Bessa RF door latch.

[Muggins]

The Cassar would be most appropriate to my mind as it was a generic lens rather than a camera manufacturer's own. and a triplet like the Voigtar my Bessas have.

I'd definitely hang onto the Xpres - that's a whole level of quality above the others!

 

[Muggins]

Because of this thread I decided to complete my Bessa RF with a 645 plate. Sold alone they are at a premium and many Bessa1s are sold without one (sold separately I suppose or lost) but I managed to pick up a Bessa1 with plate but without lens/shutter for considerably less than a good Bessa 1. I'm now looking at my box of 105mm lenses to see which will fit so I can get it working, sell it cheap as a Frankencamera and keep the plate. It will be an Apotar, a Novar, a Steinheil Cassar or a Ross Xpres (though I may hold on to the Xpres).

You don't have a spare Prontor SVS shutter of the appropriate size to fit a 75mm lens into, do you? Frustratingly, because I have fixed several before, the one from my Franka Solida has me beaten.

 

[WoodallP]

You don't have a spare Prontor SVS shutter of the appropriate size to fit a 75mm lens into, do you? Frustratingly, because I have fixed several before, the one from my Franka Solida has me beaten.

Hi, I just took a look but no, just Prontos and Varios. The last couple of years I unloaded most of my Isolette spares by putting together low end cameras and giving them away, so all my Prontor (S, SV SVS) got used up. Sorry about that I would have happily sent one your way if I had one. Even the (too many) bags of unrecognisable bits don't smell of Prontor. The point is that usually you can get them working and they are very reliable and difficult to break (as opposed to Compurs!).

 

[Muggins]

Hi, I just took a look but no, just Prontos and Varios. The last couple of years I unloaded most of my Isolette spares by putting together low end cameras and giving them away, so all my Prontor (S, SV SVS) got used up. Sorry about that I would have happily sent one your way if I had one. Even the (too many) bags of unrecognisable bits don't smell of Prontor. The point is that usually you can get them working and they are very reliable and difficult to break (as opposed to Compurs!).

Such is life, and I appreciate the thought! I may park it for 10 days or so as there is a collectors event on Bicester on Saturday week, see what I can get there. I'd prefer not to buy a fixable camera for the shutter alone as then I'll feel the need to fix that etc etc etc & that way lies madness. There are spare shutters on ebay but none of quite the same pattern.

I wish I knew what I'd done wrong with this one as, as you say, they are usually pretty fixable.

 

[WoodallP]

Such is life, and I appreciate the thought! I may park it for 10 days or so as there is a collectors event on Bicester on Saturday week, see what I can get there. I'd prefer not to buy a fixable camera for the shutter alone as then I'll feel the need to fix that etc etc etc & that way lies madness. There are spare shutters on ebay but none of quite the same pattern.

I wish I knew what I'd done wrong with this one as, as you say, they are usually pretty fixable.

I understand the problem well, but you could get a fixable one, take it apart then stare at it next to the broken one, then when you spot the difference you can fix the one you just bought. Later Isolette IIs (the so called Mk 2) sometime had the SVS and it may be one of the cheaper options. However they use an 85 mm lens so the aperture numbers would be wrong if you did a swap. I think a dig through the bargain buckets at a fair are your best bet, but as a junk magnet you know that.

 

[Muggins]

as a junk magnet you know that.

I resemble that! 👍

 

[Muggins]

Something I realised last night, given the blindingly effing obvious clue that one had a 620 spool in, is that both of my Bessas have a dual-format winder that can take both 620 and 120 spools. The narrow 620 key is on the very end of the rewind key, and the broader 120 key is above it. While this sounds great, in practice (judging from practicing with a bare spool) it seems to be a solution in search of a problem, it makes loading a bit of a ballache as the key is those few millimetres longer.

 

[Darinwc]

Because of this thread I decided to complete my Bessa RF with a 645 plate. Sold alone they are at a premium and many Bessa1s are sold without one (sold separately I suppose or lost) but I managed to pick up a Bessa1 with plate but without lens/shutter for considerably less than a good Bessa 1. I'm now looking at my box of 105mm lenses to see which will fit so I can get it working, sell it cheap as a Frankencamera and keep the plate. It will be an Apotar, a Novar, a Steinheil Cassar or a Ross Xpres (though I may hold on to the Xpres).

FYI, I don't think the 645 plate from a Bessa I will work with a bessa rf or ii.

 

[WoodallP]

it looks like the plate in the thread above and fits perfectly in the RF. Only film will tell but it has all the bends in the right places. Both cameras natively used a plate so it’s possible it is the same one. I will report back when I have tested.