RIP Voigtlander Bessa 1 - Medium Format Folding Camera

July 20, 2024

RIP Voigtlander Bessa 1 - Medium Format Folding Camera

After my Dad passed in 1996, my Mum asked if I would like his camera. I am the mad keen photographer in our family, and the camera was languishing in the cupboard. Of course I said yes!

In 1996, we had a young family of our own and I really did not have the time to look properly at Dad's camera. It was used as a display piece. It wasn't until about 2009/10 that I became to be re-interested in Film Photography.

I mean, I have always been a film photographer. A Pentax A3 35mm purchased in Singapore in 1985 was the mainstay of my family photography. It was an Aperture Priority camera and I learned about aperture, ISO and, shutter speed from that camera. I could change lenses and learned how to use a flash on the hotshoe. Then the digital era hit us and I bought a Panasonic Lumix DMC FZ30. This was another good camera to learn on and I recall busying myself on line with the Digital Photography School and heaps of 'how to' videos on YouTube. It wasn't until all our children were older and much more independent, that I had more time for my photography. It was then I re-discovered film photography.

That was in the days when Digital was really spreading out and many of us were lamenting a large number of films that were being discontinued by companies who believed they were out dated. So, I found a place that sold film and started using the Pentax again. It was about this time, getting acquainted with film again, that I started to wonder if Dad's Voigtlander was still a viable option. I took it in to a bloke to look at to see what condition it may have been in. Les Porter has been in the film photography industry for years and he encouraged me to get a film to try it out. I was very surprised and excited to find that, although the camera was just on 60 years old, it used Medium Format 120 film which could still be purchased.

Some of the levers of the camera were sticking. The shutter speed and the self timer (also known as the delayed action lever). I sprayed a little Isopropyl Alcohol into where the levers disappeared into the lens housing and it loosened them up. Spraying a little each day and gently working the levers soon got them moving again.

The first film I bought for it was a Kodak Tri X 100. I didn't get the blower onto the inside of the camera, I just cleaned the front of the lens and loaded the film. That first film came out sooooo spotty from the accumulation of dust inside over the years (a good lesson to learn!)

The Voigtlander was a bit of a beast to learn how to operate. Shutter speed and aperture were set according to the ISO speed of the film. The highest shutter speed was 1/250 and there was a Bulb setting as well. Aperture settings were f3.5, f4, f5.6, f8, f11, f16 and, f22. The lens is a Prontor-S Color Skopar 1;3.5 105mm. Given that a lot of films from the same era as this camera were ISO25 and 50, I found that it was almost impossible to use f3.5 or f4 on this camera with modern ISO100 film because it didn't have a faster shutter speed than 1/250 to match the wider apertures. Mostly I used the Sunny 16 method which I found to be pretty accurate.

Before taking the photo, the shutter had to be 'armed' via the tensioning lever. This would tension a spring and upon pushing the release button would activate the shutter.

The tiny viewfinder that came with the camera was basically useless; years of use, cold and hot humid weather, had left it all hazed up. Dad though always used a separate Voigtlander Kontur Viewfinder that could be purchased separately from the camera. This mounted on top of the camera and the unbroken or dotted line indicated the correct positioning of the subject. You couldn't see through the viewfinder though. You had to use it with both eyes open! With one eye viewing the subject and the other looking into the Kontur Viewfinder you would see how the subject fitted into the 'frame lines' that were etched into the viewfinder. There were 2 frame rectangles etched into the viewfinder; one was a solid marking with the infinity symbol (which looks like the figure 8 lying on its side) and the other was a dotted line with 1m-3ft marked on it. The viewfinder gave the correct Parallax view of the subject as if the photographer were looking through the lens of a SLR.

The camera is a rangefinder camera and Dad used a separate Pollux Range Finder to ascertain distance for the focus setting. When looking into the Pollux Range Finder, there would be 2 separate images. Turning a dial would move a ghosted image over the top of the real image until it was imposed exactly on top. Check the setting on the dial and that would indicate the distance to set focus on the camera. This gradually became redundant because one; something had gone wheels up inside the Pollux Rangefinder and the two images were way out of synch and, two; I soon became pretty good at guesstimating distance!

I put about 9 rolls of film through it before it started playing up again. Those levers were gradually returning to their non moveable state. I decided to put the camera in for a CLA (clean, lube and adjust). Unfortunately, the camera was returned to me by the repairer saying that it was not viable for CLA because of internal rust on moving parts. This doesn't surprise me. The camera lived the majority of its life in Beaudesert, Queensland. Our old house there was a very cold house in winter and the weather was hot and humid in the summer.

I was disappointed that this had happened; I was really looking forward to getting some lovely 6x9 goodness from it after a service. I still do have a Medium Format Camera in the form of a Bronica ETRSi 645 which gives me 15 photos as compared to 8 from the Voigtlander 6x9 size so, I guess I'll be using that camera more in the future. (I have a roll in it now waiting to be finished which I hope to get around to this week!) I'm not sure if I'll ever get a Medium Format 6x9 Camera again. They are pretty expensive these days and I am only a hobby photographer not making any money out of my photography.

The serial number for Dad's Voigtlander indicates about 1951 manufacture. Luckily, Dad was a prolific photographer and we have him to thank for the many photographs of our immediate and extended family. Dad also kept his original negatives and I have been finding some gems amongst them and scanning them on my Epson V850 Pro. Those new scans of old negatives are for another blog story.

In the meantime, here are some of the photos I took with the Voigtlander since I started using it again. I am very happy to have given it a second chance at making memories before old age caught up with it. It sits in pride of place on a buffet as you enter the house so that visitors can marvel at a 75 year old camera that has recorded so many lives.

Click on this link for an informative overview of the Voigtländer Kontur Viewfinder

Here you can see the Voigtlander Kontur Viewfinder on the left and, the Pollux
Rangefinder on the right. Note the broken and dotted lines on the Viewfinder for
the correct parallax view for infinity and 1m/3ft. On the left of the Pollux Rangefinder
you can see the small view hole on the left and the dial on the right was turned to line
up the images. Once lined up, the distance to subject was indicated against the
groove to the left of the dial

The first photo I took after resurrecting the Voigtlander. Note all the dust marks on the
photo because I didn't blow out the inside prior to loading and winding on the film. I was
probably too excited to even think about that!