Voigtlander Bessamatic camera help
A. McKee
I still get lenses? I need a flash attachment and a zoom lens. This camera is
probably 40 yrs old and still takes wonderful photos. Any info would be
appreciated. Thanks,
Anita McKee
te...@nwi.net
Dave Munroe
A. McKee wrote:
>I have an old Voigtlander Bessamatic 35mm. Are they still in business and
>can I still get lenses? I need a flash attachment and a zoom lens.
Voigtlander, I believe, was acquired by Rollei quite some time ago. As for the
Bessamatic, I've seen lenses for them advertised in Shutterbug occasionally by some
of the better mail order houses such as B&H and Le Camera. The only zoom for it
that I know of is the somewhat rare Zoomar, which, incidentally, is one of the first
(if not the very first) zoom lenses for a 35mm camera. Besides the zoom lens, I
believe there was a 35mm lens and a moderate telephoto (Ivor Matanle, in his books
_Collecting and Using Classic Cameras_ and _Collecting and Using Classic SLRs_
provides a list of the lenses available for the Bessamatic and also a description
of the Bessamatic's cousins [Bessamatic M, Ultramatic, etc.]; these books are easy
to find). The prices for Bessamatics and its lenses hold up well despite their
age, so you may be a little bit surprised there.
As you've noticed, the Color Skopar lens on the Bessamatic is outstanding in its
sharpness. I bought a Bessamatic a few years ago in reasonably good condition, but
have noticed a few intermittent problems that you may want to watch out for. First,
exercise the slow shutter speeds a few times per month. If I don't do this, the
shutter won't complete its close cycle for the 1-second and sometimes the 1/2 second
speeds. By exercising all speeds regularly, I can keep the 1-second speed working.
Second, I've noticed that if I keep the shutter in a cocked state (mirror down for
viewing) for a very long time (weeks), sometimes it won't trip. In that case I have
to remove the lens and move the small lever on the inside of the mount; not a big deal.
I don't know why it gets stuck, but if it happens to you at least you know the fix is
easy. Keeping the camera in an uncocked state while not in use has solved the problem
for me. The lens on the Bessamatic is a bit similar to an older Hasselblad C lens in
operation. You've got the moving depth-of-field indicators and also a self timer. The
self timer works like those on typical Synchro-Compur shutter-lenses: cock the shutter,
move the MXV lever to V, and press the shutter release. You'll hear the gear train wind
down, then the shutter will trip for the shutter speed you've selected. I exercise the
self timer regularly, too.
I can't help too much with the flash attachment, other than saying you'll probably want
to use the X (electronic) setting of the MXV lever.
-Dave
--
The latest revision of the Hasselblad Lens Guide is now on the web at:
http://www.cs.cuhk.edu.hk/~phwl/hassylens.txt
http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/hassylens.html
Mark Bergman
a zoom lens for. (It was something like a 36 to 80). Unfortunately that makes it
rare and collectable. Voightlander made a few other lenses for this camera a 35mm
and a 100m come to mind but the whole outfit falls more in the collector range than
the user. It is a neat camera to use and the normal lens is very good but the
shutter is not the most robust. And it is around 40 years old. This is one of the
last cameras they made in Germany before they moved to Japan and oblivion.
A. McKee wrote:
> I have an old Voigtlander Bessamatic 35mm. Are they still in business and can