$220 burning a hole in my pocket:

[paulfish4570]

i intend to make a purchase today among these options (they are not in order):

1) canon p body for $200 or under (probably not enough money left for lens, and wondering if fsu normal lens would fit perfectly)


2) bessa r body for $200 (not enough money left for lens, and wondering if fsu normal lens would fit perfectly)

3) fedka's best fed 2 (these are such petite cameras), maybe with two lenses and a couple of leather wrist straps

4) other options?

[rxmd]

Don't worry about FSU normal lenses. Alignment problems are a problem with very fast lenses, if at all. You don't have money to burn anyway, get a Jupiter-8 or an Industar-61, they will fit.

As much as I like FSU bodies, if it's your first rangefinder I'd get a Bessa R. Having a nice modern mechanical body with metering is a nice thing, and the viewfinder runs rings around the other options.

[paulfish4570]

no, not my first rangefinder ...

[rbiemer]

Based on your other posts, how about this one:
http://fedka.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=567?

If I didn't already have a Bessa (or three..:D), I would likely pick up a decent used one and a J-8 or I-61 lens to go with it. My FSU experience has been very fun and mostly trouble free, but after using the Bessas for a while now I find it tough to go back to the FSU bodies--I really like the Bessa VF. I continue to use FSU lenses as my main stays.
Rob

[paulfish4570]

good to know, rob, the fsu normals fit the bessa so well ...

[jsrockit]

Bessa R seems to be your best bet...

[shadowfox]

bessa R or Zorki 6