It’s an old folding camera for 120 film that dates to the 1930s-40s — and even with its low-end lens and shutter is a fine performer. It’s the Voigtländer Bessa, and you can read my updated review here.
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An evening in the front yard with a 70-year-old camera
My circa 1940 Voigtländer Bessa, a medium-format folding camera, sits on prominent display in my office. It’s been in that spot the entire six years or so I’ve owned it, making it one of my earliest old-camera purchases. It came to me with a hazy lens that I have been meaning to try to clean up. This is partially why I display it in my office – I thought that seeing it every day would remind me to do the job.
Clearly, I need to find better ways to remind myself to do things.
I finally took the lens assembly apart not long ago and gently cleaned the glass as best I could. My efforts improved, but did not entirely correct, the problem. I’ve seen challenged lenses return unblemished results, so I loaded my last roll of size 120 Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros and fired off all eight frames one evening.
As this was just a test roll, I stayed close to home. This tree is in my front yard. I used the pop-up viewfinder on the top plate for all these shots, and learned that the closer I was to my subject the worse the parallax error. When I framed this, the bottom of the tree trunk was at the bottom edge of the viewfinder.
But I was happy that the slight haze that remained on the lens seemed not to matter. These images are plenty crisp and full of detail.
I made one long shot, of my neighbors’ homes and cars. (The mound of dirt and the mixed pavement are from the massive sewer project going on in my neighborhood.) I wish I had sprung for plus-sized scans, because I’d like to blow this image up and see if at full resolution I can read the nameplate on the car’s trunk lid.
My Bessa is the entry-level model of its time with a Gauthier shutter and a 110 mm f/4.5 Voigtar lens. While the better lens/shutter combinations available on this camera are more desirable to collectors, as you can see this low-spec combination returned fine results. I’ve read that this lens is best at f/11, f/16, and f/22, but in the fading evening light I shot f/5.6 or f/8 at 1/100 sec and am not disappointed in the sharpness and contrast in these photos.
I had fun; I’ll shoot this camera again. Knowing me, it’ll be another six years before I get around to it!
I had far less fun with a folding Kodak Tourist. It was just a dreadful camera. Check out the photos.
Voigtländer Bessa
Consensus is that the Germans made the finest lenses and wrapped them in well-designed, nearly indestructible bodies. Collectors fawn over their Zeiss-Ikons, Rolleis, and Leicas. But the granddaddy of all German cameras — and the oldest name in photography — is Voigtländer, which made its first optical instruments in 1756.
When I saw the very large price tags good original or even restored Voigtländers go for, I said gack. I have other ways I need to spend hundreds of dollars right now.
Then I noticed that a particular medium-format folding Voigtländer, the Bessa, routinely sold for well under $100. When new in 1929, Voigtländer marketed it to the serious amateur who wanted the name and fabled build quality but at a price that was not entirely out of reach. I kept watching and bidding and finally snagged one for about $30. Based on the lens’s serial number, Voigtländer made my Bessa between 1937 and 1942.
Voigtländer made over a million cameras using the Bessa name through 1957, but this original Bessa only through 1949 with several years off during World War II. Voigtländer added features to the Bessa several times during the run, so earlier examples lack the folding viewfinder, the door-mounted shutter release that retracts when you close the door, the bellows and lens that extend on your own when you open the door, and the mask that lets you switch between take 6×9 or 4.5×6 photos.
You could buy the camera with a range of lenses, starting with the entry-level Voigtar and moving up in sharpness from Vaskar to Skopar to Color Skopar, all uncoated, I think. They also made the camera with a range of shutters, from the simple Prontor to the higher-quality Compur and Compur Rapid. Bessas with the better lenses and shutters edge back into gack territory. My camera comes with the Voigtar lens (at f/4.5) and the Prontor shutter, which kept the price down both now and when new. Another reason the original Bessa can be had for reasonable cost is that it has no rangefinder, leaving focusing to guesswork. In general, a great way to score quality vintage glass on the cheap is to look for cameras that lack a rangefinder.
Even though the Bessa was a fairly pedestrian camera by Voigtländer’s standards, it is still full of excellent design. For example, it has a clever film delivery system that simplifies loading. A little panel over the film spool holds the film in; swing it out, drop a roll of 120 film in, and swing it back, no spindles necessary. It also comes with a mask that lets it take 4.5×6 photos. Just insert the mask into the slots, as the photo above shows. The pop-up viewfinder even has a separate pop-up mask so you can frame 4.5×6 shots.
Also notice the two exposure-counter windows on the back. That little knob between them opens the windows so you can see which exposure you’re on. If the 4.5×6 mask is not inserted, twisting the knob opens only the bottom counter window. If the mask is inserted, twisting the knob opens both windows; the top window counts the smaller exposures. At least it’s supposed to work that way; it’s broken on my Bessa.
The Bessa also tries to make focusing less error-prone, presumably for some standard film sold during this camera’s time. The focusing ring shows distance in feet, but it also includes an upside-down triangle and a circle. At f/8, focus to the upside-down triangle and everything between eight and 16 feet will be sharp. Focus to the circle and everything 20 feet and beyond will be sharp.
Unfortunately, my Bessa has issues. The shutter sticks below 1/25 second. The waist-level viewfinder is pitted. The folding viewfinder is supposed to pop up automatically when you extend the bellows, but it sticks and you have to pry it open. And the lens is hazy. This poor old girl needs a solid clean, lube, and adjustment.
If you like old folding cameras, by the way, also see my reviews of the Ansco B2 Speedex (here), the Certo Super Sport Dolly (here), and the Kodak Tourist (here). Other Voigtländers I’ve reviewed include the Vito II (here) and Vitoret LR (here). Or check out all of my camera reviews here.
This camera’s issues didn’t stop me from spooling a roll of Fujifilm Neopan 100 Acros in and seeing how she handled.
The verdict: she handled fine. I avoided the slower shutter speeds and relied on Acros’s exposure latitude to make up for however far off the faster shutter speeds might be.
I did sometimes have a little trouble framing shots through the tiny brilliant viewfinder. But just check out that swirly bokeh. The lens also delivered good sharpness and moderate contrast.
Not surprisingly given the lens’s haziness, there was some flare/ghosting in direct light.
I didn’t go far with the Bessa: every one of these photos was made in or near my yard. This is my street, which is being rebuilt after the city laid new sewer pipes in it.
To see more from this camera, check out my Voigtländer Bessa gallery.
Despite my Bessa’s problems, this sturdy camera is crammed with well-designed coolness. It is the stuff. If Homer Simpson collected cameras, he’d pick this one up and say Voigtländer, ohhhhh. Except Homer couldn’t pronounce the a-umlaut, I’m sure.
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