Bessa R2A / R3A
Cosina Voigtländer · Leica M mount · 24×36mm on 35mm film, hinged back · 2004
Also known as: Bessa R2A · Bessa R3A · Bessa-R2A · Bessa-R3A · Voigtländer Bessa R2A · Voigtländer Bessa R3A · Voigtlander Bessa R2A · Voigtlander Bessa R3A · ベッサR2A · ベッサR3A
Variants & identification
| Variant | Mount | Years | Serial ranges | Production |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bessa R3A, first model (2004–06) | Leica M | 2004–2006 | — | Unpublished |
| Bessa R2A, first model (2004–07) | Leica M | 2004–2007 | — | Unpublished |
| Bessa R3A grey (2005–07) | Leica M | 2005–2007 | — | Unpublished |
| Bessa R2A and R3A, second model (2007–13) | Leica M | 2007–2013 | — | Unpublished |
- Cosina's archive splits each camera into a 'first model' page and a plain page, with the price rising from 75,000 to 85,000 yen and the finish from textured to matte black. English Wikipedia's account of the same revision — January 2007, a jointed rewind lever — names the mechanical change Cosina's pages do not.
- The two effective base lengths come from Hamish Gill's 35mmc review, and they are the whole argument between the two bodies: 25 mm behind a 0.7× finder that shows a 35mm frame, or 37 mm behind a 1.0× finder that cannot go wider than 40. Neither reaches the Leica M6's 49.9 mm.
- Cosina's discontinuation notice of 10 June 2013 closed the A series — R2A, R3A and R4A together. The mechanical M bodies ran two more years.
How to tell them apart
- An A on the top plate, and a shutter dial with an A position: aperture priority from 8 s to 1/2000, the platform's first electronic shutter
- R3A: a finder with no magnification at all — 1.0×, frames for 40mm and longer, the first on any M-mount body
- R2A: the R2's 0.7× finder, 35mm frames included
Bessa R3A, first model (2004–06):
- 1.0× finder with 40/50/75/90 frames — shoot with both eyes open
- Textured ('shibo') black paint; 75,000 yen
Bessa R2A, first model (2004–07):
- 0.7× finder with 35/50/75/90 frames; otherwise the R3A
- Textured black; 75,000 yen; discontinued July 2007
Bessa R3A grey (2005–07):
- Flat grey paint, 80,000 yen, July 2005 to July 2007 (Cosina); a grey R2A is recorded by English Wikipedia for the same month
Bessa R2A and R3A, second model (2007–13):
- Matte black at 85,000 yen — R3A from May 2007, R2A from June 2007 (Cosina); English Wikipedia dates the revision to January 2007 and names the change: a jointed rewind lever
- Both discontinued June 2013, announced by Cosina on 10 June
Specifications
- Format
- 24×36mm on 35mm film, hinged back
- Finder (main)
- R2A: combined finder and coupled rangefinder, 0.7×, 35/50/75/90 frames; effective base about 25 mm (35mmc) · 0.7× magnification · 35mm, 50mm, 75mm, 90mm framelines · selectable by lever · automatic parallax correction
- Finder (R3A)
- 1.0× life-size finder, 40/50/75/90 frames; effective base 37 mm (35mmc, Macfilos) · 1× magnification · 40mm, 50mm, 75mm, 90mm framelines · selectable by lever · automatic parallax correction
- Effective baselength
- 25.16 mm
- Shutter
- Electronically controlled vertical-travel metal focal-plane; no speed without batteries · 1 s – 1/2000 and B set by hand; 8 s – 1/2000 on aperture priority · flash sync X at 1/125, hot shoe and PC
- Film advance
- Single-stroke lever; trigger winder optional
- Back
- Hinged
- Meter
- TTL centre-weighted off the shutter blades, EV 1–19 at ISO 100 and f/1.4; aperture-priority automation with exposure lock, or manual with LED match. Two LR44 / SR44.
- Weight
- 430 g
- Dimensions
- 135.5 × 81 × 33.5 mm
- Country
- Japan
- Original price
- 75,000 yen before tax at launch; 80,000 for the grey R3A; 85,000 for the 2007 second models (Cosina). About US$500–600 in America (35mmc, the Leica FAQ).
What reviewers say
- Hamish Gill (35mmc), R2A and R3A together (blog) — "The experience of shooting with two eyes open is one that really has to be experienced," and the combined speed-and-ISO dial and see-through loading beat a Leica's for convenience. Shorter bases limit fast and long lenses, the build is plainly less solid, and "for my personal tastes I prefer to use the M7."
- Matt Osborne (Leica Blog), R3A with the Nokton 40mm f/1.4 (blog) — "Very solid and feels well made" and tiny beside his medium-format kit; the 40mm's lively bokeh made it a portrait and wedding camera. Focus-and-recompose limits precision wide open off-centre, and no depth-of-field preview takes SLR habits to unlearn.
History
In the autumn of 2004 Cosina gave the Bessa an electronic shutter and, with it, aperture priority: turn the dial to A and the camera picks a speed from 8 seconds to 1/2000. It sold the result as two cameras that differ only in the finder. The R2A keeps the R2’s 0.7× finder with frames for 35, 50, 75 and 90. The R3A has a finder with no magnification at all, 1.0×, life-size, so that the photographer shoots with both eyes open and the frame floats on the world; it cannot show anything wider than 40mm, and its rangefinder base is a third longer. No M-mount camera had offered a 1:1 finder before. Both cost 75,000 yen in textured black and about $500 in America, a fifth of a Leica M7.
Cosina’s archive records the small history: a grey R3A in July 2005 at 80,000 yen, then in 2007 second models at 85,000 in matte black — English Wikipedia dates the revision to January and names the change as a jointed rewind lever — and on 10 June 2013 the discontinuation of the whole A series. The reviewers’ verdict has not changed since Hamish Gill wrote it in 2014: the two-eyed finder is an experience, the loading and the combined dial are more convenient than a Leica’s, the bases are shorter and the body less solid, and the person who can afford an M7 will prefer one.
This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.
Photographs
Live listings
Asking price, USD: a median of $2,000 across 4 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-11 (middle half $1,800–$2,200). Tracked since 2026-09-06, 3 days: unchanged from $2,000.
By day
| Date | Median | Middle half | Listings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 | $2,000 | $1,800–$2,200 | 4 |
| 2026-09-10 | $2,000 | $1,800–$2,200 | 4 |
| 2026-09-06 | $2,000 | $1,800–$2,200 | 4 |
Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.
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