Digital BW, The Print

Richard,

Definitely do not rule out the Bessa body. I have not personally used one, but have heard from longtime Leica folks--who's opinions that I respect--that the Bessa series (and glass, for that matter) are pretty damn nice.

If you decide on going with used Leica--M2/M3--I would first decide on your primary need. If you will be primarily shooting wideangle, I would go with the M2; however, if the 50 to, say, 90, will be more your speed get the M3. The old double strokes are nice, but M3 with serial numbers near or above 1 mil are considered the "best" of this breed. Dunno...we're talking with the Leitz family still owned the business...they're all good!

As for which 50...again, what kind of image do you prefer? If you lean more toward "brass tacks"--snappy contrast, razor sharp lines, etc--go with the latest Summicron. If you prefer "softer" (I put that in quotes because they ain't soft as in not sharp!) "gentler" cutting of the image on film, get one of the slightly older Summicrons before the latest series. Then, of course, there's the collapsible Elmar...the dual-range Summicron...damn, all these choices!

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Alan Huntley

> 
> From: Richard Sintchak <richcontaxg@...>
> Date: 2004/04/11 Sun PM 08:07:33 EDT
> To: "A. Huntley" <DigitalBlackandWhiteThePrint@yahoogroups.com>
> Subject: Re[4]: [Digital BW] Re: Do most of you still shoot b&w on film?
> 
> Struggling a bit as to whether I should get a Bessa R2, or a user M2
> or M3.  Even a user M2/3 can be a pretty penny.  Hoping to find a
> real ugly but working one sometime for cheap. Then it will be on to
> which 50 M lens I should get!