Wanna watch? Bessa L repair?

wclark5179 · Mar 27, 2010

I replaced the leather on an early Mamiyaflex from 1955-58 vintage. This is the one with one focusing knob located on the right side. Everything was metal underneath as well as on top! No wonder why these cameras last so long!

The leather was a match to the old and fit perfectly.

Here is a source for cameras and I highly recommend them:

http://www.cameraleather.com/

Mark Fisher · Mar 27, 2010

It is interesting to compare the Bessa R to a FED2....both of which I have. The Bessas probably work reasonably well out of the factory and wear out quickly. Mine is fairly new and a pleasure to use. My FED is an indestructable, 40 year old, somewhat crude beast.......and also a pleasure to use, but very different. Looking at the pressure plateon the FED, it also looks like it's had thousands of rolls of film through it. I paid about $100 to get a good FED (took 2 or 3 tries) and about $175 on the Bessa. Which is the better camera today...the Bessa. Which will be the better camera in 10 years...the FED. Now if I spent $500 I could have the best of both worlds with an M2!

Paul Goutiere · Mar 27, 2010

Mark Fisher said:
Now if I spent $500 I could have the best of both worlds with an M2!

The M2 is a nice camera. I'm very fond of mine and have used it quite a bit recently. If I hadn't bought the lenses so long ago, I don't think I could afford it now.

Paul Goutiere · Mar 27, 2010

wclark5179 said:
I replaced the leather on an early Mamiyaflex from 1955-58 vintage. This is the one with one focusing knob located on the right side. Everything was metal underneath as well as on top! No wonder why these cameras last so long!

The leather was a match to the old and fit perfectly.

Here is a source for cameras and I highly recommend them:

http://www.cameraleather.com/

I reskinned a Rolleiflex Automat with a covering from Camera Leather. Perfect!!
I recommend them too.

goodfood · Mar 27, 2010

I have 1956 M3. Three years ago, I give it a full clean, lube, adjust and change a new curtain. The repair shop said this can use another 50 years. That mean that camera can have 100 years life. He said early M3 with DS is more durable than later SS. May be cheaper parts on late model ?

livemoa · Mar 28, 2010

I have a Bessa R2. It is a pile of crap. Rangefinder is always needing adjustment, rewind handle keeps falling off, back cover has started to fall apart twice and the leatherette, well, I think they were doing a save the glue program when mine went through the factory. That and the shutter speeds get erratic fast. My camera repair guy says they are worse than some of the older Chinese (Seagull etc.) cameras he works on. The Cosina glass is a different story.

How can the same company turn out one good, maybe even great product, and another that is almost an insult to camera buyers. If you only intend to put maybe 5 - 10 rolls a year through one it might be ok for a few years, as long as you don't bump it and upset the rangefinder .........

I almost gave mine away to somebody recently, but I liked them too much.............

Paul Goutiere · Mar 28, 2010

livemoa said:
I have a Bessa R2. It is a pile of crap. The Cosina glass is a different story.

"The Cosina glass is a different story." Yes, it appears to be quite good. I have the "Voigtlander" 15mm Heliar screw mount and so far it looks all right.

I must say that I'm a little jumpy about the whole product line. I was considering the Bessa 6x7 folder but I'm going to wait a few years until the whole story comes out.

Chris Nielsen · Mar 29, 2010

Paul Goutiere said:
I like typewriters.

In my closet is a fine Corona portable typewriter easily 65 years old. In the basement, sitting on a desk, just in case; is a Underwood #5 which should be close to 100 years old. The platens, now, are as hard as glass and the old Underwood is missing a foot but they both work. I don't use them often, but it is nice to know they still work..and that they are still there.

In the sixties I worked as a typewriter repairman for Olivetti Underwood in Kitchener Ontario for two years. After that I worked on the AM Varityper
composing machines patterned after the Hammond typewriter.

The skill sets I acquired during that time has allowed me to work on some cameras to a certain level. The knowledge I've gained by working on the few cameras I have worked on is by no way conclusive and I have a great respect for the people who do professional camera repair.

Cool, so you would be the man to see about my Olivetti issues, I guess??

