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I would guess that the mechanism is more robust than M6, because the crank is not angled but straight less mechanical parts. It requires pressing the film release button on the bottom of the camera and winding the film back to the cartridge with the crank. The switch on top plate should prevent accidental opening of the camera. Just move the switch on top plate back and pull up the film rewinding crank, and the back pops open. With Bessa you don’t need to remove bottom plate to load film. Loading film is also very easy, perhaps easier that it is in Leica. This might also have something to do with the fact that Bessa R3M has dual plane shutter.īessa has no timer, but the shutter button accepts a standard mechanical shutter release. This might become problem if you shoot in quiet places and the shutter sound might be one reason to choose Leica over Bessa, since it’s shutter is much more discreet. It sounds like SLR shutter (it actually comes from Cosina’s cheap SLR line). It is true that R3M’s shutter is kind of loud. In my tests, I found the metering to be very accurate.īessa has maximum shutter speed of 2000 which is high enough for the most situations, although ND filter might be necessary if you want to open up the lens in bright conditions. I can also understand why many prefer the Leica’s super-simple led arrows. It’s more informative than Leica’s simple arrows, because you get instant feedback how much you’re off from the optimal exposure. The metering has plus/minus scale of exposure in steps of 2, 1.5, 1, 0.5. Unlike in Leica, you don’t need to turn the camera on or off. TTL center weighted metering turns on automatically when you press the shutter half way. Frame lines are parallax corrected just like in Leica and move as you focus.Ĥ0mm frame lines are kind of hard to see because they extend so far into the corners, so it might take some getting used to. There are no exact 35mm frame lines in R3M, but setting the camera to 40mm lines and anticipating the 5mm difference might not be such a big deal. The camera won’t recognize the coding in Leica’s M lenses. Since it doesn’t magnify, it allows you to shoot with both eyes open. The camera has 40/50/75/90 frame lines which must be manually set by using the switch.
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The rangefinder patch is bright even in low-light conditions and big enough for accurate focusing.īessa’s 1:1 viewfinder is bright and very easy to use. It is a delight to to use and handle this camera and the Leica-like rangefinder magic is fully present. Operating Bessa R3M is comparable experience to Leica M6 TTL. Today’s Voigtlander cameras are manufactured by Cosina company in Japan, and have nothing (except name) to do with Johann Christoph Voigtländer’s company. Nokton lenses are also manufactured by Cosina in Japan. When you hold it to your eye, people won’t get as intimidated as if you are holding a weapon-like SLR.
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R3M is also a very portable and discreet camera (at least what comes to it’s size), making it a good tool for street shooting. I don’t have any information about exactly how popular the camera is, but at least two of my friends have it. I’m not sure if it would be appropriate to call Bessa a poor man’s Leica but it is tempting to compare this camera to Leica M6 TTL since it’s similar in so many ways.
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I like that principle and I was willing to sacrifice the comfort of aperture priority mode for the sake of full mechanical operation.īessa is a popular camera here in Japan for film photographers. You can shoot with R3M even if the batteries die. And even if the in-camera electronics would bite the dust one day, it’s still possible to keep shooting with this camera.
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Since I enjoyed the full manual operation of my friend’s M6, I chose the mechanical version of Bessa (the M in the name signifies the manual/mechanical version, R3A has aperture priority and is electronic in operation). Unlike shooting with SLRs, you can view the scene during the exact moment when you take the photo there is no mirror blocking your view. There is something magical about taking a photo with a rangefinder. It is very different experience.
I have been a big fan of rangefinder cameras since my friend introduced me to his Leica M6 TTL.