Why I love the Bessa R3A

[Frank-G]

Besides being black (and a good fondler), it's a Hell of a nice machine. It's solid, smooth and it feels good. I love its ease of use with it's auto exposure. I love it's Leica-like shutter whomp. But most of all, I love it's bargain price. Yup. I love the Bessa R3A, as far as new rangefinder cameras go. The only thing this Bessa is missing is a Zeiss-like 50mm F2 lens from Cosina.

 

[Roger Hicks]

Besides being black (and a good fondler), it's a Hell of a nice machine. It's solid, smooth and it feels good. I love its ease of use with it's auto exposure. I love it's Leica-like shutter whomp. But most of all, I love it's bargain price. Yup. I love the Bessa R3A, as far as new rangefinder cameras go. The only thing this Bessa is missing is a Zeiss-like 50mm F2 lens from Cosina.

I find the shutter sounds of the Bessa and the Leica distinctly different, and the meter in the R2A/R3A is the least satisfactory of any of the Bessas. Also, as my 'standard' lens is 35mm, I find the 1:1 finder less than perfect. I'd rather have my (olive green) R2 or my (black paint) MP, thanks. And I suspect I'd prefer an R2M to an R2A.

Then again I don't fondle cameras much.

Cheers,

Roger