Where to buy a Bessa R2A?

[Mr Will]

Kicking myself at the moment, have been lusting after a Voigtlander Bessa for a while (preferably an R2A) and was playing with a lovely secondhand-but-mint one at Aperture Photographic before Christmas but they've only gone and sold it! Does anyone have any suggestions for somewhere else I might pick one up for a decent price? They seem to have suddenly become like hens-teeth!

 

[sbowler579]

Purchase the latest edition of Amatuer Photographer they usually have a large amount of second hand retailers listing there wares.

 

[RaglanSurf]

I put a wanted ad on the Rangefinder forum for my R4A, picked up a very nice one that I collected from north London. Failing that all the usual suspects, Aperture you obviously know about but you could try Ffordes, Mifsuds, LCE have one for sale http://www.lcegroup.co.uk/Used/Voigtlander-BESSA-R2-BODY_81302.html not sure if it's an R2A or R2M but worth a shout.

 

[cariadus]

They do seem a bit thin on the ground at the moment. I bought an R3A on Ebay recently and there was an R2A in the UK until recently but I think it's gone now. There's one on Ebay Germany at the moment (261375487311). That's if you're prepared to take a punt on Ebay, of course.

The LCE one is an R2, so no aperture priority. Camera World have one as well at the same price. If you're prepared to live with manual metering the R2 might not be a bad option.

 

[Mr Will]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will continue the search. The R2 does look tempting at that price but I think I'll hang on for an A - I don't see a disadvantage to having the option of aperture priority available when I want it.

 

[Andysnap]

If you give Real Cameras a ring and they don't have one they will almost certainly be able to find one for you.

 

[Ambermile]

Av is for wimps

Real men guess

 

[MartynK]

Thanks for the tips guys, I will continue the search. The R2 does look tempting at that price but I think I'll hang on for an A - I don't see a disadvantage to having the option of aperture priority available when I want it.

There's no disadvantage in having aperture priority available, but it's debatable how much of an advantage it is. Personal choice really. My only film cameras are an F2 and FM, which are both completely manual, and I adjust to them without any difficulty after using my 30D with it's full range of auto and semi-auto features.

 

[Mr Will]

There's no disadvantage in having aperture priority available, but it's debatable how much of an advantage it is. Personal choice really. My only film cameras are an F2 and FM, which are both completely manual, and I adjust to them without any difficulty after using my 30D with it's full range of auto and semi-auto features.

I'm quite comfortable shooting manual in a lot of situations but one of the key uses I picture for this camera is social situations (nights out, parties, etc) with low and changing lighting conditions where I don't want to spend lots of time fiddling. That's the main thing I want some form of automatic exposure for.

 

[RaglanSurf]

I'm quite comfortable shooting manual in a lot of situations but one of the key uses I picture for this camera is social situations (nights out, parties, etc) with low and changing lighting conditions where I don't want to spend lots of time fiddling. That's the main thing I want some form of automatic exposure for.

I agree, I've got a 3A and 4A and most of the time they're on manual but sometimes the situation calls for a little shooting from the hip and having the auto option is invaluable.