Base10 has some observations on hisnew Bessa R3a. First, it's a good little film camera. It has a nice build and a neat retro look (especially with chrome lenses). The back did inexplicably pop open on the first roll I put through it, but I'll take the hit for that. The back seems to close tightly on further examination. The lenses seem very good, although you can't actually see through them. They seem to be very solidly made. My only complaint is that the screwmount-to-M-mount adapter doesn't seem that sturdy. It dsoesn't click into place as well as the natural M-mount lenses and can indeed be removed without pressing the lens release. This seems to be a function of the adapter, not the lens. I have to experiment with the more.

My second set of comments concern the film format. The first set of negatives confirm what's good (and bad) about the 35mm format. First, it is nice to be able to take exposures with reckless abandon. It can lead to experimentation and ultimately some interesting shots. It is refreshing to be able to blow through an entire roll just for one shot. Second, the camera is very small. If your goal is candids and street shots, like I've said before it's hard to use medium format. My first roll was shot mainly from the hip at hyperfocal length eliminating the need for focusing. The perspective was interesting.

Now for the bad. My first roll was Ilford 3200. I wanted to see how the camera performed in low light. Many of the subway shots were interesting, but this film is just too fast. The grain is very visible. Not bad, of course if that's the effect you're going for, but I'll stick with HP5 for now. And of course, it's not medium format. There is considerably less to do with the negative as far as cropping goes. Once again, I don't want to generalize too much when I've only seen one roll of super-fast B&W film that was fogged because the back opened.

Then there's dust and scratches. Maybe it's just me, but I'm becoming less and less tolerant of dust and scratches.The smaller film area seems to make them more obvious to me. I may start souping my own negatives soon.

TRhat's all for now. Right now, I'm going downtown to meet Mrs. Base10 who has to register for school. I'm armed with the Bessa and all it's lenses along with the remains of a second roll of Ilford 3200, a roll of color, and two rolls of Tri-X (hows that to get a retro look). More later.

- posted by Base10 @ 4:21 PM