[dubiousone]

This is starting to be embarrassing... Hello, My name is Nesster and I'm addicted to gear.

YOUR addicted to gear....LOL, what does that make the rest of us???

BTW, I'm starting a new chapter of CA (Cameraholics Anonymous) I'll be your sponsor if you want...

Currently fighting a losing battle NOT to click 'Buy It Now' on a couple of lenses I really don't need but I want anyway for yet ANOTHER camera I didn't need (or really want) but it was so darned pretty and the thing followed me home the other day...-->Dubious

[Jean Poitiers]

This is starting to be embarrassing... Hello, My name is Nesster and I'm addicted to gear.

"Say it ain't so, Joe ... say it ain't so ... "

[Jean Poitiers]

Bonjour, (x-post; with no answer from Darkroom thread ...)

Got a question ... I found a Rodagon 80/5.6 at my thrift shop for 2€ (believe it or not), but I fear that the elements may have separated [see weird shadow shapes towards the front element(s)] ... ? Plus there's kind of a semi-circle eclipse type shadow with the edge of the rear element ... Never seen this before ...

I am a real novice here, thus the solicitation of your expertise ... what do you think? Any effect on the image and/or worth repairing ... I am trying to set up a wet darkroom as a 2014 goal, thus my interest in possibly keeping this lens ... or just passing it along (trading it) to someone else ...

Thanks in advance for your input. Salut, J

[Nesster]

I'm not familiar with this. Digital I assume. Can you tell us more about it?

The Bessa R is a film camera, made by Cosina, for the Leica Screw Mount. The advantages are it has a large modern view finder, clear RF patch, and a TTL meter. For me the embarrassment is that this is all in a format (Leica Screw rangefinder) I'd decided not to pursue -- but somehow bought the Leica 7, the Leica 50/1.8, and now this body -- and plan at some point to get a LTM Jupiter-8, into which I can transplant my optical part Zeiss Sonnar 50/2.... My actual plan was to ignore the Leica and find me the Bessa Contax mount camera. Or ignore both range finder systems, as the Olympus OM and Pentax MX are both tiny, use tiny lenses, and do nearly everything better.

Oh, and I had this lens in transit, got it for $15, but will need either a 4x5 Graphic or a 2x3 lens board with a bigger hole... plus need to figure a secure means of mounting this on bellows.

[Argenticien]

Wow, the blades look pretty bad on that Elgeet, although I went to the completed eBay auction and noticed your seller claims they're only "jittery." If that means they open or close with a jolt a bit after you turn the ring, I suppose that doesn't matter for use on a Graphic. Still I wouldn't be surprised if you have to get in there and clean them. But it'll be worth it ... there's EIGHTEEN of them in there! Bokehlicious! And just barely more than $1 per blade ... how bad could it be?

Also your post sent me Googling around to figure out who Elgeet were, as I had never heard of that lens marque. Interesting, the days when three guys could just get together and decide to start a manufacturing company without having to know about global supply chain optimization, brand identify management, or marketing through social media and SEO.

--Dave

[Nesster]

the blades look pretty bad on that Elgeet,

Not in the least, in practice. They work smoothly (as you note, these lenses have auto nothing on the aperture, and hence 'oil on the blades' is not an issue - that's only a problem for auto diaphragm lens action) and I can unscrew the front element and expose the aperture mechanism for easy cleaning, if required.

My bigger problem is the lens is front-heavy and while I have a tube that almost works, I'd really need a reducing tube set to screw this into. That is, for use with bellows mounted on digital cameras.

[stevebrot]

This is starting to be embarrassing... Hello, My name is Nesster and I'm addicted to gear.

Dang! How long have you had the Bessa R?


Steve

[stevebrot]

ignore the Leica and find me the Bessa Contax mount camera.

My understanding is that there may still be a few NOS Bessa R2C floating around. At least Steve Gandy has them listed at cameraquest. There is always the option of a Contax-Leica M adapter


Steve


Steve

[Nesster]

Dang! How long have you had the Bessa R?


Steve

Oh I dunno, it seems to have appeared in a KEH box on Friday, they seem to have had a Year End Sale where these cameras were cheaper than on ebay. Somehow the sale has something to do with the box arriving. The R is a really nice camera, I know they say the R2 and R3 are even nicer, which on the one hand is hard to imagine... but on the other, maybe not. The R is small and light weight. That's plenty of advantage.

[Nesster]

As your sponsor, it will be my duty to remove these and keep them away from you. Give me your address and I will be over with a uhaul. How big a truck do you think I will need . . .

Well, when we moved house two years ago, I had... 4 or 5 boxes of cameras I let the movers move. Plus, I brought several cameras and lenses to my office at work and locked them in a filing cabinet. And since then I've only added more, and larger, cameras. So a regular station wagon or minivan should suffice. After all, I'd switched to photography/cameras from hi-fi/records cause they are so much smaller. So thank you for your offer, I will keep it in mind, but mind you, you'll have to remove my gateway addiction (hifi and records) at the same time.

[wombat2go]

but will need either a 4x5 Graphic or a 2x3 lens board with a bigger hole...

But the 2x3 only goes out to about 7 inch. I thought you had a big old Graflex?

[Nesster]

But the 2x3 only goes out to about 7 inch. I thought you had a big old Graflex?

Optical illusions. I have 3 2x3's.

[Agnostic]

Well, I got this M5 for 500euros, which is not too bad for a Leica....

