#Voigtlander bessamatic repair series#

You don't want to use anything else after you tried it. This camera can cause a sort of addiction. It's too heavy to bring with you everywhere but it worth the effort. It's too heavy to hang it on your neck using the neck strap of the ever ready case it causes muscle pain after a while. It's too heavy to told it in your hands for long time. Here are some field experiences with the Bessamatic. Focusing is guided by a split image prism.

Two moving small red indicators show the dept-of-field for the given aperture as you set it with the dial. Or set the speed first with the ring and find the appropriate aperture with the dial. You just have to turn the topleft dial to match the needles in the viewfinder and turn the aperture/speed ring to shift between the corresponding aperture and shutter speed values. The designers of the Bessamatic tried to make the whole picture taking process as easy as possible. I'm not sure which camera was the first with the meter match needles displayed in the viewfinder but lots of photographers were thankful for this feature. You could hear the noise of slim metallic parts busily swirling.

#Voigtlander bessamatic repair series#

The push of the shutter release button triggered a series of complex events which had to take place very quickly: close the lens shutter, reduce the lens aperture to the preset f-stop, raise the reflex mirror, open the second shutter and finally open and close the lens shutter to expose the film to the light. These SLRs were quite compicated with a lens shutter and a second shutter behind the mirror. But let's get back to the camera itself.Д«essamatic was the last in the line started with Contaflex and followed by Retina Reflex, both with leaf shutter and interchangeable lens. And the handiness.Д«y the way, this was the first camera in the World wich had a zoom lens, the 36-82mm Zoomar as an accessory. The unimaginable Voigtlander quality is what makes this camera outstanding. If I had to use one word to describe the Bessamatic it would be the quality. Heavy? Like a rock but it's still not a unique feature. Lens mount: Bessamatic bayonet (very similar but not identical to the Retina Reflex mount)Д«ig? Yes, it's big but there are other big cameras as well.