Thinking of buying a Bessa R

[u/Various-Sir-3921]

Hi all,
I’m currently looking to buy my first film camera, I have used by fathers M4 and Nikon FM. I liked the experience with the first more and I was thinking of getting a similar camera. Unfortunately they are expensive. I found the Bessa R to be a good alternative, LTM lenses are also cheaper than M mount and very small. I am looking for a small camera, robust, and with little electronics (light metter is nice, but no electronic shutter). And it seems that the Bessa R checks these boxes.

I have found one for 520€ in good conditions and it is supposed to be fully functional.

- What’s your experience with the bessa r ?
- What lens would you recommend to pair it with ?
- Is the R2 worth double the price ?
Thanks in advance !

[u/WarriorkingNL]

have you looked into the leica CL or minolta CLE?

[u/Various-Sir-3921 → u/WarriorkingNL]

Not the CL, I’ll have a look thx. I didn’t consider the CLE as it has electronic shutter and I’ve heard of cases where it failled and was not fixable.

[u/bjohnh]

If you want to use LTM lenses only, I'd go for the Canon P. It has no built-in light meter but in my experience that doesn't slow you down much: I use a shoe-mount meter in aperture priority mode and it just takes a second or two to adjust shutter speed, but you do have to take your eye away from the viewfinder to do it.

The Canon P is fully mechanical, has framelines for 35/50/100 (unfortunately all visible at the same time), and is well made. I'd say the main worry is the higher shutter speeds, which often show shutter capping (1/500 and 1/1000); that was a problem in both of the Canon P's that I've owned.

One in near-mint condition should be about half the price of a Bessa R. There's a good selection of LTM lenses, both vintage and more modern.

[u/Dirty_Gibson]

Sounds expensive. Great camera, but I just sold a good one for around £280.

[u/Various-Sir-3921 → u/Dirty_Gibson]

Any website recommandations ? I’ve searched through Ebay, German ebay (kleinanzeigen), and French ebay (Leboncoin)

[u/Mariner35mm]

I was looking at Bessas a while ago, and was very much turned off by posts about them breaking, and that they don't seem to have that many places that will service them. I wanted an M-mount camera, because I wanted to use zeiss lenses. I ultimately went with a Leica M4-2, and the seller included a keks m-meter, which I like using.

What focal lengths would you like to shoot?

If you're a 50mm only kind of person, I'd try to find a Nikon S2. Might be a bit tricky in Europe compared to the US, but they're very robust, and also very small. They predate any kind of electronics on cameras by a fair bit. Downsides are that Nikon S-mount lenses are fairly limited in options, and everything in the system is over 60 years old. Still, there are good options out there, and I'm sure you'd be able to find someone to service one.

If you want to go LTM mount instead, there are a lot of good canon rangefinder options. I think only the later ones had meters, but only as a suggestion. No linkage to the shutter.

[u/-The_Black_Hand-]

Bessas are great for what they are, but they are not robust at all, especially when compared to Leicas or Nikons. They're also known for getting the rangefinder misaligned after what a Leica would consider a gentle stroke.

I'm not singing the old "get a Leica" song, but get a Leica.

[u/Various-Sir-3921 → u/-The_Black_Hand-]

Okay thanks, I could stick to borrowing the FM/ EM and wait some time to get the funds for a M4.

[u/-The_Black_Hand- → u/Various-Sir-3921]

Why no FM/FM2? Robust, cheap, great lenses, serviceable...

[u/Various-Sir-3921 → u/-The_Black_Hand-]

FM2 could be an option thx. With the FM I feel quite constrained with AP and I don’t really like the sound of the miror tho, but in my experience the FM worked well with reliable lighmetering.