Voigtländer SLR for old Pentax K-Mount Lenses

[fernando_mcsoto]

So there I was looking for critics in the web about the Bessaflex

(all of them in this forum by the way) and the alternative of using a

Canon EOS with adapter instead. What I found instead is that Mr.

Kobayashi has an SLR for K-mount lenses (another mount).

You can find the info in:

<http://www.photovillage.com/html/vsl43.html>

 

As far as desing is concerns I prefer the look of the Bessaflex. But

what I find interesting is that the camera has an electronic AE

shutter and the same meter as the Bessa R2A/R3A.

[fernando_mcsoto]

Sorry for my horrible grammar today, still I hope you all understood.

[fernando_mcsoto]

What an ignorant I am!

 

This camera is just an update of the Voigtl䮤er VSL 40 that used the same shutter as the Bessa R and R2 but with the shutter and meter of the R2A/R3A.

 

 

I wonder why this series of cameras the modern Voigtl䮤er VSL 40s are not in the Voigtl䮤er website nor in Cameraquest. Also why is that they are not more agressive with their marketing and show it more. (I would never buy them though).

[gib]

very interesting....if I didnt have a Pentax PZ-1 I might be interested. I remain very very interested in a Bessaflex, since I have more M42 lenses than K or FA lenses.....I was leaning toward the *ist DS to mount all of my pentax lenses with a screwmount to K adapter or just putting the K lens I have (50 1.4) or my two FA lenses straight on the camera....but the viewfinder seemed a little too dim, and apparently the finest jpg file images are average or less, with the RAW being very good, but I am used to jpg files. So I am going to wait and see the next DSLR and hope the viewfinder is brighter and the backward lens compatibility is still there. I kind of like the pronounced bulge of the pentaprism on the VSL43, but I really like the look of the top deck layout....looks simple and efficient.

[peter_evans4]

<p>I believe I read somewhere that Cosina's license to use

the name "Voigtländer" allows it to sell cameras such as this in

south

America (or parts thereof) and not elsewhere. (Don't rely on this, but if

you're interested, it's a lead for you to verify.) Also, this is a

<s>cheap</s> inexpensive camera, so it might create, um, "cognitive

dissonance" among people thinking of paying a pile of money for a

"Voigtländer"

Nokton 35/1.2 or similar;

therefore, it's potentially bad for overall sales and Cosina might have

good

reason to keep mum about it in "rich" parts of the world.</p><p>My

entirely uneducated guess is

that the camera will be very usable and the lens will be crap. (NB I don't

have an MBA and a lot of "business" decisions seem incomprehensible

mumbo-jumbo to me -- but

less silly than plenty of consumer behaviour, including, at times, my

own.)</p>

[andrew_hall1]

This is just a Nikon FE10 (also made by Cosina) in K mount, exactly the kind of cheap, plasticky budget SLRs they were making long before the Bessa series. It's not even listed in Cosina's Japanese site - either they're embarassed about it or it's not in production anymore.

 

If people bashed the Bessaflex, imagine what a hornet's nest this thread will become!

[andrew_hall1]

X-sync up to 1/60 only - definitely not the same shutter as R2A/3A or even the FE10.

[jsbc]

My FE10 X-syncs at 1/60th. However, looking at the small photo, it seems the camera does not have AE function, so maybe it utilizes the shutter from FM10.

 

The looks is also reminiscient of the T90, or even Leica R9. The feelwill be different of course. It will be cheap and plasticiky, but this is not a problem for me. I like my FE10 just fine. It is my third camera - I now have more than 30, and I treat my cameras quite roughtly, but the FE10 is still works fine. So I don't think its being plasticky precludes usage.

 

That said, I also have a Bessaflex. It is the black version, I got mine one day before Cosina announced the Topcon version. I would have bought the silver version otherwise. Is it cheap? at US$280, it is not. But then again, it is not much more expensive than the Rebel kit or the FE10 kit that I bought. Of course, the kit comes with a zoom lens, but the lens are unusable compared to primes.

 

Going back, of course I have better cameras now, but I do not regret my decisions to get the Bessaflex and FE10. You may find better deals in the used market, for instance, it is possible to pick up some Contax or M42 items at really low prices, but I wouldn't complain about the Bessaflex or its pricing.

