35 mm Bessa

The Bessa family of cameras was manufactured in Japan by Cosina as a revival of the Voigtländer brand name between 1999 and 2015.

Every Cosina Voigtländer Bessa camera has a double focal-plane shutter with two sets of curtains to prevent damage by the sun.

This was a finderless body with a Leica screw mount, and operation and specifications similar to SLRs built by Cosina for other brands, such as the Nikon FM10, Olympus OM-2000, and Ricoh KR-5.

The Bessa-L was supplemented in 2001 by the Bessa-T, which used the Leica M-mount, could receive a trigger advance design, and had an integrated rangefinder with high magnification, but no viewfinder.

All in all it was an inexpensive, all-manual rangefinder with TTL metering at a significantly lower price than a comparably equipped Leica M camera.

It was an updated version, with a Leica M-mount replacing the Leica screw mount, and the ability to take the same trigger advance accessory as the Bessa-T. Its quality of fabrication and overall finish was much better than the R, with magnesium alloy replacing the former model's plastic plates and a more substantial cast (as opposed to pressed) metal film rewind lever.

The changes resulted in a more solid and marginally larger camera, available in either olive (with chrome detailing) or splatter-textured black paint finishes.

The Bessa-R's self-timer was deleted from the R2, possibly due to the packaging constraints imposed on the design by the adoption of thicker metal panels.

Arguably it remains the best Bessa camera for people who wear glasses and primarily use a 40 mm lens.

They were updated versions of the Bessa R2, with the Leica M-mount and an aperture-priority automatic exposure, switchable to manual.

[13] The SW omits the rangefinder and viewfinder assembly altogether and is intended for use with ultra wide angle lenses, which take advantage of extended depth of field to enable scale focusing at a hyperfocal setting.