Cosina's wide-angle Voigtlander rangefinder — the Bessa-R4A, electronic shutter, 21mm finder, M mount, 2006.
The Voigtlander Bessa-R4A is a 35mm rangefinder made by Cosina under the revived Voigtlander name, released in 2006. It is the wide-angle specialist of the M-mount Bessa line, built with a low-magnification finder to accommodate very wide lenses, and is the aperture-priority counterpart to the manual R4M.
It is a 35mm coupled-rangefinder camera using the Leica M bayonet mount. Its low-magnification viewfinder carries projected bright-line frames for wide focal lengths down to 21mm, showing 21mm, 25mm, 28mm, 35mm and 50mm frames in the finder itself. It uses an electronically controlled shutter with aperture-priority and manual exposure, so it depends on a battery to fire.
The wide-angle finder makes the R4A well suited to landscape, architecture, street and documentary photographers who work mainly with 21mm to 35mm lenses and want in-finder framing rather than accessory finders. Its aperture-priority automation speeds up shooting when the aperture is set and focus made on the wide lens.
Check the rangefinder patch for contrast and correct vertical and horizontal alignment, and inspect the wide finder for haze across its multiple bright-line frames. Because the shutter is electronic, confirm the camera fires and aperture-priority exposure works with a fresh battery, and test the meter and battery contacts; unlike the R4M this body will not fire without power.