New Bessa Wide RFs at Photokina

From Gandy's CVUG:

 

"Five years ago Tom Abrahammsson of Rapidwinder fame asked Mr. K for the

impossible, a revolutionary rangefinder M camera with 21, 25, 28, 35,

and 50 framelines.

 

Mr. K showed that camera to myself and Tom behind the scenes at

Photokina, but it is not on public display. Two versions, mechanical shutter

with the display of the R3M, or aperture priority electronic shutter

with the display of the R3A. The RF/VF is super bright and easy to see.

 

The finder is HIGH EYEPOINT! I can easily see the 21 frameline even

wearing glasses! These are unique revolutionary RF cameras, the only

such RF cameras ever made.

 

Finder magnification .52x. Manually selected 3 position frameline

selector. The R4M will be made in classic black paint, the same as the

250 R3M sets. The R4A will be made in a new smooth black matt paint

finish.

 

Price not set, but slightly higher than the R3A due to the added

complexity of the new wide angle finder. Expected delivery April 2007.

 

Mr. K continues to amaze. The M8 is getting all the press, but it was

2nd. These cameras are unique in the RF world. Bessa wide / R3 set

will cover all the framelines from 21 to 90 without auxiliary viewfinders

-- not a bad idea at all! Pics and more details once I am back in Los

Angeles.

 

Please feel free to post this info on other photo forums.

 

Stephen Gandy"

WOW! Is it LTM or M bayonet?

Make new RF cameras M bayonet receptive and make new lenses LTM with adaptors; a solution that will be advantageous to both systems. There are a hell of a lot of LTM cameras out there that will still be there as long as film is available and it would be a disservice if they weren'f allowed to benefit form lens improvements!

I'm with Dan. It's nice that Voigtlander(Cosina) and Zeiss(Cosina...) have adopted the

Leica M mount, and kept many of their lenses LTM. The whole LTM/M integrated

system seems to have been annoited the single "universal" rangefinder mount for the

present and future. This a really good thing, and gives the 35mm/digital equivalent

RF a serious advantage over the SLR market, which is still divvied up between various

mounts which are all basically single system/manufacturer exclusive. Good news for

shooters- and with all these new products which are all basically compatible, it

stands to reason that more photographers will discover the LTM/M rangefinder world.

The bigger market means security.

I really think Kobiyashi-san deserves the Nobel prize in economics, he's gotten more mileage out of the same chassis than Lee Iacoca did from the K-car.

I was hoping for a hybred shutter (like the Nikon FM3a) on the new Bessa RF camera.

Very pleasant indeed to have a respite from all of the M8 gushing.

I'm a buyer.

Wendell...Yeah, I'm getting a little sick of all the M8 gushing as well. Just think, in a few months, once the thing is released, we'll have to wade through all the griping about not being able to actually get one, where to get one, who has the shortest waiting list and so on. Then, in subsequent months/years, read all the complaints about the multitude of bugs and problems that are likely to crop up.

"Very pleasant indeed to have a respite from all of the M8 gushing."

 

You came to the right place then. Here it's mostly M8-bashing, from people who haven't even held one.

"rangefinder M camera with 21, 25, 28, 35, and 50 framelines."

 

Does this mean that Cosina will finally make a rangefinder coupled 25 mm C/V lens? The Snapshot-Skopar is great but I do wish it was coupled.

I never thought it was impossible. If you're willing to live with a 0.4 magnification, I'm sure they could make a 15 mm frameline too. The point is, do you want a camera with such a small magnification?

I want a vario mag. body like those old canons.

Mike- Stephen Gandy notes on is cameraquest.com site that the 25mm Snapshot

Skopar has been discontinued, "eventually to be replaced by a...RF coupled lens". We

can only hope it's an f2 or f2.8, and not too big or expensive to be worth it.

Yes Andrew, I predicted this at least a month a ago when the the 25 was discontinued. I am a forecaster of the future.

As opposed to being a forecaster of the past....

This may just delay my M8 entry for a few years. I am concerned about how well this will go with Leica lenses and since they are much larger than CV lenses, finder blockage may negate any usefulness if you mount a 21 or 24mm Elmarit.

I guess it's not the end of development of new RF film cameras after all. :-)

Well, good. It's about time. Tom Abrahamsson first mentioned superwide C/V RFs to

me when he and Tuulikki were in Kyoto a few years ago. Last December, while

talking to Stephen on the phone, I asked, "Are those superwides Tom and I talked

about really going to happen?" Stephen's answer was a cryptic: "Would Tom lie to

you?" So I kept the faith, and am not surprised by this news. But I am very pleased.

Meanwhile I patiently wait for the Zeiss finderless. And, of course, the M8.

This new body sounds fantastic.

 

Now only to hear about new lenses.

Hate to burst your bubble, Ronald, but this information has been up on Gandy's site

since the announcement of the 25mm Skopar's demise. But the wording sounds

more like a salesman's "buy these, before the more exensive replacement inevitably

comes along" than any fact-based industry info. Then again, Gnady doesn't post

much that turns out to be fiction where Cosina's products are concerned. Maybe you

can trust a salesman sometimes...

Not to crap on anyone's parade, I mean Cosina is fantastic and all and the sun does shine out of Mr. Kobayashis rear entry port, but for crying out loud Victor, can you just move those strap loops a little further back so that they can actually be used, as opposed to being merely decorative!? Do that, make the shutter quieter, and fix the rf so it does not go out of alignment when one merely looks at it cock-eyed, and your lovely little vixen of a camera becomes perfect.

 

Having said that I love my R3a, and Mr. K gets me vote every time, just fix it enough to where it becomes a leica killer, or is that what you are afraid of?

<p><em> fix the rf so it does not go out of alignment when one

merely looks at it cock-eyed</em></p><p>My old R is <s>brassing</s>

plasticking, but the RF has been fine.</p><p>Next, the R5a, with

1.35 viewfinder magnification and framelines for 90mm and

135mm.</p><p><small><em>Hello, person stumbling upon this exchange

four years from now via a Google search; you are not going to

say 'that was worth my time to read' about the second half because

of the possibility that

It Is Not True; but the first half may be useful as a nudge not to

ignore the R, now (2010) perhaps available used for

€14.95.</em></small></p>

Hola Peter,

 

Basically since I got mine a few months ago, the vertical has drifted ever so slightly, and

another strange thing I noticed, which I do not remember with the Leica is that if you look

anything but directly at the rf patch it disappears or the (subjective view, not mechanical)

alignment slips.

>can you just move those strap loops a little further back so that they can actually be used, as opposed to being merely decorative!?

 

It's your air-weight lens that's decorative. Use something with more heft.

 

Funny how people never complained about manual focus Nikons which all had the lugs in the same place as the Bessas.