Dan Kerin

 Voigtlander Bessa R3M

While Voigtlander are well known for making lenses, in the early 2000’s they also made a number of Leica M mount cameras. Introduced in 2006 the Voigtlander Bessa R3M was a mechanical version of the R3A that was introduced two years prior in 2004. The R3A featured an automatic exposure mode, while the R3M was fully mechanical. The R3M has many features which make it stand out from the Leica M7, which was its main competition at the time. It featured a focal plane shutter offering shutter speeds from 1 second all the way up to 1/2000th as well as 1:1 magnification on the viewfinder. Being a Voigtlander camera it offers frame lines for 40mm, 50mm, 75mm and 90mm. The R4M released later the same year offered 21mm, 25mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm frame lines with a .52x viewfinder.

Though I only shot with the camera for a day I found it very enjoyable. The camera is small and light, lighter than any Leica M mount camera and almost pocketable when paired with the Voigtlander 40mm f1.4. Having a bright clear viewfinder was great and even in harsh lighting conditions I was still able to focus clearly. The LED lights for the meter are clear however on a few occasions I did find them to be a little small compared to the LED displays on the Leica M6 or M7.

Overall, I think the Voigtlander Bessa R3M is a great camera. It’s very different from a Leica and I think that’s a good thing. If you like shooting 50mm then the R3M is a great option anything wider and the R4M would be the better option. As with many film cameras produced in the early 2000’s the production run was short and they can be harder to find than Leica’s. So if you are looking for a small lightweight rangefinder with a built in light meter the Voigtlander R3M is a brilliant option.