RE: [Leica] M-mount Bessa-R

[MEBérubé <MEB@goodphotos.com>]

At 09:59 AM 2/8/01 -0800, Mehrdad wrote:
>I wonder, why they [Cosina] did not do it [make the Bessa an M mount] in 
>the first place, Konica did. it makes total sense, it would also bring the 
>m bodies prices down

It makes NO sense to come out with an M body to compete against Leica if 
you are also interested in selling lenses to the widest possible market. 
Cosina didn't make revolutionary tech advances with the Bessa like Konica 
did with the Hexar. By going LTM only, Cosina kept production costs down a 
bit and now has the market cornered on new LTM lenses of high quality. 
They've also lost nothing because the lenses can each be used easily on any 
M body (unlike some of Leica's own lenses they all even work on the shallow 
M bodies like the CL and M5) as well as on any classic (or new) LTM body. 
Even some of the most ardent LTM haters still picked up a Cosina 15 or 25 
for use with their M bodies because bang for the buck, they can't be beat 
with what is on the market today.

Had Cosina produced a "Bessa M" instead of the R, they would only have been 
just considered the cheapest alternative to the Hexar or M6 and not the 
saviours of that oft forgotten market of classic LTM users whose classic 
lens/body replacement supply is quickly dwindling.

I agree that now that they are established successfully (and if production 
costs allowed) they might be smart to offer an M body in addition to their 
R for those of you who have lots of M lenses and want a new knockabout body 
for them for $500.

I just got my Bessa R yesterday and am already in love with it. (I DO wish 
it were metal, but it is solid enough as a backup to the Red Dot M5. All of 
my lenses are now LTM.)

Carpe Luminem,
Michael E. Bérubé