Retina, Retinette, Ektar, Xenar, Reomar?

[Steve M.]

I just dived into the world of Retinas, and wow, there's even more model variations than with the early Leicas! A person could spend a lot of time trying to figure out which one suits them best, so I thought I'd ask the experts here....which one should I get?

I first bought a IIa since SG likes them so much, and while I did like the camera and it's top wind lever I didn't like the cloudy, dim rangefinder (which showed infinity at about 10 feet), so back it went. Next up was a IIIc w/ a 50 2.0 Xenon. Nice, smooth camera, but now it's too big and heavy. Again the viewfinder is really dark, although the RF seems more accurate. Little jewel of a camera, but I don't like the bottom wind lever or the weight.

These cameras seem to have lots of issues w/ viewfinders and rangefinders, so I was thinking of an earlier Ia (to give me the top wind lever), but then I discovered the Retinettes. More models to decipher.

In order to avoid the dim finder and RF issues, one of those Ia's might work, and I'm thinking that since some of the Retinettes are later models they might have better finders. The Retina Ia has the 50 3.5 Ektar option, and the Retinettes seem to mostly have the lower quality Reomar (which may be a fine lens for all I know). I think the Retinettes have that bottom wind lever too.

Any suggestions? For the most bang for the buck, and to avoid complications, would a Ia w/ Ektar (not one of the rebadged Xenars) be a great camera, or what?