[bill]

Now, before I start, I should point out that this is not a Voigtlander-bashing thread. I think they make some splendid lenses, and have revitalised the rangefinder market.

But.

Some of you will remember that I dipped my toe into the RF-digital waters with an RD-1s. I kept it a few months then sold it on. No matter how I tried, I could not warm to it. I put it down to a digital thing - it bruised my workflow, and I just didn't enjoy using it. I am happy, by the way, using Olympus digital SLRs but that is a different experience altogether.

So, to my point. I recently acquired a Bessa R as a "high tech" body for my LTM lenses. Much as I love my IID, not all my screwmount lenses sit comfortably on it and I thought that a more "conventional" Bessa body would make a good backup, and occasional user.

I have just returned from a short break in Riva del Garda. A beautiful location, photogenic and easy on the eye. I took my IID and the Bessa R, with a small selection of lenses (yes really), intending to use the Leica as usual for black and white, and the Voigtlander for colour. It was the first time I had used it, leisure time being a bit of a luxury these days.

I was sorely disappointed in the Bessa. There was no one thing that made it a bad camera, but just so many things that, put together, made it not nice to use. In no particular order they were:

1. Balance - the Bessa hangs from it's strap lugs pointing skywards with anything other than the heaviest lenses.

2. Film advance - notchy and agricultural, and impossible to "inch" like an M.

3. RF patch flareout - unless your eye is exactly in the right position, the patch disappears.

4. Manual frame selection - ok, I know I should know better, but I misframed three or four times because I simply forgot to switch over.

5. Handling - I just cannot warm to the proportions of the Voigtlander body. It feels too tall to me, out of proportion to it's width and thickness.

I know this is all a very personal thing, but it just isn't a Leica. It's a camera in it's own right, I know, but just so unedifying to use. I haven't even developed the images I took with it, but I already know there are no real keepers. My mood, my eye, were affected by the experience. I ended up shooting far more than I expected with the IID, even loading it with colour film rather than go on using the Bessa.

The realisation? I think it is actually twofold. Firstly, it wasn't the digital-ness of the RD-1 that I disliked all those months ago, it was the Bessa-ness.

Secondly, Leica, in M and screwmount forms, simply is as good as it gets in terms of handling and user enjoyment. Anything else just doesn't come close.

Regards,

Bill