Bessa RF 6x9 *Thanks, Attila!*

[Katastrofo]

Attila bought this 1930's Bessa at a cheap price from a Canadian seller
then sold it to me for exact same price. Thanks, much, Attila, it's a
shooter right out of the box!







This is Arista EDU Ultra 100 film, dev'd in Kodak HC-100 @ 6.5 minutes,
1:49. I purposely did shots that would produce flare, but was surprised
how well it did without a hood. #3 had the sun behind me so no flare.
A friend of mine holds a circular polarizer over the lens in such situations,
must try it. I didn't do a lot of cleanup on these test shots. Will post a pic
of camera maybe tomorrow.

(Attila, if you haven't already, please post positive feedback to the seller.)
Thanks, again!

[Orio]

Looks very good Bill - Bessie scores another hit!

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, Orio! This one has the Skopar lens, sharp performer.

[cooltouch]

Very impressive! Do you have any pics of the Bessa by any chance?

[Katastrofo]

Michael, this is my other one with the Helomar lens:



I had it sent back for a new hood, need to take a new picture of it, too.

[cooltouch]

Cool red leatherette It's hard to tell from that shot -- does it have a rangefinder?

What model? (Something to keep my eyes open for when I'm browsing eBay)

The only MF folders I've owned have been Zeiss Super Ikontas -- a B and a BX. They were great cameras, but I've heard for years that the Bessas are also excellent. Now I believe it.

[Katastrofo]

Yes, both of these Bessas have coupled rangefinders which make them
very easy to use. Out of 8 shots, only one had camera shake, the rest
were in focus.

Voigtlander Bessa RF Messer, 6x9 is the model

[cooltouch]

Is this the same as yours?

Click here to see on Ebay

[Katastrofo]

Yep, that's the one, and has the same Helomar triplet lens.
And they run a "little" cheaper than this one, my dream camera:

http://www.voigtlaender.de/cms/voigtlaender/voigtlaender_cms.nsf/id/pa_fdih7jzkae.html

Here's some more info:

http://www.retrography.com/bessa.htm

It's the "E-Messer" model.

[cooltouch]

Oh yeah, that's such a cool camera for a new one. I like it that folders are still being made.

But I was doing some more browsing on eBay just now, and man-o-man, the ones with the Heliars and Skopars are going for big bucks! Geez, for those prices, I can buy a couple of nice Super Ikonta Bs.

Of course, they're 6x9, whereas the B is 6x6, but . . . oh well.

[Katastrofo]

Thanks to Attila, I got this one for MUCH less than what they usually go
for.

[Spotmatic]

The depth in the 2nd shot is outstanding!

Did you get the one with Skopar or the Heliar lens? Damn, I should repair my own example soon!

http://media.photobucket.com/image/spotmatic%20bessarf/spotmatic/bessarf04.jpg

[cooltouch]

Congrats! Still, something to keep my eyes open for when I'm hitting the yard sales and the like.

[Katastrofo]

[Jesito]

Congrats, Bill and Attila!.

The camera looks very pretty and the results are superb!.

Regards.

Jes.

[Pancolart]

Second one is really awesome, such good grey distribution.

[LucisPictor]

6x9? Wow, huge negs!
Almost like LF!
Congrats!

[Nesster]

Super-excellent results there, Attila-Bill

That film looks good too - and the Skopar, wow. Good shooting Bill, and good 'printing'.

[Attila]

I am happy camera works as expected, great!

[Katastrofo]

Thanks, guys, these cameras are fun to use, highly recommended. I like
how they fold up to a very compact size yet shoot a 6x9 negative! With
8 frames per roll, you have to plan your shots carefully.

Attila, great find, thank you!

[Attila]

[Katastrofo]

I remember that set, excellent results!