I'm not familiar with Bessa (I think they're quite ugly, sorry Bessa users) but there are other good rangefinders around also for cheap, if you're just a 50 mm and a 35 mm shooter an humble Zorki 4k or 6 can be a good choice, otherwise the Canon 7 is excellent...for the lenses the traditional choice is the Summicron dual range that allows you to shoot at SLR distances ( 0.45 mt) and can be found for relatively cheap.

35 mm...Summaron or also a Soviet Jupiter 12, I use them both and I can't see the difference besides that the J12 for some strange reasons ad f2.8 is faster than the Summaron, that's of course a setup with vintage lenses, modern ones are different and give a different result.

This is a shot of a Jupiter 12 taken with my M3, not the best one, I've to add, I improved a lot in the last months:



This is a Summaron open at f2.8, shot a 1/30 s, hand held camera in a dark & cool London store:

I own a Bessa R2 and a Leica M2, so I have some experience with both. The Leica has the nod for build quality, but I find the Bessa and its built-in meter greatly increase usability. Also, not having that maddening loading system as found on a Leica, the Bessa is much easier to get film in and out of. My bessa is a green R2 with black leather. Build quality is very good, RF accuracy is good, and the viewfinder is very bright and clear. THe framelines are nice, and parallax-corrected. It also has a hot-shoe, 1/125 flash sync speed (rather than 1/50 like almost all Leicas) and 1/2000 top speed. The batteries for the meter are totally standard. I also like the sensical ISO wheel/shutter speed dial combo like on a K1000/MX and the fact that the shutter speed dial is easier to turn than the one on my Leica. The Bessa is easy to operate without ever taking it from your eye. Unlike an M5 or a Leica CL, it also doesn't have the meter mounted on a pole, which means you won't crash a collapsible lens into the metering cell like you can with an M5/Leica CL.

The Leica is better built, as I said, and also quieter. The bessa's shutter is fairly loud for an RF...I'd say a K-5 is quieter, but a K10D is not. The Leica also automatically brings up the 35/50/90 framelines with my lenses on their special M adapters, but the Voigtlander must be switched manually (The Leica doesn't really allow for terribly convenient manual switching though.)

All 3 of my lenses are LTM lenses on M adapters and they all work beautifully (LTM lenses tend to go for cheaper, and I actually like the idea of being able to get a Leica III or canon P later and use all my lenses on it.)

I have a 35mm f/2.5 Color Skopar, which is a quite affordable 35 and it is amazingly sharp. I've heard Voigtlander's Nokton 35/1.4 is also quite sharp, and is under $1000 brand new. It's also a lot more compact than the 1.2.

The 50 I have is a ruined Leica 50/2.8 collapsible with a hazed front element, and a not-at-all-ruined Jupiter 8 50/2 rigid lens. The Jupiter has shitty build quality but makes amazing photographs.

My long lens is a Canon Serenar 85/2 that is simply mind-blowing...super sharp with amazing Bokeh. I love it.

The Leica is worth about $800, has no meter or hotshoe (not that I care about a hotshoe) and must be loaded with at least 4 hands. The Bessa R2 is actually wonderful....it cost me $350, has a built-in accurate meter, a better top shutter speed and flash sync, easier loading, and is just plain fun to use.

I'm not taking anything away from Leicas...My M is a "Till death do us part" camera, but my bessa has been just as good to me.

EDIT: Digital option: I have an NEX-5N with cheap Leica M adapter from Amazon and the combination works beautifully, even with the M>LTM adapters on my lenses.

I've used Leicas since 1968 when I got a new M4, which I still use. (And used Pentax since 1965!) All the M's are nice (I have most), but rangefinders are a big change. Besides Bessa, the Zeiss Ikon ZM is a good alternative.
For 50mm M lenses I highly recommend the Zeiss Planar ZM in your price range. Even new it is under $1,000, and is very close to the Leica Summicron ($2,200). The Voigtlander Nokton 50 f1.5 is also a great lens, and the older LTM mount version can be found well under $1k.
For 35s, a used v2 Summicron (1969) can be found in you range, but the Zeiss Biogon (2.0 or 2.8) will out perform it. I really like the Voigtlander 35 f1.4 for its small size, but there seems to be a lot of sample variation. The Voigtlander 35 2.5 has a great reputation, and is a bargain. I recently added a 35 Summarit, and it is great, but used runs $1500.

Sorry for the late reply (been busy over the chrismas holiday) and thanks for all the useful info!

Still checking info, reviews, sample shots etc. but this is my current list of interest

Voigtlander Nokton 50/1.5 (I really like the sample shots from the old pre Cosina Nokton with the wild swirly bokeh but it's hard to find, the samples from the new Cosina version look very nice too though).
Zeiss ZM Biogon 35/2
Voigtlander 35/1.2
Voigtlander Snapshot Skopar 25/4
Voigtlander Heliar Super Wide 12mm or 15mm

Leica M2, M3, M4, M5 or M6 (not sure about the M3 because of the missing 35mm frame lines)

[Racer X 69]

Would love a 63B

Not quite sure if this counts as the thread title, but hey:

Junk drawer?

[Argenticien]

Slow night here; I offer only low-grade pr0n. I recently got another lens for the SRT102 that has recently made me leave all my Pentax kit on the shelf for awhile. Nothing special, just a 135/3.5 (the world's simplest lenses). But it's in excellent condition and cost only USD 12 with front cap, anatomically correct hood, and pleather case. (This last--not pictured--does not appeal to me; I don't store lenses in their cases, as some cases seem rather dark, moist, and stocked with spores, although this particular one doesn't look bad.)

--Dave




It's got this weird (to me) DOF preview actuator (a tall button outside the aperture ring) that is quite different to the one on my 28/3.5 (where it's a tiny slider behind the aperture ring).