P.S. I'm pretty sure replacement platens are available if you feel like making those machines like new again...

Snapper · Mar 29, 2010

I don't think the Bessa L was ever designed to compete with a Leica. It was a very early Bessa and things have definitely moved on. I bought my L NEW for £60, so I wasn't expecting much. But it works well, and is fun to use with a c/v 21mm or 15mm. I use it occassionally and have never had a problem.

I use an Bessa R2a mostly, and the build quality is excellent, no complaints there. But it's in no way a cheap 'n' cheerful camera - I don't call £650 cheap!

Paul Goutiere · Mar 29, 2010

Chris Nielsen said:
Cool, so you would be the man to see about my Olivetti issues, I guess??

Alas I had not been trained on the Olivetti line of typewriters or calculators. Just the manual Underwood typewriters and the Olivetti photocopiers.

Chris Nielsen said:
P.S. I'm pretty sure replacement platens are available if you feel like making those machines like new again...

I almost had the platens recovered on both machines but it's not like I use typewriters a lot.

Paul Goutiere · Mar 29, 2010

Snapper said:
I don't think the Bessa L was ever designed to compete with a Leica. It was a very early Bessa and things have definitely moved on. I bought my L NEW for £60, so I wasn't expecting much. But it works well, and is fun to use with a c/v 21mm or 15mm. I use it occassionally and have never had a problem.

I use an Bessa R2a mostly, and the build quality is excellent, no complaints there. But it's in no way a cheap 'n' cheerful camera - I don't call £650 cheap!

My experience is only with the Bessa L. I have never seen a Bessa R2a, other than pictures on the net. I cannot comment.
My understanding,now, is that other cameras like the R2A are very good.

Paul Goutiere · Apr 5, 2010

So I bit the bullet and adopted a nice little Leica IIIf. Wrenched on the Voigtlander 15mm Heliar.....(no they don't fit out of the box do they?) and so far have taken about 15 test shots.

The IIIf looks better, feels better, sounds better, focuses better, repairs better but is a bit more complicated to load. Not bad!

mhcfires · Apr 7, 2010

I have a IIIa, IIIf and an M2. They are wonderful cameras. I love the heft of the camera body and the quiet snap of the shutter. My Nikon D80 is nice, but it will never compare to any of the leicas or to the old Nikon F's. Sorry that you had to relegate your Bessa to the scrap heap.

iakustov · Jun 7, 2017

Paul Goutiere said:
So I bit the bullet and adopted a nice little Leica IIIf. Wrenched on the Voigtlander 15mm Heliar.....(no they don't fit out of the box do they?) and so far have taken about 15 test shots.

The IIIf looks better, feels better, sounds better, focuses better, repairs better but is a bit more complicated to load. Not bad!

I faced an advanced slip problem on my Bessa L recently, which happen starting with 20 frame or so. What I knew from this thread and (there was a url link here which no longer exists) - seems to be impossible to overcome by DIY repair, and sending for repair does not make sense due to cost of the used body on the market.

So I am looking for a nice compact LTM body to fit 15mm Heliar as a replacement for L.
Are there IIIf adoptions necessary to fit 15mm Heliar or it should work out of the box?

Paul Goutiere · Jun 19, 2017

iakustov said:
I faced an advanced slip problem on my Bessa L recently, which happen starting with 20 frame or so. What I knew from this thread and (there was a url link here which no longer exists) - seems to be impossible to overcome by DIY repair, and sending for repair does not make sense due to cost of the used body on the market.

So I am looking for a nice compact LTM body to fit 15mm Heliar as a replacement for L.
Are there IIIf adoptions necessary to fit 15mm Heliar or it should work out of the box?

I have the early version of the 15mm Heliar. When I screwed it on my iiif it was fine. I later bought an adapter to fit my
Leica M2 and I found I had to realign the mount on the lens so the built in lens hood would align with the M2 body.

dmr · Jun 21, 2017

After reading this I'm glad I did not "splurge" and get a new Bessa R series, as I thought about, when I got back into rangefinders a decade or so ago!

Wanna watch? Bessa L repair?

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