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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
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Klein Bessa - Baby Bessa 7,5cm Skopar
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My latest folder purchase is this camera, any experience ?


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My favorite camera, the deluxe Bessa 66 with just that size skopar. If yours is a good sample, there's something special about the 7.5 cm version


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Thank you!Skopar is a very good lens I expect a lot.


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Attila wrote:
Thank you!Skopar is a very good lens I expect a lot.


+1


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+2 lucky bastard. Wink Smile


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Katastrofo wrote:
+2 lucky bastard. Wink Smile


Laughing Laughing


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Attila, does that have coupled RF? Or zoned focus. Wink


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No RF , it has built in 'guess timeter' Laughing Laughing very simple camera.


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Voigtlander Baby Bessa 66 1939 by Nesster, on Flickr


Baby Bessa 1939 by Nesster, on Flickr


Voigtlander 1939 Baby Bessa by Nesster, on Flickr

This one's mine

Bessa Skopar by Nesster, on Flickr

Bill, these are zone/guess focus


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Looks mine is same than yours Smile

Thank you for information booklets!


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Camera is here I did pick it up today, no filter other ways seems okay. All speeds are works , just need to measure how accurate they are.


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Attila wrote:
just need to measure how accurate they are.


Do you have a method to do that, other than doing a test roll?


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Orio wrote:
Attila wrote:
just need to measure how accurate they are.


Do you have a method to do that, other than doing a test roll?


yes.


I am using this type of tester.

http://forum.mflenses.com/shutter-tester-for-shutter-speed-up-to-1-1000th-14-99-t28474.html

Stand alone (No computer) LCD version should be ready to soon also.

Here latest "full extra" version

http://www.mflenses.com/mfl-ebay/Camera-shutter-tester-micro-controller-version-2.html


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1 1/2 1/5 1/10 1/25 1/50 1/100 1/300
0,7 1,8 4,3 7,8 17,6 32,05 98,52 177,11


Not bad at all from a camera without cla'd Wink


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I had this camera, only with an uncoated heliar. It is a great camera, very compact and the automatic film counter works well. In spite of the name, the lens on mine was soft, way softer than a novar triplet. At first I thought it was a collimation problem or shutter shake, but it was not.

Javier


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I have Bessa RF Heliars and I sold Skopars all are awesome.
I have a stunning Novar and I had soft one too. I believe your Heliar wasn't properly adjusted I don't think so they made significantly worst Heliar to baby Bessa than to RF.


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I think you are right, Attila, and my heliar is probably decentered or something like that. On lenses with a frontal focusing element sometimes you can look for the sweet spot by changing the frontal lens position (you actually change the focal lenght of the lens) and at the same time the distance to the focal plane to get the correct focus. I made this with the Heliar mounted in a 35 mm SLR, and the results were from soft... to softer. Kind of acceptable at f11 though.

I own an 80 mm 3.5 color skopar mounted in a ikonta 6x4.5 (don't ask, I bought it like this) which after properly adjusting is extremely sharp from 5.6 and quite usable wide open, so no problem with voigtlander in general, only with my Heliar lens.

Javier


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I think Heliar is very rare on Bessa 46 , it is worth to cla'd it and adjust well. If you put a mate glass to film plane and examine picture it with magnifier you can see it is sharp or not , perhaps you can found way how you able to align sharp focus at least at infinity and you will have a perfect landscape camera.


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Attila wrote:
I think Heliar is very rare on Bessa 46 , it is worth to cla'd it and adjust well. If you put a mate glass to film plane and examine picture it with magnifier you can see it is sharp or not , perhaps you can found way how you able to align sharp focus at least at infinity and you will have a perfect landscape camera.


Thank you for the suggestion. The camera is a Bessa 66, no Bessa 46, with automatic counter which works quite well. The camera has been fully serviced, including the infinity adjustment which is as correct as It should be. It is simply that the lens is soft... The lens is uncoated and from the serial number about final war time. I have been even suggested that the lens could be a voigtar with an heliar rim, but no, it is definitively a 5 elements.

After many disappointing rolls, I finally give it up.

Javier


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Pretty band news, thank you for sharing it.

Until this time I had three Heliar and four Skopar all were very sharp , sorry to hear you got a lemon one.


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Thanks for these old thread
I just got one in a grab box. Bessa 66 with the Voigtar lens and the hinged filter in front intact.


Shutter is fine in the 25-100 range but the slow speeds are slow.
Bellows seems fine (tested it in darkroom)
My main issue is the loading of the receiving spool, that hinged part is very stiff

Loaded it and we'll see Smile


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Images came great, no leaks and lens is a decent triplet.
I forgot that these cameras were made for low ASA film, I loaded it with HP5 and had to shoot mostly af f/11-16
The Pond with a Bessa66

The canister that holds the receviging spool was stuck, a small disc had fallen out form the tripod bushing.
This has been fixed with a 3/8 - 1/4" adapter