modern film in a 1930’s Bessa

[FallisPhoto]

must of been...i bought some 127 recently and while i was hunting down the prices i noticed one place had a warnig lable on it saying the window needed to be covered as the numbers burn through.

Well, much as it pains me to do so, I guess I'll avoid buying any efke for the next couple of months, until that lot is out of circulation.

 

[Sparrow]

this is the chap, I'm going to fit a light trap to the red window, just to be safe then is ready for it's first film since 1960

 

[FallisPhoto]

this is the chap, I'm going to fit a light trap to the red window, just to be safe then is ready for it's first film since 1960

Looks good. After a good clean and lube of the shutter and some external cleaning and polish, it will be a real beauty. Did you add the accessory shoe, or did someone else?

 

[Sparrow]

Looks good. After a good clean and lube of the shutter and some external cleaning and polish, it will be a real beauty. Did you add the accessory shoe, or did someone else?

I've got it finished now, done the internals but I'm keeping the outside patina.

all the speeds sound OK, 1sec may be a bit slow, but that's not a bad thing

made a gasket for the window so we're good for launch

 

[Silva Lining]

Great!, Look forward to seeing your pictures!

 

[chippy]

moving along like a runaway train Stewart, excellent. the ol girl will get a surprise be loaded with film again.

Phill, that second pic, where is that from and who do those people represent, thats a girl is on the elephant i presume--either that or a guy with serious man boobs 😀

 

[chippy]

Well, much as it pains me to do so, I guess I'll avoid buying any efke for the next couple of months, until that lot is out of circulation.

sooner or later i will run the 127 i got just recently through a couple of cameras and let you know if there is a problem

 

[chippy]

Looks good. After a good clean and lube of the shutter and some external cleaning and polish, it will be a real beauty. Did you add the accessory shoe, or did someone else?

i must ne having a mental blank, just cant think why at the moment. but does any rangerfinder acessory go on sideways, or reason the shoe is on sideways?

 

[FallisPhoto]

i must ne having a mental blank, just cant think why at the moment. but does any rangerfinder acessory go on sideways, or reason the shoe is on sideways?

That was going to be my next question. There were a very few of the stick-type rangefinders, the kind that stand straight up, perpendicular to the camera, that had round bases, so I guess they could go in there and turn in pretty much any direction. I think Kodak made one like that.

Yep. Scan down to the Kodak service rangefinder on this page: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Retina/Servicerfdr-1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://captjack.exaktaphile.com/Retina/Retina%2520Accessories.htm&usg=__2EVhCbkGY-P1S6H2j-ytMDxUrLY=&h=294&w=400&sz=62&hl=en&start=3&um=1&tbnid=K6_phqv_YrIKZM:&tbnh=91&tbnw=124&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dkodak%2Baccessory%2Brangefinder%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN You will see that the part of the rangefinder that clips into the shoe is round.

Edit: BTW, in the pic with the girl, guy and elephant, I'd assume, since the inscription above them says "In memory of..." and somebody's name, that it is in a cemetery somewhere.

 

[chippy]

i'm not familar with that kodak rangefinder, but many of the stick rangefinders witha circular bit on the bottom i beleive is just used to tighten down the rangefinder, not swivel..any that do swivel?

 

[Sparrow]

That was going to be my next question. There were a very few of the stick-type rangefinders, the kind that stand straight up, perpendicular to the camera, that had round bases, so I guess they could go in there and turn in pretty much any direction. I think Kodak made one like that.

Snip.

It was going to be my next question too, a DIY job maybe?

 

[chippy]

It was going to be my next question too, a DIY job maybe?

definately an after market addition Stewart, it depends on how it is attatched to how much a DIY job it is (with screws, that needed the body to be taped with a thread) and just how handy you grandad was, whether it was done by him or a camera shop or someone else...or whether he was perhaps the second owner...the wierd thing is, is why is it mounted sideways..........😕

my only other thought is for some kind of flash atatchment that was conected via the shutter cable socket (some crazy looking flash setups available back then), although i still would of thought it should have been put on frontways! maybe someone goofed and it was never used..... or they felt they had to mount it that way to avoid the screws impeading on the back door...

 

[Muggins]

Edit: BTW, in the pic with the girl, guy and elephant, I'd assume, since the inscription above them says "In memory of..." and somebody's name, that it is in a cemetery somewhere.

It reads "In Memory of Albert, Prince Consort", which means it must be the Albert Memorial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Memorial,_London_-_May_2008.jpg

If you scroll down you'll find the elephant, as part of the "Asia group". One of the most wildly over-the-top memorials I've ever seen - I love it, but then the more tasteless the Victorian architecture the more I love it.

