New Bessa RF

[littlemax]

Recently got a Bessa RF, my first 6x9 camera.

It looks good and I am excited to try it. Only thing is a vertical misalignment. But I will just cope with it for now as I cant fix it myself.

One question though: any overlapping issue with the film such as with the Super Ikontas ? This camera is even older tso I guess it would .. ?

 

[f16sunshine]

It's a red window counter so you should not have any troubles. (manual film spacing for each frame).

Nice camera. I have the RF with uncoated Heliar and the RF ii with Color Heliar.
Both are fantastic in their own way.

 

[littlemax]

Mine is an Heliar, I guess uncoated. At these auctions there was a nice Bessa II with Skopar and another Bessa II with color Heliar (but slow speeds not working properly)

I bought the first I could afford. The Bessa IIs didnt go for much more (very far from the crazy Ebay prices) but had only enough for one of them..

Well regarding film advance can you help me? I see the two red windows and the little button that seems to action a cover on one of them..
Still I am not sure how I should proceed ..

 

[f16sunshine]

Use the lh window for 6x9 frames.
The other is for when using a 6x4.5 mask.

The 645 mask is something I have but have never used.

That Heliar is great! You chose well 🙂

 

[littlemax]

The older one appealed to me more than the Bessa II's. Glad I made a good choice. 🙂 Will start a roll tomorrow.

Regarding film advance and the camera, I think mine is not adapted for 645. It wasnt provided with the 645 mask. And the second red window is permanently covered by a piece of metal. The button that action the cover relates to the left red window only.
Well I intend to use it for 69 so it's ok.
I dont have the attached filter as well (don't see any attachment that would have broken) so I guess it wasn't there from start or removed properly with a replacement of ring.

 

[f16sunshine]

If you look on the inside of the film door you'll see a little lever that swings a cover opened and closed on the other red window.
I think when the 645 mask is installed, this little lever is held to the open position.
Sevo or one of the other guys more familiar will chime in eventually 🙂

Other than very good coatings on the lens, The Bessa ii has a better choice of shutters.
Also the RF and VF windows are one in the Bessa ii making focus and framing a smoother affair.

My "Default" Flickr Sample images below with both Cameras.
The appearance of sharpness with the color Heliar resulting from the coated lens is quite clear.
The uncoated heliar is a gem though. It has a look all it's own.

Bessa RF, Uncoated Heliar f3.5/105mm
Found... Camera geeks 🙂 by Adnan, on Flickr

Bessa ii, Coated Color Heliar f3.5/105mm
When it really is love. by Adnan, on Flickr

 

[Robert Lai]

Some post war Bessa RF have Color Heliar lenses i.e. single coated. I have one from 1946 with such a lens. I bought it from a fellow RFF member who lives in Brussels, Belgium, and I had Gus Lazzari overhaul it. It was a lot more work than he expected, due to ancient grease 😀. Anyway, now it looks and works truly beautifully.

The Compur Rapid shutters don't have flash synch, but you can easily use open flash. For this, the camera is set on a tripod, at a shutter speed such as 1/2 second. After the shutter opens, you fire a flash unit manually. I tried this for pictures of my children, and it worked great. Flash exposure is based either on guide numbers, or use the "Auto" setting on the flash.

The Heliar lenses, coated or not, can flare with backlight.
You need a 37mm push on hood.

There is a Chinese company Alstonhand that is selling replica Voigtlander hoods on ebay. I bought one. Before you use such a hood, make sure that you use some steel wool or emery paper and get rid of any interior surface irregularities. Also, spread the metal so that the hood is initially too "loose", and gradually push your way in. Otherwise, you'll end up scratching the chrome ring on your lens that is meant to mount the hood 😡.

My Belgian camera came with the 6 x 4.5cm mask. When the mask is in the camera, the second window automatically opens when you rotate the wheel for the window covers! Very clever!
Without the mask, you only have one window open for 6 x 9 framing.

Speaking of framing, do yourself a favor and check your framing at minimum distance. That way you'll figure out how much you need to correct for parallax. At minimum focus distance, use some masking tape on a wall to mark out what the viewfinder shows. Then, when you look at your final image, you'll see how much displacement occurred.

This is one of my favorite cameras now, I've got to admit.
My Zeiss Super Ikonta IV and Rolleiflex 3.5F are jealous.

 

[littlemax]

Beautiful Pics Andy. Both seems to have a very smooth bokeh. bottom seems more contrasty and has more definition but would it not be film related?
Or if high ISO film is loaded the actual exposure of the scene?

