The Only One of Its Kind: Voigtlander Bessa R4M Review by Tyler Mattas

Written by Tyler Mattas

Early last year, I walked into a local camera shop and was surprised to see a somewhat uncommon (particularly in a US brick-and-mortar store) Voigtlander Bessa R4M sitting in the locked, glass display tower amongst a bunch of Leicas and assorted M-mount lenses.

I had never seen one in person. No one I knew owned a Bessa. No one I knew knew anyone that owned a Bessa. Most people I knew had never even heard of a Bessa. This was a camera that had always intrigued me. I was even more surprised to see that the price tag indicated it was several hundred dollars cheaper than they were going for online (eBay, MPB, etc).

“I’ll buy it, put a roll through it to say I’ve tried it, and flip it on eBay for a couple hundred bucks profit,” I thought. Nothing wrong with getting paid to try out a new camera.

Find the Voigtlander Bessa R4M on eBay.

Fast forward to today, a year and a half later, and I found myself loading my many dozenth roll just this year into that same Bessa R4M in preparation for writing this review.

In fact, out of a collection of 30+ film cameras (including the Bessa’s sister camera, the Zeiss Ikon rangefinder) – when I’m deciding what to take on a photo walk, a hike, or a vacation, I reach for the R4M about as much as every other camera combined.

I’ve spent enough time using this camera that everything about it feels second nature. I just pick it up and take good photos with it – and in that familiarity, I’ve unconsciously glossed over what makes it a good camera, what makes it an annoying camera, and most of its uniqueness and design flaws.

So I loaded that previously mentioned fresh roll to hopefully take a fresh look at the camera. I want this review to be about subjective user experience, because there’s already plenty of technical reviews of this camera out there.

But let’s back up a bit. Since there’s still no one else I know that owns a Bessa and most of the internet seems to have only heard the name and lacks any first hand experience – let’s start from the beginning…

Twelve Models of Confusion: An Overview of the Voigtlander Bessa’s Camera Models

The Bessa R4M is part of a large family of semi-modern (early 2000s), high-end lens mount (L39, M, Contax RF, and Nikon S) rangefinder cameras made by Voigtlander, who only exists as a German name being licensed by Japanese camera manufacturer Cosina (the history of Voigtlander is for another article).

Cosina has little public name recognition, but is a prolific Japanese camera and lens manufacturer that has been behind film cameras branded as Canon, Nikon, Ricoh, Olympus, Konica, amongst others – as well as still being the manufacturer of all of Voigtlander’s and all or most of Zeiss’s current production lenses.

So when the Leica snobs turn their nose up at the Bessa, saying something like “it’s not really German” – no, it’s not, but it’s hardly in bad company being a Cosina product either.

Cosina/Voigtlander is also the brains behind one of the most confusing and nonsensical camera naming schemes in history, and I would be remiss if I didn’t address it before talking any more about my specific camera model.

As I took my first shot with the Bessa today, I thought about what the first thing someone unfamiliar with the camera might want to know – and the unequivocal, immediate answer was: why the R4M and not the…

Bessa T, L, R, R2, R2A, R2M, R2C, R2S, R3A, R3M, or R4A??

A detailed break down of all the Bessa models is also its own article (and Matt Osborne has already done it for all 12, yes 12, models). For the purposes of this review, the ones that matter are the R models, specifically the M-mount R models. The regular, just plain old “R” is not M-mount, it’s L39 screw mount. The R2C and R2S are special Contax rangefinder and Nikon S mount variants with in-body focusing.

Voigtlander made sure to keep things confusing with the remaining seven models that are M-mount.

The fully mechanical, fully plastic fantastic R2 is the first of the M-mount cameras, released in 2002, and was the successor to the outdated L39 mount Bessa R. I’ve not seen or held a Bessa R2, but all internet accounts claim very light, cheap, poor feeling build quality similar to the R. It also has a fairly simplistic over/under style LED light meter and no one has anything good to say about the function and quality of the mechanical bits either.

