(see paragraph #7 for mention of Voigtlander Bessamatic with 42mm screwmount).
Paul
I just returned from two days at PMA in Las Vegas.
I was fortunate to visit with Mr. Kobayashi, CEO of Cosina. We discussed his new planned Voigtlander products, existing product improvements, and my wish list of new Voigtlander products, among other things.
I am now the proud owner of one of the only two 35/1.2 Voigtlander Noktons in the Americas. The other 35/1.2 is in Tom Abrahamsson's camera bag. If you are new to rangefinders, the 35/1.2 is the fastest production coupled 35mm rangefinder lens ever made by any manufacture in any 35mm rangefinder mount. The 35/1.2 has 3 Aspherical elements, is styled like a larger 35/1.7, and is made in M mount only. The M mount is necessary due to the large rear element, this does not signal a change for Cosina Voigtlander to start switching the screw mount lenses to the less versatile M bayonet which mounts on fewer cameras. Although it is sold with a detachable hood, there is also an optional Leica style vented hood available. Production has been pushed back to May. Price is not finalized yet. I will have pics up towards the end of this week.
Plans for the commemorative R2S NHS camera in classic Nikon Rangefinder mount are well under way to becoming a fact. The new SC lenses are likewise delayed to May.
The new adapter to use classic Voigtlander Prominent lenses on classic Nikon or Contax mount rangefinders works great is and is superbly machined. fans of these lenses, especially the original 50/1.5 Nokton, should love using it with TTL metering on the Bessa R2S or R2C.
Yet another 35mm Bessa Rangefinder is planned for release towards the end of the year. it does not have AE. it will be unique among production 35mm RF cameras. that is all I can say for now. I will leave it to others to guess what it will be, but I will give no confirmations.
The Voigtlander Bessamatic name will once again appear on a new production SLR. With all metal top and bottom plates, it is a robust classical style SLR with LED metering in 42mm screw mount. It will probably be the only Pentax screw mount lens currently in production in Japan, not sure about the rest of the world.
As always, I am amazed at Mr. Kobayashi's willingness to make cameras and lenses that no other company will. He has a true commitment to classic cameras and the photographers who enjoy shooting in that non AF non digital style.
I handled the new Rollei RF, a rebadged and slightly modified Bessa R2. From the pics I thought it might be a chrome finish, but it is a silver paint. The dealer net I was quoted is $1795. I took several Rollei RF brochures as I expect the camera will have a short life span at those prices, on its way to becoming a Rollei trivia question and semi collectible.
At the Leica booth I talked with Leica CEO Cohn and the head of production, Stefan Daniels. Both are very nice people, very sharp, open minded. and open to all questions. Stefan explained that the M7 and M6P finders were improved by adding another lens to the finder to eliminate stray light, which gets rid of the M6 RF patch problem. While this modification may be offered as a M6 upgraded in the future, it is not currently not being offered.
I was surprised by the new Leica MP, I like it. My fears that Leica would discontinue the mechanical shutter M happily did not pan out. There are two MP's, the MP6 limited 400 production for the Asian market, and the MP for regular production world wide. The MP6 has a different top plate engraving, and a different body covering. The MP has a new body covering, which interestingly does not yet seem to have any official Leica name yet. Neither vulcanite nor leather, the new body cover reminds me of a kind of smooth shark skin, synthetic of course. I am told by one dealer the black paint MP .72 is getting far more orders than the silver chrome .58, .72, .85 MPs. In practical terms the new MP amounts to a classic M6 body (no TTL flash), classic M6 shutter speed dial, M3 style advance lever and rewind knob, improved M7 RF/VF, with the classic Leica script top plate engraving. In fit and finish it is definitely a step above the standard M6 and M6TTL. To be fair to Erwin's comments on the MP's comments of "Mechanical Perfection," that is the exact phrase used in the MP brochure. The USA MAP as I understand is $2595. Tradition does not come cheaply. While the $175 rewind attachment is well made and will fit the M2 / M3, Stefan said it was a better choice for the M2 due to the internal construction of the M3's rewind knob. However, the knob was too short on the example I saw. The length of the rewind tip needs to about 1/8" longer for easy use in my opinion. The bottom trigger wind Leicavit MP returns to the Leica catalog after an absence of about a half a century. At $900 and twice as expensive as Tom's Rapidwinder, I expect the Leica Leicavit will increase Tom's Rapidwinder sales.
while I concentrated on Voigtlander and Leica, PMA is being overwhelmed with digital. since I focused on the older classic cameras, I had the feeling of being in kind of a weird time warp.
PMA bottom line, more goodies for classic 35mm photography lovers from Cosina Voigtlander and Leica -- but not from anyone else (not that I saw, anyway).
Stephen
