Sad news in the world of film photography: on Monday, the Japanese camera and lens company Cosina announced that it is discontinuing the Voigtlander Bessa 35mm rangefinder camera and a host of accessories and lenses for them. The Bessa R2M, Bessa R3M, and Bessa R4M are no more.
Over at Rangefinderforum, CameraQuest points out that just a few years ago, Voigtlander was the only brand that offered all 4 major 35mm rangefinder mounts: Leica screw, Leica M, Nikon Rangefinder, and Zeiss Contax Rangefinder.
Due to declining sales figures, Cosina is pulling the entire Bessa lineup after discontinuing the R2A, R3A, and R4A about a year ago. Many retailers still have Bessa cameras in stock, so you can probably still pick on up pretty easily in the near future if you’d like to purchase a new one.
“For those unaware of it, the R4A/R4M cameras are truly unique wide-angle rangefinders, with built in framelines for 21mm lenses,” writes CameraQuest. “Even Leica never did that. Likewise the R3A/R3M cameras have lifesize 1:1 viewfinders. Again, Leica never did that.”
Here’s the full list of discontinued products that was announced this week:
SUPER WIDE-HELIAR 15mm F4.5 Asp II
BESSA R2-M
BESSA R3-M
BESSA R4-M
Camera Case VC-5
CARRYING STRAP(BK)
SIDE GRIP
VM Micro Four Thirds Adapter
F Micro Four Thirds Adapter
SC E-mount Adapter
15mm View Finder
21/25mm View Finder
21/25mm View Finder M Silver
28mm View Finder M Silver
28mm View Finder M Black
35mm View Finder M Silver
35mm View Finder M Black
40mm View Finder
LH-1
LH-2
LH-20N
LH-28N
LH-40N
Voigtländer is one of the oldest brand names in photography, as the original optical company was founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer back in 1756. It became a renowned name in the industry over the centuries, but things started going downhill-business wide starting in the late 1900s.
After a series of sales in which the brand exchanged hands, Voigtländer was sold to Rollei. When Rollei itself collapsed in 1982, the brand ended up in the hands of a company called Ringfoto in 1997. Since 1999, Ringfoto has licensed the Voigtländer brand name to Cosina, which has been making and marketing Voigtländer gear.
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