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1937 Voigtlander Bessa, 1955 Rover P4 105
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PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:06 am    Post subject: 1937 Voigtlander Bessa, 1955 Rover P4 105 Reply with quote

Many thanks to Attila for letting me try this camera before I relayed it to Budapest.

All I can say is wow, not just the IQ but how fine the engineering and build quality is, this camera is 75 years old but looks and feels like new, everything works perfectly, everything feels tight and finely tuned, just amazing, astounding even.

FP4 in Paterson FX-39 1:9 for 8 mins, gave some strange dark spots (not grain) so not a compatible film/dev combo but results are okay.



PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:17 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nice, what do you think of that Skopar? Even the 1937 Helomar isn't half-bad for a triplet:



Shot wide open @f3.5, Fomapan 100, HC-110F (1:79). I like the blacks with this combo. Wonder
if the Paterson dev does well with Fomapan.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:22 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I think the Skopar is superb, I didn't get the best possible result from it due to the film/dev issues, sadly.

One more from the roll:



The FX-39 is designed for modern emulsions with T-grain type technology such as TMAX, Ilford Delta, Agfa APX 100, although they give times and diltuions for old films like FP4, HP5 etc. I just bought four rolls of TMAX 100 cheap so looking forward to trying it with that film.

I've got two more rolls of FP4 to dev, I'll try one in the Speedibrews Celer-Stellar I also have.

I'm also keen to see how the Fomapan works in FX-39.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:26 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just looked at Massive Dev, the Paterson isn't listed for Fomapan 100. Hummm.

Did you get the Thornton's? Save one of those TMAX rolls for that dev, too.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:34 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No, the place I ordered from didn't have the Thorton's so I got the FX-39 and the Celer-Stellar, I will have to either get the Thornton's or the chems to make it when I can afford it.

I have 4 rolls of FP4 left, (2 in 120, 2 in 135), 1 roll of Efke 50 (135) and the 4 rolls of TMAX 100 (135) plus the Fomapan that's on it's way so I will try out all the different film/dev combos I can, hopefully I'll hit upon one that's a real winner for me.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 1:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Sh.t, had I known I could've sent a pre-mix of Bath A and B to make a liter bottle batch.

Looking forward to your efforts!


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 2:43 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

No worries Bill, you've already been beyond kind and generous.

I looked at the Celer-Stellar instructions and it doesn't list any Ilford films other than XP2 so I decided to dev my other two rolls of FP4 in the FX-39, see how they come out, interesting to see if they also have this issue with small black dots.

The Celer-Stellar I'm now not sure how I will use it, perhaps I'll try souping a roll of C-41 in it, just out of curiosity and in the spirit of experimentation.

I'll have to get some Thornton's, would you recommend it for the Fomapan?


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm wondering what to use myself. I could either use CCM or Rodinal with the Foma 100, wouldn't hesitate to do a 1:100 stand for 35,
or 1:125 for the 120. Looking at some of my flickr stuff, this is Arista 100 (Foma) 120 using 1:49 HC-110, 1937 Bessa Skopar:




Not a bad combo, but I'm out of HC-110. Looking at the Weltaflex roll, probably go with Rodinal stand.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 3:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice results. Attila has superb results with Foma in Rodinal so I may just have to get some more of that.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 7:23 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Rover would be a good subject for the Lucky film.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

That's all been used up, sadly, might grab some more one day.


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 9:45 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Is it the same as this ?


Bessa front by Mudplugga, on Flickr


Bessa side by Mudplugga, on Flickr

If it is I really should get some film and try it, the pictures on this thread are very good. Cool


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Similar, this one has a coupled rf.

The differences are that yours focuses by turning the lens, not by moving the front standard and this one has a 1/400 top speed, but the lens is the same so no reason why the IQ won't be as good.

Not sure whether yours has unit or front cell focusing, if front cell, it will have weaker corners at close distances, but that's a very minor thing.

You should definitely get some film and try it! If you don't like it, I'll take it off your hands! Wink


PostPosted: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:12 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is the one I used:



http://www.cosmonet.org/camera/bessa_e.htm