In 2004, Voigtlander released a completely updated Bessa with a more useful LED meter that read -2 to +2 EV in half stop increments, a redesigned body made of magnesium instead of plastic, and updated mechanics – and, logically, they called it the R3…. nope. The new models were the R2A (electronic shutter with aperture priority) and R2M (fully mechanical with no auto modes).

That same year, they also released the models they did call the R3A and R3M – and, logically, these were the successors to the R2A/R2M… nope. Very confusing. So here’s the TL;DR summary to save you hours of Google searching and hair tearing trying to figure this naming scheme out.

Bessa R2: The OG M-mount body

Bessa R2A/R2M: By internet consensus the first quality Bessa bodies, available in electronic or mechanical shutter variants with 0.7x viewfinders and 35/50/75/90mm frame lines

Bessa R3A/R3M: The same camera but with a 1:1 viewfinder and 40/50/75/90mm frame lines

Bessa R4A/R4M: The same camera but with a 0.52x viewfinder and 21/25/28/35/50mm frame lines

What Makes the Bessa R4 Unique?

With that mess out of the way, we’ve finally arrived at what had always intrigued me about the Bessa R4 models: the ability to natively shoot my Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm, bypassing the workable but annoying external viewfinder I had been using on my previously mentioned Zeiss Ikon rangefinder, which has more normal 28/35/50/85 frame lines.

In fact, as per the title of this review, the Bessa R4M is the only M-mount rangefinder ever made that has native 21mm frame lines.

Of course, this comes with some trade-offs. 0.52x is quite low magnification, which has the 50mm frame lines displaying almost as small as the 85/90mm frame lines on a standard 0.7x viewfinder camera like the Zeiss or Leica M7. Even the 35mm frame lines seem to make use of less than half the viewfinder area.

But, at least for me, these are smaller compromises than having to deal with an external finder when I want to shoot at 21mm. Viewfinder obstruction is also an issue – you don’t get that wider than 21mm field of view without showing… often too much of the lens itself.

Neither of these compromises has ever prevented me from taking great photos with this camera, and as previously mentioned about forgetting quirks over time, after using the camera for awhile the “holy crap I can almost see the base of the lens” shock goes away and you just focus on your frame lines.

Back to the Fresh Roll

Now that you’re either clear or more confused on the Voigtlander Bessa variants and their specific uses, let’s get back to me starting that fresh roll and pondering user experience.

Bessa R4M Specs

Without copy/pasting a spec sheet, here’s a quick rundown of the Voigtlander Bessa R4M (find on eBay). I’d rather focus on subjective experience, because there’s already plenty of technical reviews on all the Bessa R models, but these are certainly important in understanding the camera.

• Metal, vertical travel focal plane shutter 1/2000 – 1 sec & Blub
• Fully mechanical shutter speeds, 1/125 flash sync
• ISO range 25-3200
• TTL center weighted, 19 EV meter with bottom viewfinder LED display with O for correct and ½ stop numerical indications from -2 to +2
• Manually selected frame lines (grouped as 21/35, 28, 25/50)
• Hot shoe & PC port
• Weighs 430g
• Magnesium body
• Takes 2x LR44 batteries only for the meter

The Shutter

Back in use, the first thing I noticed when I first picked up this camera was its uniquely long shutter press with almost no discernible release wall and a huge amount of over-travel. I found this quite annoying at first, particularly coming from the Zeiss’s extremely short and crisp two stage electronic shutter button.

After a couple rolls, I came to appreciate and then love the shutter button action on this camera. It reminds me a lot of the Sony A7 line, which I use daily for work.

The long travel gives plenty of margin to press and engage the light meter without accidentally tripping a shot. Like a Sony, the shutter release that comes without a click or any kind of stop or discernible wall, and then continues with significant over-travel allows for extremely smooth and disturbance free shutter presses that allow me to get away with impressively low handheld speeds.

Being able to shoot my 35mm Nokton at night, handheld at 1/8 or shoot the Color-Skopar 21mm handheld to blur a river at 1/4 and get crisp shots is certainly one of the reasons I choose to grab this camera so often.

