Bessa's got a Vaskar 105mm/F4.5 in Prontor-S shutter. Some sniff at this lens, but it's absolutely fine for what I want... and the camera came with all sorts of bits: there's a slip on filter attachment... two auxiliary range finders (though only one works)... and the 4.5 x 6 adaptor is with the camera! So it converts from 9x6 to 4.5x6. There's a little thumb wheel in the viewfinder to select either size, plus parallax corrected close up views for each.

Tags:   Voigtländer 120 Voigtlander Bessa I Bessa Voigtlander folding folder Camera Fetish

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I was amazed at the size difference. Bessa's far larger than I expected, as compared to old Franka

Tags:   Voigtländer 120 Voigtlander Bessa I Bessa Voigtlander folding folder Franka pre-war Camera Fetish

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Daughter found Franka in the house. She's cloudy of eye and her skin's peeled, but the old girl still has a snappy mind and makes pictures.

I got all excited by this: a folding medium format camera that is so small! and Old! Pre-war, this Franka. And by excited I mean: obsessive. And by obsessive I mean: I found one, a Voigtländer Bessa 20 minutes away! She's much bigger...

Tags:   Voigtlander Bessa I Bessa Voigtlander folding folder Voigtländer 120 Franka pre-war Camera Fetish

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Left to right: the film wind knob, with the folder release button by it. Accessory shoe (where the range finder goes, or an electronic flash!).

The little pizza window you see under the E of Bessa marks what mask is in the viewfinder: 4.5x6, 9X6, or either in close up.

Then the shutter button on top, below it is the double exposure prevention telltale. An arrow points to the shutter after the film's been wound, and points to the winder after the shutter's been tripped. Clever and cute.

Tags:   Voigtlander Bessa I Bessa Voigtlander folding folder Voigtländer 120 Camera Fetish

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You set the shutter speed with the outermost wee knurled metal ring. You cock the shutter with that armature up top. You set aperture with that smaller thing next to the armature. Focus scale's up front with a spread-out DOF scale on the surrounding flange. The red thing at the bottom's the self timer.

Tags:   Voigtlander Bessa I Bessa Voigtlander folding folder Voigtländer 120 Camera Fetish

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