I received a Voiglander Cosina Bessa R2 body from Stephen Gandy yesterday and thought I would share my intitial impressions. I have previously owned a Bessa R but sold it. My other rangefinder cameras at this time are: M6.58TTL, M3, Minolta CLE, Nikon SP.

The R2 has a much more substantial feel in the hand then the Bessa R. Perhaps this is because a lot more metal was used in the construction and the body has a textured rubberized coating that grips well. It "feels" much more solid. It is not an M, but nonetheless feels good in use. The film advance lever is now ratcheted. The viewfinder is very bright and clear, at least as bright as my M6TTL. The rangefinder patch is very easy to see and I had no trouble focusing in very low light or backlight. I have not noticed any rangefinder "flare" which has been a problem with the M6TTL. Rangefinder alignment was perfect out of the box. The viewfinder has framelines for 35, 50, 75, and 90 displayed as 50 or 75 by themselves, or 35/90 combination. They are selected with a lever on top of the camera like the Bessa R and do not change automatically like the M. I wear eyeglasses and find the eye relief to be barely adequate for the 35mm framelines. If my eye is not perfectly centered I miss one side or the other of the 35 mm lines. This is no problem at all without glasses.

I tried the camera last night with a 50/2 Summicron lens and it felt well balanced and good in the hand. When I am shooting with the camera up to my eye the shutter sounds definitely louder than my M6 but much quieter than an SLR. Interestingly, if I hold the camera out at arms length and fire the shutter it sounds about the same as my CLE (my M6 is in the shop so I can't directly compare the two). I did this because I wanted to get an idea of what the shutter would sound like to the subject of a photograph rather than to the photographer. I suspect the shutter sound is only modestly louder than the M6 when both are listened to at more than 3 or 4 feet away but I cannot verify this right now. The camera does have a 1/2000 top shutter speed and a 1/125 flash sync speed. Like the R it does not have TTL flash.

Overall, my initial impression is quite favorable. I think the R2 will make an excellent entry level or second M body and is fairly priced at $500 plus change. I plan to use it as a second M body, using the M6TTL or M3 as the first body. I also think that it will be useful in situations where 1/2000 shutterspeed or 1/125 sync speed are desirable such as when I want to use fill flash or shoot wider open on a sunny day to get narrower depth of field. Once I have a chance to really use it for awhile I will report back.

-- Steve Rosenblum (stevierose@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002

Answers

steve, thanks for sharing. as stated in previous R2 discussions, I think this one is a great addition to the rangefinder market and I'm sure a lot of young/budget minded photog's will one of these up in order to get into rangefinder photography.

If I was doing Bessa R2 marketing I would offer student discount, penetrate the market/photo schools etc.

Leica watch out!

cheers,

-- pat (modlabs@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.

steve, does the r2 have ae capability?

i guess $500 sounds fair, not a screaming deal. i just got a cla'd/recovered m3 for $600 and change. i know, i know they are diff. like apples and oranges. but i don't have an ae camera anymore.

-- Steve (leitz_not_leica@hotmail.com), April 25, 2002.

If by ae you mean "auto-exposure", no it does not. It is a manual exposure camera.

-- Steve Rosenblum (stevierose@yahoo.com), April 25, 2002.

Bessa R2 = cross between Leica CL and the M6. Very nice job well done. I will be adding one to the list in about a few months no doubt.

-- Alfie Wang (leica_phile@hotmail.com), April 25, 2002.

Steve,

Many thanks for taking the time to write about the R2. Your report is clear and complete. I've been eyeing the Olive R2 in Sannomiya in Kobe and, yes, I'm going for it. No apparent patch flare is a definate plus.

In a perfect world Cosina and Leica would get together and make Leica quality lenses and cameras at Cosina prices.

By the way, T and T Abrahamsson have made a Mini-Softrelease for the R2 and other cameras that cannot take the Alfa Softrelease. I can personally recommend this little gem. My Canon 7S, P and VT, and Bessa T now have them. I have one in my bag ready for the R2.

Thanks again, Steve.

Best,

Alex

-- Alex Shishin (shishin@pp.iij4-u.or.jp), April 25, 2002.

Well, from Steve's report the R2 sounds (no pun) as good as it can be. If not for its 0.7 finder I would replace my 0.85 TTL in a wink - the rangefinder flare and the 1/50 sync speed are really testing my patience.

-- Andrew (mazurka@rocketmail.com), April 26, 2002.

I, too, am grateful for your report, Steve. I am planning to buy one with the new f2.50mm lens. I have the M4-2 and a couple of lenses, and I believe the R2 will be fine. I guess I'd rather have an M6, but for that price, I can compromise. John

-- John H Osterholm (Barjo4@attbi.com), May 05, 2002.

does leica viewfinder magnifier fits new bessa r2? thanks

-- xavier forns (x.forns@cgac.es), May 29, 2002.

Xavier - no. Leicas have a round threaded eyepiece frame - the V'landers have a rectangular eyepiece frame.

-- Andy Piper (apidens@denver.infi.net), May 29, 2002.

Alfie, except for the LED meter (which is better than the M6TTL's) its really just a barely better CL

-- Charles (cbarcellona@telocity.com), May 29, 2002.

I had a brief look at one of these yesterday and was impressed by the viewfinder: the 35 frames are very clear - clearer than the M6 lines - and the camera feels good in the hand and to use.

-- rob (rob@robertappleby.com), May 30, 2002.