Sunday, May 30, 2010

Voigtlander Bessa

(I'm experimenting with trying to make a passable imitation of Thai iced coffee this afternoon. I may not sleep much tonight!)

See that little V on the front door? It's a Voigtlander Bessa, possibly a pre-war model. This camera is built like the proverbial brick S&%t house.
That X in the film window means the cover is in place preventing any light from reaching the film. The little black knob turns to move it out of the way so you can see when you've reached the next exposure when winding.


Here's a top view of the Bessa, showing the pop-up viewfinder and the depth of field scale on the right side.

The front standard has a linkage that goes to a shutter release over on the right side of the door. You can just barely see that little triangle at the top of the door. Also, this camera once had a lens cover or filter attached to a hinge still visible at the 10 o'clock position on the lens bezel. The lens itself doesn't appear to be coated at all, but then again, it's very old.


Look at that honkin' huge opening! It's 6cm by 6cm.


They recommended the use of Voigtlander film too. I've never seen Voigtlander film.

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3 Comments:

Blogger Steve A said...

So, you going to try to develop that Voigtlander film and see if there's any historic stuff on it? It MIGHT have all the answers to the conspiracy theorists WRT the Kennedy assasination (either one).

7:04 PM  
Blogger Ham said...

What I think you have there is a Baby Bessa, some suggestions that it might be a late 30's model, some that it might be 50's, hard to tell. The hinge was for a yellow filter.

If I get a chance I'll take a shot of my (small) collection.

On a separate note, are you Tulsa based? I may be ending up in Tulsa soon for work (South Boston Ave), if so I would want to find somewhere that rents bikes, wondered if you knew anywhere?

2:39 AM  
Blogger Ed W said...

Ham, Tom's Bicycles rents bikes. You can reach them at 918.481.1818. Most of us have the number memorized! Tulsa also has the Townie Bikes available for free (sorta) along the River Park Trail. That's within walking distance of downtown.

tomsbicycle.com
tulsa-townies.com

6:30 AM  

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