Adrian

 

[chippy]

wow that is some peice of work, i thought Phill must have taken the pic of ferris wheel in the uk and ducked over to india or pakistan or somewhere to get the other pic lol...that monument is covered in photo optunities

 

[Sparrow]

definately an after market addition Stewart, it depends on how it is attatched to how much a DIY job it is (with screws, that needed the body to be taped with a thread) and just how handy you grandad was, whether it was done by him or a camera shop or someone else...or whether he was perhaps the second owner...the wierd thing is, is why is it mounted sideways..........😕

my only other thought is for some kind of flash atatchment that was conected via the shutter cable socket (some crazy looking flash setups available back then), although i still would of thought it should have been put on frontways! maybe someone goofed and it was never used..... or they felt they had to mount it that way to avoid the screws impeading on the back door...

He would have paid to have it fitted, he had a bad time in WWI which forced him and my Grandma to become “entrepreneurs”, lungs damaged by gas meant no manual work

They went from selling yo-yos in a local market, to a successful textile business by the 1930’s when he bought the Bessa, along with a lot of outher up-market stuff

My Gran was styled “Bradford’s Yo-Yo Queen” I have a pro-photo somewhere, she was, rather disturbingly, quite a looker in 1920

Either way it’s well fitted, with no fixings visible

 

[Sparrow]

I just redid a Bessa from the 30's and noticed that the windows were a little faded. I had to take off the leather anyway, so I put a red cine gel under the old windows to help it along a little bit. I haven't shot any film with it yet, but i doubt now that I will have any problems.

It has been in a leather case all its life, the windows look fine

 

[FallisPhoto]

i'm not familar with that kodak rangefinder, but many of the stick rangefinders witha circular bit on the bottom i beleive is just used to tighten down the rangefinder, not swivel..any that do swivel?

Don't know for sure, because I really detest stick-type rangefinders. I've got a bunch of Watameters, Telex, Prazisa, and so on, but no sticks. I was just saying it looks like they could maybe go in sideways.

It reads "In Memory of Albert, Prince Consort", which means it must be the Albert Memorial: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Albert_Memorial,_London_-_May_2008.jpg

If you scroll down you'll find the elephant, as part of the "Asia group". One of the most wildly over-the-top memorials I've ever seen - I love it, but then the more tasteless the Victorian architecture the more I love it.

Adrian

Wow! And here I thought Hollywood cemetery, in Richmond, Virginia had some overblown stuff!

definately an after market addition Stewart, it depends on how it is attatched to how much a DIY job it is (with screws, that needed the body to be taped with a thread) and just how handy you grandad was, whether it was done by him or a camera shop or someone else...or whether he was perhaps the second owner...the wierd thing is, is why is it mounted sideways..........😕

my only other thought is for some kind of flash atatchment that was conected via the shutter cable socket (some crazy looking flash setups available back then), although i still would of thought it should have been put on frontways! maybe someone goofed and it was never used..... or they felt they had to mount it that way to avoid the screws impeading on the back door...

Yeah, it kind of goes without saying that it is aftermarket. Even a flash would need to be mounted pointing in the right direction though. Same with shoe mounted meters, accessory viewfinders, and everything else I can think of.

Edit: Stepping out of the box once more, could it be we're entirely on the wrong track and the shoe is there not to hold something to the camera, but to hold the camera to something else? Could that be some sort of clip attachment for a jury-rigged DIY camera stand? It is aligned in the right direction for that.

 

[FallisPhoto]

It has been in a leather case all its life, the windows look fine

Doesn't mean anything. I did a camera a while back that had been kept in a case for longer than I've been alive -- but the case was made of acidic leather that was trying to eat holes in the metal. Took days to scrape, buff and polish most of the pits out.

 

[Sparrow]

Yeah, it kind of goes without saying that it is aftermarket. Even a flash would need to be mounted pointing in the right direction. Same with shoe mounted meters, accessory viewfinders, and everything else I can think of.

Stepping out of the box once more, could it be we're entirely on the wrong track and the shoe is there not to hold something to the camera, but to hold the camera to something else? Could that be some sort of clip attachment for a jury-rigged DIY camera stand?

The only photo I have of him with the camera it’s on a substantial tripod so I don’t think it’s a support. The shoe is too narrow for a modern “foot” and whatever went in there went in from the outside of the camera.

The shoe has a strong steel spring to hold whatever it was in place