[gib]

I thought I saw an A on the shutter speed dial, for Automation?

[andrew_hall1]

>My FE10 X-syncs at 1/60th.

 

That's the max manually-set speed. It also auto-syncs at 1/90 but the VSL43 apparantly does not.

[fernando_mcsoto]

The camera has "A" for aperture priority. It is definetly based on the Nikon FM10 and the Pentax OM2000. Although it is fully flastic (the reason for me not to buy it) it has the advantage that with a mechanical adapter you can use both K-mount and M42 mount. I agree it is a marketing mistake to use the brand Voigtlander for such a cheap camera. They should use another name to make the difference with their own high quality products, may be just Cosina would be good.

In fact I am realising that there is no point on buying modern screw mount bodies for our old screw mount lenses, because with bayonet mount bodies with mechanic adapter (not optical) you can use screw mount lenses and bayonet mount lenses. Therefore with Leica M and Bessa M-mount bodies you can use M39 lenses and M lenses; with a K-mount body you can use M49 and K-mount; etc. From what I have found here: <http://medfmt.8k.com/bronmounts.html> (look at the end of page)you can use M42 lenses with a lot of modern bodies using mechanical adapters that have no optical effect. Unfortunately there is nothing for my FM3a.<div></div>

[fernando_mcsoto]

You can see they are all the same plastic thing. Sometimes they change the shutter and the meter.<div></div>

[fernando_mcsoto]

In fact, all this is making me think that it would make sense for Cosina to market a Bessaflex with bayonet Yashica/Contax mount, even more now that Kyocera/Yashica is out of the market, and use all those wonderful Carl Zeiss lenses. I wonder if it is possible to manufacture an adapter to use M42 lenses on a Yashica/Contax bayonet mount body because that would be an amazing seller.

[fernando_mcsoto]

MMM. I have found that the adapter for Contax/Yashica bayonet body to use M42 lenses exits already. Definetly this is the option, a modern Bessaflex body with Contax/Yashica mount and the adapter. As things are going they would probably make it using the R2A/R3A electronic shutter and meter.

[wigwam jones]

With reference to your statement that it makes "no sense" to buy an M42 body when you can put a screw-mount adapter on a K-mount (or any other) mount camera, I have to take exception.

 

With a 'native' M42 camera, you can generally stop down by means of a switch or lever so that you can meter, and the camera stops down when the photo is taken. This is important, because generally you want to focus and compose through a wide-open lens and stop down only for the moment that it takes to meter and of course, when you press the shutter button.

 

With every adapter that I am aware of (except the Rollei QBM/M42 adapter), you lose this ability. You must meter by manually stopping down, and you must manually stop down before taking your photograph. This, in my mind, is generally unacceptably slow - and nearly impossible for indoor photography.

 

So, although I have a Cosina-built Canon T60, and I could mount my M42 lenses with an FD/M42 adapter, I choose not to do so in most cases.

 

I agree with the rest you've said about the Voigtlander K-mount camera - they should have reserved the 'Voigtlander' name for a better class of camera. But like you, I still find that plastic-fantastic Cosina cameras work pretty good - despite the cheap feel. I've seldom picked up a camera that felt as light and plastic-y as my Canon T60 - but I use it all the time, and it has never let me down. Seems to take quite a beating, too. I mean, I would not pound tent stakes with it like I would with my Canon FTbN, but otherwise, it's a winner.

 

Best,

 

Wiggy

[fernando_mcsoto]

Sorry for my ignorance with the adapters. Based on what you say I can see a justification for the Bessaflex. Buying an old M42 camera and servicing it does not make the Bessaflex so much more expensive.

 

Probably it's a different story with the Bessa R2C compared to an old Contax C-Mount camera.

[john_strain]

I would love a new Bessaflex in C/Y mount to use my lovely CZ lenses with support from a company which is both innovative and still very much in existence. Like many Contax enthusiasts, I feel let down by Kyocera.

John

[fernando_mcsoto]

John you already have a Bessaflex Contax/Yashica mount: it is the Contax S2 and Contax S2b. Check the pictures of te body, shutter and LED meter design and you will see that it is the same Cosina camera but made on Titanium. Just like the FM10 is made of plastic, the Olympus OM2000 is made of metal and the Bessaflex is amde of brass.