Voigtlander Bessa with Skopar 3.5/105, Ilford Pan F 50

[iangreenhalgh1]

I bought a 1930s Bessa cheap, it was in working condition but a bit rough, plenty of rust and the lens had some fungus, also the lens/Shutter was loose and wobbled a lot. I cleaned it up, got rid of the rust, repainted the inside with matt black car spray paint, took the lens elements out and cleaned them in ISO, fixed the wobble and re-stuck the loose leatherette so it's in not bad shape now. It has a Skopar 3.5/135 in a rim set Compur with 1/200 top speed and a simple finder, it's the one on the left:



Works pretty good, these were on a tripod at f22, 1/25, a very windy day and just before sunset so the light was very strong from the right, a couple of shots on the roll were ruined by flare so I think she needs a hood, four of the shots were ruined by camera shake caused by the wind. Ilford Pan F 50 expired 2005, souped in Paterson FX-39 1:9 for 6.5mins at 20C. Pan F 50 isn't great imho, the grain is worse than I expected for a slow film but it does come out nicer in FX-39 than it does in RO9. The Skopar in this camera is very sharp, in the full size 3200dpi scan you can see all the twists in the ropes mooring the boats clearly.

[Katastrofo]

Nice, did you estimate distance or cheat like I do and use accessory rangefinder?

Hummm, you cheated like Attila does and just shoot infinity pix.

[iangreenhalgh1]

Oh I cheated, lens set to infinity, f22, that way it's all in focus

This was just to test the camera and my refurbishment work so I was lazy and shot infinity, I need to get some sticky backed velcro so I can mount my RF on both my Bessas.

[Katastrofo]

Ah, so you do have an RF that reads in meters.

[iangreenhalgh1]

I need to check what my RF reads in but this Bessa is marked in feet!

[Katastrofo]

Let hope it's the same, doing conversions out in the field would be a drag!

[iangreenhalgh1]

Certainly is, nearly all the rangefinders on ebay UK are in feet...

[iangreenhalgh1]

Good news is my Mastra RF is in feet and so are both my Bessas. I bought some sticky backed velcro to mount the RF and it's useless, wobbles around like hell.

[Attila]

I never mount external RF I use it simple from my shirt pocket.

[Nesster]

Super results~

[iangreenhalgh1]

I'll try that Attila, cheers.

Thanks Nesster, going to try my other Bessa today, it's identical, just has the 3.5/105 Voigtar rather than Skopar.