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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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Voigtlander Bessa 1935, Caffenol-C
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:42 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:42 am
Post subject: Voigtlander Bessa 1935, Caffenol-C
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I think the black border might have been a processing fault - hardly surprising Smile







At this size they look ok, but they're utterly, terribly grainy and full size I don't like them at all.
Looks to me like Caffenol is ok as something useful to know, but feck all use in practical terms for getting anything like the best out of modern films with old lenses.
On the other hand, it's nice to know this old Bessa doesn't have any light leaks and works ok. Next thing is to put another film through and process conventionally.


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:45 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:45 am
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Look good to me, Dave! Yep the camera doesn't seem to have any issues,
great job! Especially like the 1st and the last image, love pics of tall ships!


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:06 am
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 2:06 am
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Nicely vintage 'prints' - too bad about the Caffenol, I get a kick out of the very idea!

What lens is on your Bessa - I seem to have accumulated a few prewar folders and love seeing/hearing about how others are using theirs


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:05 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 12:05 pm
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Katastrofo wrote:
Look good to me, Dave! Yep the camera doesn't seem to have any issues,
great job! Especially like the 1st and the last image, love pics of tall ships!


Cheers, Bill. I expect this tall ship will feature more in the future - I was unaware that it had been parked just down the road from me on a semi-permanent basis. I must go back and take the tour, it's on all year round. www.dunbrody.com

Nesster wrote:
Nicely vintage 'prints' - too bad about the Caffenol, I get a kick out of the very idea!

What lens is on your Bessa - I seem to have accumulated a few prewar folders and love seeing/hearing about how others are using theirs

I suspect I could get it better, but life's too short. Saying that, some have managed it, and it's just a question of fiddling around. If I ever get stuck without dev and desperately need to produce a pic, it's a way, for sure.
The process intrigued me because I'd read of PoWs processing films using what they had available, although coffee, being unobtainable, wouldn't have been used, but fixer seems to be the problem. I'm utterly sure that many years ago I did read of something else being used as fixer, but it's generally forgotten knowledge.

The lens is an f:4.5 Skopar and seems to acquit itself quite well. I don't know about its colour performance yet, but it's encouraging so far.


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:32 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 1:32 pm
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Interesting, the result seems not bad at all and has an old times feel that for some things might even be nice, although generally I am not keen anymore on this type of effects (I used to be in the past, but I guess that they have been so overdone with the advent of Photoshop and plugins that now I developed an allergy).


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:36 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 4:36 pm
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The results are absolutely amazing considering the "chemicals" you have used.


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:25 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 6:25 pm
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I think it's great that it works! Was there much staining of the negs? I quite like grain in it's place... it's worth knowing the effect of caffenol for those moments when it would suit.
That ship looks fascinating.


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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:54 pm
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Posted: Mon Jul 27, 2009 11:54 pm
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Thanks, Orio, Carsten.
I wasn't expecting too much, this being a throw-it-in and see what happens exercise.


Xpres wrote:
I think it's great that it works! Was there much staining of the negs? I quite like grain in it's place... it's worth knowing the effect of caffenol for those moments when it would suit.
That ship looks fascinating.

There's a very light brown stain in the clear ends of the neg, but you wouldn't see it in the frames at all.


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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:51 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:51 pm
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Dave, who is your image host provider? I like that I can click on the image
and it lifts and centers it on the screen, cool effect.


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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:20 pm
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Posted: Tue Jul 28, 2009 11:20 pm
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Katastrofo wrote:
Dave, who is your image host provider? I like that I can click on the image
and it lifts and centers it on the screen, cool effect.

They're just uploaded via the normal image upload here. No external host.


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:19 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 12:19 am
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Thanks, Dave, that explains why when I click on mine, didn't get the nifty
effect. Laughing

Last edited by Katastrofo on Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:47 pm; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:43 am
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 1:43 am
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Dave, thanks to a heads-up by Attila, just won this:

Click here to see on Ebay

Is this similar to yours? Has the Skopar which I was after.


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:30 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:30 pm
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Katastrofo wrote:
Dave, thanks to a heads-up by Attila, just won this:

Click here to see on Ebay

Is this similar to yours? Has the Skopar which I was after.

That's pretty much the camera, only difference is the VF, on mine it's the earlier frame-only finder with no optic or side-flip cover. Surprisingly, the finder is reasonably accurate, but it's not a good idea to frame too tightly with it.



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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:52 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 2:52 pm
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Nice cameras, both. I just let go a Ikomat 645 at $51, I just wasn't up to betting... erm... bidding more. It had a 7cm Tessar too. Oh, and I declined to bid on a $99 Koni Omega M, watched the item go without any bids. What's wrong with me?
Click here to see on Ebay
Click here to see on Ebay

The brightline viewfinder on the nose of the camera should pivot so you can use it in landscape mode as well. Just remember to pivot it back before closing the folder (he says from experience). Using the brightline makes cradling the camera nicely steady - I end up using it rather than the framing finder most often.


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:50 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 3:50 pm
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Wow, Nesster, that would've been a great buy on the Koni! Just paid
$25 for the shutter release cable recently, (thanks to your heads-up).


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:01 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:01 pm
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I know, I know... but I'm holding to my $50 rule... I shouldn't even be looking at ebay...


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:10 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 5:10 pm
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Nesster wrote:
I know, I know... but I'm holding to my $50 rule... I shouldn't even be looking at ebay...


OK, but next time you see a Koni for that, let Bill know. Wink


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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:10 pm
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Posted: Wed Jul 29, 2009 6:10 pm
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LOL, I did think of you, but I only found it at 6AM Rolling Eyes and it ended at 6:30...
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