Compact 35s have a certain appeal, but sometimes you just need a little extra. Sub
f2 perhaps, a bit of telephoto, and for me the occasional wide. The trade off of course is cost; interchangeable lenses are never the cheapest, and good bodies too come a few points above the routine camera purchase.
As efficient as the Ninja Canonet was (see below), it just wasn't going to cope with a lens change very well. Emotionally perhaps, but physically oh, the pain?
Alternatives considered included the Hexar RF (too complicated), Minolta CL and CL-E (too expensive, fraught with tech problems, including wide lens incompatibilities), Fuji TX-1 (big! expensive!), the Contax (just because) and Leica (but where's the fun in that?).
Moderate in price, and reasonable in features, the Voigtlander Bessa R3a however seemed a viable option. When the gray version was released, and with fellow filmwasters also using Cosina Bessa, I was on board like a rat up a drainpipe.
2005 Cosina Voigtlander Bessa R3a.From the Cosina stable, it comes in the company of the re-issue Zeiss Icon and the 250-year anniversary Bessa M. Sturdy and well made, it makes a good low-profile camera for my urban exploring. Not as small or quiet as the Canonet (nothing is), but still quieter (and lighter) than many others.
Adjustable frame lines for 40/90, 75 and 50? but who uses that? Not me. Hot shoe, synched at all speeds. Not used that either. External flash sync (lost the rubber plug Day One in the woods). Never used that?
However, exposure compensation and exposure lock functions work a treat. The combination shutter speed, exposure compensation and ISO-setting dial is well configured and very easy to use. I`ve become a bit of a fan of exposure compensation, so that kinda fits with my shooting profile nicely.
Ochanomizu. T-Max 3200.Lenses? A
f1.4 thing for inside abandoned buildings, and a 21mm for the wideness I was craving. As it turned out, it stays fitted with the 21mm mostly, with the 50mm
f1.4 being used for lower light situations. The fifty is the S-C version for occasional cute use in color too.
Gen Ryu. Fuji PN400.Loaded with either XP2 or T-Max 3200 behind the 50mm or 21mm, I am very happy with the results. 21mm in the street is fun, you've got to get right in there, but the results are pleasing.
Kamiyama-cho. XP2.
Ofuro. T-Max 3200.
With Voigtlander
f1,4 S.C Nokton at wide open. FujiPro 400.
Kodak Ektar 100, 21mm.
Kodak Ektar 100, 21mm.
Kodak Ektar 100, 21mm.
I am not normally a fan of extraneous accessories, but with the 21mm mounted the center-of-gravity is wrong and the camera hangs up-side-down. The side-grip solved this problem so The Sub hangs sideways. Though bought for its extra strap mount, the grip does make holding the camera easier too. Funny that.
The only sticking point is the double-jointed rewind crank often fouls the body on frame advance, locking the film transport. The first time this happened I freaked, and nearly junked the roll. A tap on the crank fixes this instantly, but it still annoys every now and then.
While I miss the Canonet's QL system, and super-quiet shutter, I now get the nice wide-angle result I was craving. Heaven. Perhaps the only extra niceness would come from 21mm framelines... Upgrade to the R4a perhaps?
Update: Wanting a little faster than the native 21mm, I recently grabbed a 21mm
f2,8 Avenon.
Also available in an eight-bladed black Millenium version (as opposed to the six-bladed silver version), with lens in decidedly better condition than well-used body and old hood:
At about 5% of the cost of the equivalent Leica, it is quite a competent lens. From a little one-man shop in Yokohama, hand-made in low quantities, it feel just glorious with hand machined aluminum and a nice solid construction. Obviously larger than the Voigtlander lens, you have to consider the extra few stops against the size & weight of the Avenon. Results? Apart from a small tendency for flare, the Avenon is very nice.
With Ektar 100 (Avenon 21mm).
With FujiPro 400 (Avenon 21mm).
With XP2 Super (Avenon 21mm).
I sold the silver Avenon, and now the black version is used exclusively on my R3, and recently on Sean's R4...
Next: Fuji Fotorama FP-1 Professional. Have fun.
