Voigtlander Bessamatic

[vonfilm]

I just acquired a Voigtlander Bessamatic from the auction site. It was purported to have a working meter, but it does not seem to me to be accurate. I used my Iphone's Light Meter App to set the exposure for every picture.

The finder is very bright and has a split prism which makes focusing easy. It has the 50mm 2.8 Color Skopar removeable lens. It came with Voigtlander 40.5 mm UV filter, lens cap, lens hood, filter case and ever ready case. Both camera and case are in near mint condition.

My test roll is Portra 400 and all photos were taken on cold overcast day here in Austin.
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

 

[vonfilm]

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

 

[vonfilm]

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

 

[vonfilm]

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

 

[vonfilm]

Who else would like to see a subforum devoted to the classic Voigtlanders?

 

[Sarcophilus Harrisii]

You have not mentioned which model Bessamatic you have, I assume it is the original or the Deluxe, and not the CS that was fitted with a battery powered CdS cell.

Older Voigtlanders seem to have some of the most durable selenium cells in photography from my experience. Many of the ones I've handled are still very accurate. But there is always a failure rate with any camera, especially after so many years. These are not centre weighted meters. They simply take an average reading. A lot of your shots were taken under skies with light overcast by the look of them. This can bias many older average reading meters to underexpose, because of the light from the sky, unless the camera is tilted down slightly when a reading is taken. How is it not accurate? Reading over? Reading under?

 

[vonfilm]

The needle moves but seems to have no relation to reality. I had it set to 400 ASA. I will have to check it out with 100 ASA in the near future. Perhaps it will work better on sunny 16 day.

The meter in my Vitomatic IIa works very well. I can rely on it. The meter in my Vitessa seems to work well also.

 

[vonfilm]

Super Dynarex 135mm f4

Super Untitled by vonfilm, on FlickrDynarex 135 f4

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr


Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

 

[vonfilm]

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr

Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr
Untitled by vonfilm, on Flickr