28mm =
42mm) and the 40mm 'cron works well because although the camera has
28/35/50mm framelines, the view is set for 85% so 40mm is a good
match for the 35mm frameline and becomes 60mm equivalent.
The new Heliar collapsible will become a nice 75mm f2 portrait lens.
I held a black one today - nice finish, solid little lens and very
heavy. It felt very Leica. Gandy is selling chrome and black fro $399
which is a very good price for such a thing. It has a very short
collapse - probably more of a design statement as it would not have
been much larger as a rigid.
The 1.53x crop factor (it's a Nikon/Sony chip) also means that a 90mm
is a 135mm equivalent and a 135mm is a 200mm equivalent. How neat is
that? I just scored a 135mm late Canon finder and a Tewe variable
finder that goes to 200mm. So I now go from 18mm fisheye to 200mm/4.5
(equivalent range) on a digital rangefinder.
There was a Komura (Leica Thread, rf coupled) 200mm with finder on
ebay and I was horribly tempted but it isn't that good optically, it
was too pricey and focussing a 300mm/4.5 equivalent on a rangefinder
seems silly. One step too far perhaps? Still, it's tempting....
Andrew Fildes
afildes@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
On 24/05/2007, at 6:21 PM, Chris Barker wrote:
> Andrew
>
> That looks really good. But what's the attraction in that
> rangefinder for you?
>
> And what is the main difference between the Bessa R2 and R3?
>
> Chris
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