Re: [Leica] Entry level non-Leica

[Mark Kronquist <mak@teleport.com>]

Thanks Nathan! Cosina fit and finish are not up to Leica standards but the
cameras, particularly the R2, are pretty damn durable and the lenses are top
notch. At the recent LHSA meeting in Portland it seems like 1/2 the folks on
the trips had a CV lens or two in their bags and many had CV bodies as
well...

Marketing is marketing. Japanese manufacturers have been licensing and
working with German firms oh, since about the Leitz Minolta agreement in the
early 1970s...

hmm...

Is everything since the SL2 and M4 (or M5) cheap and plastically and not
really a Leica?

The student could have bought a nice EOS Rebel Ti with a couple cheap and
plasticy zooms for the same money...instead they bought into a classic
system! I would have loved the option to buy an R2 instead of the VG--- M2x
and 50mm Summarit I could afford in college in the mid 1980s. My images
would have been much better and the R2 would have been much more durable...

Mark in Portland

> Mark,
> 
> Have you actually ever used a Cosina/Voigtländer Bessa R2? Because I am
> sure if you had, you would not call it cheap and plasticky. That
> description may have been applicable to the first model, Bessa L, but
> since then Cosina has made big strides, and the R2 is a solid camera in
> every respect. The only thing cheap about it is the price. No, it is not
> a Leica M, the shutter is not as buttery smooth and the viewfinder not
> as nice (it is, however, the nicest viewfinder I have ever seen on a
> non-Leica camera), but then again, it costs $400 or so. To someone like
> Kit's student friend on a budget it is by far the best way to get into
> rangefinder photography--this is a camera that Leica should have
> produced. A much better option than some 50-year old clunker which
> probably cannot easily be repaired anymore. And if, as Erwin says, the
> Cosina lenses outperform all but the latest Leica lenses, then I am sure
> they also outperform the lenses found on those old Voigtländers. Plus,
> Kit's friend can use Leica M lenses on the Bessa R2 when his finances
> allow it.
> 
> As for the name: When Cosina went into this line of business they
> evidently decided that in order to be able to market to Leica
> afficionados or wannabees they needed to attach some old German name to
> it, so they perfectly legally bought the rights to use the name of a
> long-defunct German camera company from its current owners. I know that
> you and Marc James Small are very critical of this, but it was a
> legitimate marketing decision. I personally think that by now, Cosina's
> products stand on their own and the Voigtländer name is no longer
> necessary, but if it helps sales, then I am all for it. We should admire
> Cosina for having the guts to come out with a new rangefinder line in
> this day and age, and for continuing to invest in it with innovative
> products like the upcoming 1.2/35mm lens.
> 
> Nathan
> 
> Mark Rabiner wrote:
> 
>> I'm very much into Voigtländer cameras. These plastic Cosinas we are
>> talking about are good for what they are but calling themselves
>> "Voigtländer Germany" is a lie folks. Does anyone know the difference
>> between telling a like and telling the truth?
>> Look at my camera. Then look at one of these Cosinas. And tell me if
>> they have anything in common at all beside the name at the top. Buy the
>> way used Voigtländers like this made in the 50's make great starter Leicas.
>> I hope you can get through this new thing with this kid.
>> 
>> "No i don't want it cool, Leicalike, excellent and cheep used"
>> I want it plasticy and crappy and compleatly unLeicalike and new!"
>> Maybe if you phrased it not quite that way...

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