Speaking of the shutter, when researching my original M-mount camera purchase, I noticed much whining and gnashing of teeth was taking place over the sound of the titanium shutter curtains shared by both the Bessa and the Zeiss Ikon. I do happen to be one of the many weird people that think shutter sound is an important part of the sensory experience of camera use. It’s one of the reasons why I’ve never been interested in point-and-shoot film cameras and their horrific *electronic sneeze, grind grind grind* firing noise.

Is the Bessa’s shutter louder than the subtle, clothy *shhhh thump* of a Leica M? Yes. Is it the ear piercing screech of an unlubricated garage door, audible for miles around, that most people seem to make it out to be? Absolutely not. Is it something I can describe in text? Also absolutely not.

Imagine… basically what it is… a bunch of a thin, titanium mini-blinds very quickly sliding past each other. It’s very metallic. It’s definitely higher pitched than a cloth shutter or even any modern metal shutter. It’s NOT very loud. And no, it’s not in my top ten favorite or satisfying shutter sounds ever, but it’s unique and mechanical sounding, so it’s not unpleasant either.

Strap Lug Location

What is unpleasant about this camera is something Voigtlander screwed up even worse than the model naming: the strap lug locations.

Having taken this camera apart (more on that soon), I see no technical reason the lugs couldn’t have been put on the sides of the frame (just like they are on the Zeiss). So I can’t even begin to guess why the decision was made to put them on the front of the body, causing the center of gravity with smaller lenses to be above and behind the lugs – causing the camera to flip on its back when hung from a strap.

This is mostly just a mild annoyance and makes it easier to smack the camera into things because it’s sticking so far out from your body, but it also works together with another design oversight to cause the most commonly posted about issue with these cameras: an inoperative film counter.

Film Counter Issues on the R4M

Like most newer film cameras, the film counter is a thin, lightweight disc that rides on top of a spring loaded ratcheting gear.

Whether by oversight or stupidity, on the Bessa, this disc is attached to the gear with… nothing. Only hopes, prayers, the light weight of the disc, the height of the notch on the gear that indexes the disc, and the assumption that the camera will never be jostled around in any position other than upright (see where this is going?) actually keep this disc from jumping the notch and getting jammed or falling off the gear completely.

Throw the short and light Voigtlander 35mm Color-Skopar on the camera, put it on a strap, and go for a hike where it spends six hours banging against your side while hanging on its back… and you’ll be totally unshocked to find your film counter is non-functional after hour two.

Thankfully, it’s a relatively easy fix to put some adhesive between the disc and gear like Voigtlander should have in the first place, but taking the top plate off this camera is a tedious and non-trivial job that requires some camera repair experience – so this common issue is worth being aware of and planning for.

Knock on wood, the camera has otherwise been flawless.

Halfway Through My New Roll

The Viewfinder on the Bessa R4m

If you didn’t already notice it in the viewfinder blockage example photos, the newer Bessa models (refer to the de-confusing cheat sheet at the beginning of the article) have the brightest, clearest, largest viewfinders ever fitted to any rangefinder camera aside from the Zeiss Ikon.

This is probably the best part of the user experience, particularly vs far more expensive Leicas that feel a bit dim and cramped by comparison.

And while most people see the manually selected frame lines as Voigtlander cheaping out (ability for automatic frame line selection is a nice feature of the M-mount), as I worked my way through this roll, I realized I actually use the manual frame selector to “scout” lens choice – a lot.

Have the 50mm on and want to see if 35mm would be a better fit? No need to pull the 35mm out of my pocket and swap, just flip the switch and see what the 35mm lines look like. This turns out to be another reason I grab the Bessa R4M (find on eBay) over other ones, including the Zeiss. My style is very run-and-gun. Anything that speeds up shooting, especially lens selection, is a win.

The Internal Light Meter

The meter is another win for this camera, both for speed of use and accuracy. The Bessa and the Zeiss, which share their metering system (minus how it’s displayed in the viewfinder) are the only cameras I own that I trust with slide film on the internal meter.

Unlike the Zeiss, the Bessa’s meter, which is displayed across the bottom of the viewfinder, is also very bright and clearly visible in full sun.

