A Bessa in my hands

Which way should I go? – Ilford HP5 – Rodinal – Bessa R2A

When Chris and I went shooting on Sunday, we swapped cameras. He’s always wanted to shoot a Leica, so I brought my M6 to town and let him have at it. He was kind enough to bring his Bessa R2a with him, another rangefinder. For the time that we spent together, I used the Bessa, he the Leica.

Of course, given two cameras, photographers can find a reason to have an impassioned argument about which is better, blah, blah, blah. Who cares? This post is my impression about using the Bessa:

First, I like the handling of the Bessa. It has a nice little protrusion on the back where your thumb fits quite naturally. A very well thought out addition. This is missing on the Leica and would improve its feel quite a bit, but as I am used to it, no big deal. The Bessa is slightly larger and bulkier. This could be an advantage to those with larger hands. The sound of the R2a is not a solid as the Leica. The Leica just ‘feels’ and sounds like a better machine.

Inside of the R2a, the display uses red LEDs to give you the selected shutter speed in a glowing red LED and the recommended shutter speed in a flashing red LED. I found this rather distracting and was the only thing that I didn’t like about it. I liked the simplicity of the Leica’s opposite pointing red arrows. No flashing at all. Also, depending on the scene, the R2a’s display was sometimes difficult to see. I’ve never experienced this with the M6.

Film loading in the R2a is much more familiar to the way I loaded it ‘back in the day’; however, as I’ve gotten used to loading the M6 in the quirky Leica way, I find it faster. That said, though, I’m usually at a loss as to what to do with the bottom plate as I’m loading, especially if I want to walk and load. Sometimes I just drop it into my pocket.

I’ve had the M6 and a 50 mm Summicron lens since I’ve had the camera and it is the only lens that I own for it. I’ve always wanted to try a 35 mm lens and Chris’s Bessa had such a lens on it. He’s wanted to try a 50 mm and that’s what I had, so it all worked out well.

As for the photos, I really enjoyed the process with the R2a. I especially liked the 35 mm lens. It gave a wider view. I came away that the 35 mm is closer to what I actually see. The 50 mm is a more narrow view. It makes me consider getting a 35 mm; however, I have come to like the lack of having a choice to change lenses. I never have regrets.

Overall, I’d say that I really liked the Bessa and if I were in the market for a rangefinder, I’d probably purchase a Bessa and a lens for the same price as I paid for the Leica body; furthermore, the manufacturers of the Bessa did a fantastic job of “borrowing from” the Leica design. Sure, they made a few changes so you’d know it was a different camera: Back load instead of bottom, LEDs instead of arrows, a few switches on the top, etc, but overall, you can tell where the design came from.

It was a good experience and one that I’m glad that I had. Thanks for the loan, Chris.