Well if Color Heliar is better indeed, it is a good thing as it leaves room for more garage sells and auctions 🙂

Thanks Robert for that precision regarding the Mask that opens or close the 2nd red window. Pretty clever for prewar camera.
I'll do as well the parallax correction procedure as I will definitely take a lot of portraits!

One last thing, my camera seems to not go to 1/400, the ring stops at 1/200. Not sure if something's wrong with the Compur Rapid shutter (which seems very healthy yet).
Seems the Prontor goes to 1/250. Well I am not familiar with the camera so it may be me.. Have to play with it a bit..
I will do a roll and from that basis will decide on a RF vertical calibration and shutter check up..

 

[citizen99]

Congratulations on a great purchase 🙂

The 6x4.5 masks have often been lost from 'their' camera; you might be lucky to come across one.

I never worry about a little vertical misalignment in the rangefinder; in fact I often find it actually helps visibility on some elderly systems 😉 . There is guidance on-line if you should ever want to tinker, eg :-

Bessa-RF-top-access by johnnyh4, on Flickr

Carefully prise the soft aluminium DOF disk off with a fine-pointed tool - it is glued to the dished washer underneath via a paper disk.

Remove the screw retaining the dished washer to the thumbwheel assembly.
Carefully prise up the leather at the far end and remove the screw revealed.

Remove the hollow screw to allow removal of the rest of the thumbwheel assembly - making note of all positions ;-) .

This gives a picture showing the adjustments. "Achtung!" here is warning you not to turn the focus closer than the normal minimum distance, after you have removed the stop-washer, as the lensboard rack will come out of it's engagement with the pinion, and it warns that re-assembly is not trivial.

(I had one of these which came with the lens a long way out of focus, yet the rangefinder itself was spot-on. Evidently this had happened to a previous owner, and it had been incorrectly re-assembled. It was not as it left the factory, as the paper disk mounting the depth-of-field disc was missing, just glue had been used.I was able let the rack emerge, turn the pinion a tooth or so as required then re-engage the rack and re-assemble.)

The flip-on filter on my Bessa RF was also missing (was broken off - they are fragile). I subsequently got a replacement without glass filter from a 'parts' camera. That doesn't worry me as I shoot colour film. (Don't assume that you 'have' to shoot B&W just because your Heliar doesn't have the prefix 'Color-') . The serial number of my Heliar dates it to the late 1930s, and it produces superb colour pictures - thanks to modern film technology as well, of course 😉 .

 

[Filzkoeter]

One last thing, my camera seems to not go to 1/400, the ring stops at 1/200.

That's usual with people not experienced with Compur-Rapid shutters 😉 yours is propably fine.
When changing from 1/200 to 1/400 you activate a booster spring which doubles the fastest "normal" speed (1/200). It is powerful and changing from 1/200 to 1/400 requires some force.
Don't try to change to or from 1/400 with the shutter cocked, it won't work. If you cock the shutter at 1/400, you're stuck there if you should change your mind later 😉
For all other speeds it doesn't matter if the shutter is cocked or not.

Also: don't use the self-timer at 1/400, it doesn't work for that speed.

 

[f16sunshine]

Yes, the 1/400th spring is quite tight to set as filzkoeter has described.
Don't expext 1/400th from it either.
If you have a shutter tester, measure your shutter speeds to see how close they are.
Most will have irregularities after all these years. You can test with film as well of course.
It's not a bad idea to find a good shop to overhaul the shutter if you intend to use the camera alot.

 

[littlemax]

I was afraid to break the shutter lever .. but it actually goes to 1/400 !
Many thanks for your advice guys.

But I wont try your procedure John 🙂 I have some precision screw drivers and some other stuff but I am really bad at fixing such delicate things
I put a TX roll today. I will see once processed if the RF is accurate. (It doesnt really bother me if not aligned, if it actually does the job )

If not I know a place where it can be fixed. They fixed the filter thread of the lens of another RF camera I have.

 

[graywolf]

If you have a shutter tester, measure your shutter speeds to see how close they are.

If people would read the instructions that come with their inexpensive shutter speed tester, and adjusted the light level with a dimer so the tester triggers on the shoulder of the blades opening (Leaf ahutter speed is properly measured between the 70% open points), they would get a correct reading and see that the shutter is pretty accurate at 1/400. Without the dimmer they would get a reading of about 1/250, which if they are knowledgable would also tell them that 1/400 speed is correct.

If the shutter is properly serviced and adjusted it ought to be within 1/6th of a stop all the way across the entire range of speeds.

Of course if the shutter is gummed up and/or has been serviced by someone who had no idea what they were doing, all bets are off!