Bessa R3A + 40mm f/1.4 lens

thelucia4 · 01-22-2005

I received the R3A and the 40mm lens from Stephen Gandy at CameraQuest a few days ago. Just want to share my initial impressions and first images taken with the camera and lens for anyone who might be interested.

As a preface, I'll say that I shoot with Nikon SLRs mainly, F100, N80, FM3A and prime lenses in the range of 28-85; and I shoot with a Hexar AF rangefinder.

My perspective is that of someone new to a manual-focus rangefinder. Having said that, I am extremely happy with the R3A. The frame lines are crisp, much sharper than the hexar's, are easy to see and compose with, and I am really enjoying viewing with them. (The 40's frame lines are pushed pretty much to the edge of the finder.)

The R3A body feels better in my hand than my fm3a does--I didn't think it would (I really like the feel of the FM3A); the r3a is a pleasure to hold (I attached the side grip). It's a bit lighter than the fm3a, perhaps a bit less brass and such, although the r3a is a metal body and feels professional and sturdy. I'm not worrying about it the way I worry about my f100s getting knocked.

The finder: I absolutely love the 1:1 viewfinder. I didn't know what to expect, but as soon as I looked through it, I knew we were a good match. Surprisingly (to me at least), I found it easy to work with both eyes open right off the bat, and I find I enjoy photographing this way. I don't quite know how to express why this is so, but I think I'm able to watch with less effort for the moment I want. I seem to take fewer frames of a subject this way, b/c I'm able to choose an image with more certainty.

Here are some photos from the first roll. The image of the cats was taken at f/1.4. The images of the lounge and the woman wrapped in a blanket were taken at f/2. The rest were taken at f/4 and f/5.6, I think. I tried to give a sense of the lens's "bokeh." Hope this is helpful.

http://www.firstpersonphoto.com/bessa40.htm

Adam Gori

peter_n · 01-22-2005

Welcome to the forum Adam!

I like your site - some very nice pics there. That Nokton 40 looks good, interestingly the OOF areas look better in B&W than the color shots I've seen...

digitalox · 01-22-2005

nice shots thanks for sharing. The 40 does look pretty good there.

Doug · 01-22-2005

Yes, good examples illustrating the character of the lens. Bokeh looks better than in other shots I've seen, perhaps due to the nature of the background items. I didn't see any specular highlights in your shots except possibly a few in the upper left of one pic. You've made the lens look good! And welcome, Adam, to RFF!