Whereas the Zeiss displays selected vs suggested shutter speed (or just selected in A mode), the Bessa has a more informative meter that indicates half-stop increments over or under up to 2/-2 EV, which makes it quick and easy (my favorite features) to do mental exposure compensation with its manual only shooting.

The Short Rangefinder Base Length & Focusing

Getting close to the end of the roll, I was reminded of another complaint I repeatedly saw when researching these cameras: the short rangefinder base length. The Bessa has one the shortest physical base lengths of any M-mount camera.

Through maths and geometries or something, the low magnification viewfinder of the R4M exaggerates this by shrinking the effective base length as well… and that’s all great to know in theory, but not once has it caused me missed focus.

I routinely shoot the 35mm f1.2 Nokton wide open at night and during the day (with ND filters and that nice 1/2000 max speed) without focus issues. Would the very short effective base length impact focusing on a fast, longer lens? Probably – but thankfully this camera isn’t intended to shoot lenses past 50mm.

Does the short base length impact focusing on the other Bessa models that do have 90mm frame lines? I don’t know, maybe, but that’s a problem for those owners and their review. I can focus my R4 just fine with the lenses it’s compatible with.

Mechanical vs Electric Shutter

One last point worth touching on is the M versus A version of the Bessa R4 (or any other Bessa). There’s a bit of a stigma around electrically actuated shutter film cameras, and in large part it’s unwarranted.

I personally liked the idea of getting the mechanical version of this camera because at the time the quality was unknown to me, and I’m capable of making mechanical repairs and not electronic ones.

The reality that exists past this stigma is that electronic shutter speeds require a lot fewer delicate moving parts, so are actually less prone to breakage when made well and also tend to run more accurately over time, especially when not routinely serviced.

Parts availability for repairs is going to be an issue in either case and likely require a donor camera, so you’re not actually gaining anything in that respect with a mechanical camera either. About all they are is easier to diagnose when someone goes wrong. The Zeiss Ikon is fully electronic, I’ve used it even more than the Bessa R4M, and I’ve had zero issues with it.

So while the mechanical option is nice to have and might be the way to go if you can afford it, don’t write off the A model Bessas and their significant cost savings, because the actual user experience is otherwise the same.

So Who is this Camera For, Other Than Me?

If at any point you paused reading to go check eBay prices on the Bessa R4M, you’re undoubtedly asking the next logical question: is it worth the ~$2000 they’re going for these days? The answer is, of course: it depends.

One of the best things about the large family of Bessa cameras is that Voigtlander has given us many options. At most recent check, the electronic A models go for about a $500 discount on eBay vs the mechanical M models. The R2A/M with the standard magnification finder also goes for significantly less than the more niche R3 and R4 models.

Presumably, if you’re considering this camera, as was the case with me, you already own some M-mount lenses. Do you already have a 21mm M-mount lens you want to shoot natively with parallax corrected finder lines? Refer to the article title – the R4M/A are the only options ever created. So it’s a no-brainer.

If I was someone (and I am), that likes to shoot 21mm, 24/25mm, and 35mm for a significant portion of my photos and was looking to continue that while getting into M-mount, and I wanted a mechanical camera – then yes, the Voigtlander Bessa R4M would be the obvious choice for me. I really don’t like the hassle of external finders. Even at its current inflated price, the R4M is still significantly cheaper than a Leica M6 or M7.

And again, if electronic is something you’re ok with, the R4A is otherwise identical and can be had on eBay for even less. For the price of an Leica, you could have an R4A and full assortment of Voigtlander lenses.

At the end of the day the Voigtlander Bessa R4M is an extremely niche version of a larger family of cameras that are… medium good… and certainly not good enough to justify their current exorbitant price tags. But, given that the R4M is the only one of its kind, I’m glad it exists to serve a small niche of users that I happen to be a part of.

Thank you so much, Tyler! You can find more of Tyler’s work on Instagram here, and find his eBay store here.

Leave your questions about Voigtlander Bessa R4M 35mm film camera below in the comments, and you can pick one up for yourself on eBay.

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Tyler Mattas

Tyler Mattas specializes in landscape photography, and he is a regular contributor for Shoot It With Film. You can find his other articles here.

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