Well, I've just been thinking about buying a Voightlander Bessa R3a. It's a fantastic little rangefinder (I'm a fan of rangefinder) camersa. It's cheap (compared to Leica) and it works well.... people don't think you're serious when you use one (ideal for getting more genuine photos), and the Voightlander 40mm nocton single coated lens is superb. The soft focus (bokeh) is excellent.

The above image was shot on a nice little Grey Bessa R3a with 40mm nocton single coated lens at f1.4.

But the price is killing me. This is not a slight on the Bessa camera, it's more a slight on the fact that due to the strength of the Yen and the weakness of the pound, camera equipment from Japan is now costing an absolute fortune.

I don't know. The government tell us that inflation is currently 3.4% but that is ridiculous. I know my 'measurement' of inflation is based on camera equipment (hey - that's just the way I work), but inflation is actually more than how it's measured.

I'd love to get another Bessa R3a. I loved the 1:1 viewer, the lenses, and the images i managed to capture with it, but currently, the costs are too prohibitive for me.