It's a very classic design. My grandfather had one like this, but even more pocketable as the lens was flush with the body when retracted. We think of miniaturisation as a new thing but his must have been available in the 20's or 30's. I've still got it somewhere, but never used it.
Actually, none of the above, this is the non-Japanese version of the new Fuji 6x7 folder which turns out to have been a Cosina/Fuji collaboration. It also does 6x6 btw.
Gorgeous little camera. Every so often there are these little bits of information such as this camera or the new kodak ektar film that make me think my brief darkroom experience might stick around for a little while longer. Digital is great and all but I don't get the same satisfaction. it all feels a little too "easy"
One thing of note to classic Voightlander Bessa II users is that the new camera focuses using the front lens cell only. The classic Bessa moved the whole lens standard from a knob on the camera body. It's sort of wrong to label this camera a Bessa from a mechanical/lineage standpoint. At the time, moving the whole standard was supposedly a superior optical solution than the front cell only focusing method as used on the Zeiss Super Ikonta's. I do think the non moving lens standard could be made more rigid though and the lack of rigidity was sometimes cited as a flaw of the Bessa compared to the Super Ikonta's(which are incredibly solid for a folding camera).
you can get some 30's and 40's Zeiss Ikon (and other makes) that are a similar design, for pretty cheap. 6x6, 6x7, or 6x9 I've got a 6x9 that I use every now and then. I got a nice one, and payed just under $300 I believe. (which was still probably to much, considering how many of these there are out there!)
Daniel Buck wrote:
you can get some 30's and 40's Zeiss Ikon (and other makes) that are a similar design, for pretty cheap. 6x6, 6x7, or 6x9 I've got a 6x9 that I use every now and then. I got a nice one, and payed just under $300 I believe. (which was still probably to much, considering how many of these there are out there!)
Thatīs something I should look into, but I do enjoy not having to carry around a light meter. I expect those will require me to do so, or at least work with a daylight ISO100 @ f16 @ 1/100 scheme...?
There are a bunch of nice "folders" out there. The aforementioned Voightlander Bessa II is one of the best: a desirable collector/user camera. Came out with three different lenses (non interchangeable) over the years. IIRC there was a Color-Skopar, a Color-Heliar and the big bucks (hard to find) APO-Lanthar.
I was seriously looking into these cameras a couple of years ago, but decided I should not feed my camera addiction EVERY time I felt like it...
PhotoMaximum wrote:
There are a bunch of nice "folders" out there. The aforementioned Voightlander Bessa II is one of the best: a desirable collector/user camera. Came out with three different lenses (non interchangeable) over the years. IIRC there was a Color-Skopar, a Color-Heliar and the big bucks (hard to find) APO-Lanthar.
I was seriously looking into these cameras a couple of years ago, but decided I should not feed my camera addiction EVERY time I felt like it...
Obviously this has to occur to me at some point as well. Shooting is such an addiction and getting some new stuff to change how you shoot is part of it. But I think the older ones (BESSA 2) might be a little overpriced anyway, as they are "collectable".
The Bessa II is one of those cameras on my programmed "radar": I really don't want to get into paying the market price for one but would love to stumble on a decent copy on the internet (craigslist) or at a flea market etc. But I have never seen one that wasn't going for a few hundred dollars.
While its not 6x9 I do use my Leica IIIF on the rare occasion I want to go all retro manual. Its a bit of a fiddle cutting the film leader but the IIIF is one of THE most elegant art objects in the camera world: nice to just hold in your hands... (yes thats the IIIF on my avatar...)
Those cameras do look nice, I find it curious though that all the promo shots are taken with a D300 @ F/18... I would have thought f/11 would be sufficient to cover the DOF especially at the focal length they used (125-200mm) and avoid a bit of diffraction softness... but better safe than sorry I guess :P
as an aside I discovered the "photographic trader" magazine yesterday, has second hand camera goods from all over australia... I foresee baked beans and a lot of camera gear in my future.
thrice wrote:
Those cameras do look nice, I find it curious though that all the promo shots are taken with a D300 @ F/18... I would have thought f/11 would be sufficient to cover the DOF especially at the focal length they used (125-200mm) and avoid a bit of diffraction softness... but better safe than sorry I guess :P
as an aside I discovered the "photographic trader" magazine yesterday, has second hand camera goods from all over australia... I foresee baked beans and a lot of camera gear in my future.
ovredal73 wrote:
Thatīs something I should look into, but I do enjoy not having to carry around a light meter. I expect those will require me to do so, or at least work with a daylight ISO100 @ f16 @ 1/100 scheme...?
I often carry a Billy Record II 6x9 with me on my many many business trips, and I've become fairly confident just guessing the exposure. After a gazillion digital frames in various settings, I get the exposure reasonably right usually. For print film, of course. I'm sure you have enough experience to work without a meter most of the time, too.
Antje wrote:
I'm sure you have enough experience to work without a meter most of the time, too.
Antje
Maybe you are right, Antje I do know exactly where to aim the spot meter to get the exposure balance I am looking for in a scene, and I do know the exposure scales perfectly well, so with a little mental adjustment...
I also have a Agfa Record 6x9 with me sometimes. It is a little end especially light camera with a big negative, and it is fun to use. Mostly guessing exposure since I am on the fly most of the time, and it gets pretty right, specially since I scan. Only problem I had was with the flatness of the film - the edges were out of focus regardless of the subject and were also not straight so I'll have to figure out how to deal with that. But I would also love this Besa III, even if I know for sure that I won't buy one because it will be to expensive .
You are probably right It would be a toy, something different, and then it cannot be too costly. But if it would end up around 400-500 USD, I might consider it. But it could just as well be 3 times that.
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