Voigtlander Bessa I

[Arash]

Hello friends
Recently I received a generous gift of a Voigtlander Bessa I from it’s original owner and would appreciate some feedback about this camera from some of you who may have experience with one.

What I’ve noticed so far:
It has the Vaskar f/4.5 105mm lens
The bellows seem to be in good shape
The timer on the Prontor-s shutter is slow and sticky
The shutter itself sounds like it’s working OK
The focus ring moves ok
The tiny viewfinder is super dirty on the inside - almost not usable - I’m not sure if I can access it for cleaning.

That’s it! I’m looking forward to running some film through it for the first time in decades. The take-up reel in the camera is metal - that’s how long it’s been since it was last used!
Thanks
Arash

 

[ARCHIVIST]

G'day Arash,

The Bessa I came with a choice of two lenses. The Vaskar and the Color-Skopar.

Two shutter types were available the Prontor and the Synchro Compur.

The Vaskar was the 'base lens' but still a good lens. As the shutter sounds OK and I presume the slow speeds are working then the self timer may well come good with daily exercising. If not, and you are not a selfie taker, then this may well not be a major issue.

Cleaning the viewfinder window is not a major job and is not all that complicated. If you are not keen on doing this yourself then a good tech should not charge you the earth for a job that should take well less than an hour to do - my tech here in Australia took just under 30 minutes and we chatted while he did it and I was having a coffee!

Nice camera, and try not to shoot wide open with the Vaskar.

Cheers
Peter

 

[largedrink]

They are fun cameras and produce nice results. It's fairly easy to remove the top plate and clean the viewfinder. I used to have one with a Vaskar lens but now have one with the Color-Skopar. Here are some example photos from the latter:


Street light by Hugh B, on Flickr


Houses, Aro Valley by Hugh B, on Flickr

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

If it's in good repair you can expect surprisingly good results. The Vaskar is not a bad triplet though wide open it won't be up to a Color Skopar. Stop it down to f/8–11 and courtesy of that big 6x9 neg (as long as it's all plumb) you'll be surprised at the image quality you can get.

 

[Arash]

Thank you for the replies and encouragement.
I’m yet to find a repair shop even remotely local (what a strange phrasing!)

The timer i can live without, even though I’d really like to have everything working just in principle. “Daily exercising” to loosen it worries me since when i did try it, the timer would just stick and i had to encourage it forward in fits and stops with some pressure

The viewfinder peep hole is more of a bother. I'm not averse to tackling a cleaning if I can have some idea of what to expect. I’d hate things get unsprung when the top is lifted.

I’ve looked for one of those shoe-mounted external view finders, but no luck so far.

Thanks for the info on the lens. I have the first roll ready and waiting for a plastic takeup reel before i give the camera its first light since the 60’s!

Cheers

 

[largedrink]

Looking forward to hearing how your first film goes Arash