A Bessamatic by Voigtlander.

[Stephen]

After the other recent  thread on the Voigtlander Bessamatic, from Yashica 1943, I risked my all on a Bessamatic body, cheap from Ebay, with all the risks of a resultant heavy paperweight for the desk.

But a nice one has turned up, only sign of issues is a smear of glue on one of the front leathers which could be signs of service or just a loose leather. It all works, with accurate speeds from 1/2th to 500th, with the 1 sec a bit slow. The delayed action funtions correctly, as does the flash sync. The mirror is clean, and silvering perfect, and the secondary shutter plate under the mirror works correctly.

The Fresnel screened viewfinder is bright and clear, only a couple of dust marks. The rear viewfinder glass is intact, they often seemed to suffer from separation of a glued element. Personally I think this happened if the camera was left in the heat of a car or in the sun.

The selenium meter appears just about accurate, needs a test film to confirm, but matches a Weston meter within a half stop over.

No case, body only, but includes the accessory shoe that clips over the viewfinder rim.

The general cosmetic condition is good, a couple of minor marks and very slight wear, but excellent for a near 60 year old camera. Made from 1957 to the late 1960's, with a range of DKL Compur mount lenses to fit. The film transport is smooth in action.

I have a standard 50mm F2.8 Skopar X coming to use on it, the Septon 50mm F2.0 is far too pricey these days! There are a lot of body only cameras around nowadays, as the Voigtlander lenses can be used on Mirrorless Digital, via adaptors.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

Bessamatic camera body now all clean and checked over, the minor glue mark was from securing down the leathers edge, and cleaned away with strong solvent.

The sluggish 1 second speed has now returned to normal, a minute faction over 1 sec. No signs of corrosion or rust anywhere, Voigtlander certainly went for a quality finish on all the parts.

Despite the relatively "noisy" shutter, it is all the mirror and the rear light trap making the noise, on delayed action the Compur shutter is dead quiet. Despite the apparent extra noise, there is no vibation, the very heavy construction damps any, giving a firm feel whilst releasing the shutter.

Mind you, the extra weight put a lot of people of the camera, it is heavy!

On the net, one poster mentions that extension tubes were made, has anybody ever seen any? Bellows were made by Voigtlander, and they offered special matched close up lenses for the Bessamatic.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

I notice one curiousity from the net, I looked for the DKL mount to Olympus M4/3, and found them but they are very expensive....then noticed that a DKL to M42 adaptor is made, with infinity focus.

So you buy the DKL to M42 adaptor at £23 and a cheap M4/3 to M42 adaptor, and save about £40.....and you can put the Bessamatic lenses on any M42 camera as well......

Still can't see any extension tubes, but if Bessamatic branded, they would be very pricey indeed.

Stephen

[Stephen]

Further net research shows Voigtlander never made extension tubes themselves, but that Novaflex seems to have done some in the 1960's, rare items indeed. I suspect that Voigtlander also had the bellows made by Novoflex or Sperling.
I have got a 2x teleconvertor by Camron coming though. It is said to work with the DKl Retina as well and Voigtlander Bessamatic.

Stephen

[Stephen]

The Standard lens for the Voigtlander Bessamatic has arrived on the post from the United States, and is in perfect condition, and only $9.99!

A Voigtlander Skopar-X 50mm F2.8, no damage, almost new appearance, no fungus, and clean, clear glass. The Aperture indicator system works, with the depth of field pointers moving under control of the aperture ring dial on the top of the body around the rewind knob.

A test film, Agfa 200asa is loaded to test it all out, then some 50 ASA Ilford Pan F to try out the lens on black and white.

Stephen

[philbirch]

Looking forward to seeing the results.

[Stephen]

Another item arrived from Ebay US for the Bessamatic, the 2x teleconvertor by Camron. Japanese made, solid all metal, with super quality DKL Compur mounts. The glass is 100% clean and fungus free. I assume this is an early convertor from about 1960 or so, probably made for the US market. It is much better made than average, and must have been expensive.

It couples through the aperture depth of field indicators, and also takes all the other variants of the DKL, Braun, Retina, etc.

It automatically alters the max aperture scale for depth of field on the lens, but you do have to add 2 stops via the body aperture control dial.

The brightness in the viewfinder is very good, barely lower than without the convertor in place. Voigtlander's viewfinder must have been the brightest at the time it was made, and still beats many more modern designs.

Stephen

[Stephen]

Shot of the convertor in place with the Skopar-X 50mm f2.8 lens. Super finish on the 2x covertor matches the camera well.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

As it all works fine, I have trawled through Ebay to find a Voigtländer Super-Dynarex 135mm f4.0 not at a premium price!, and found one, I hope not a fungus farm. With the converter it will give 50/100/135/270, a wide angle would be nice, but they are very pricey items.

Stephen.

[Stephen]

Whilst researching the DKL mount  I suddenly realised that the Russians also used the mount on some of their cameras, with the whole range of the usual focal lengths available. The 35mm was not the ex Zeiss design, as that had large diameter rear glass elements and would never fit.
They were made to fit the Zenit 4, Zenit 5 and Zenit 6 cameras, with the leaf shutter.
Unfortunately they were not imported, and are rare in the UK, although they sometimes come up on Ebay. They even made a copy of the Zoomar, called the Rubin.
It is claimed the Soviet lenses all fit the Bessamatic, but they are very uncommon to find.

Stephen.

[markoverton]

Keep in mind that the Bessamatic's mount is the same as Kodak Retina Reflex, except for a little tab/notch in the mount which keys to each manufacturer. With care and much taping to shield everything, you can grind a Kodak-notch into your Bessamatic's mount, and then use Kodak's lenses on it. And vice-versa.

Also, I have a 2x for Retina, but have never used it.

When firing, a good deal of mass slings around inside the camera, and I found that it adds a bit of motion-blur to indoors shots. I suggest using a monopod or shoulder-brace for sharpest results.

Mark

[Stephen]

The pity is so much is going on inside, before the shutter operates to expose the film. I nearly always use a monopod for film cameras anyway, and find the heavy weight of the Bessamatic helps dampen things down.

The film capping plate has to move as well as the mirror, and cock the shutter, after return to closed blades from the viewing position.

However to rid it of vibration for tripod shots, just use the delayed action, you can barely hear the Compur shutter operating.

The first thought is why did they not use the mirror as the capping plate, but it causes a long delay as the shutter cannot be cocked till the mirror is up, but, with the capping plate, it can be done far quicker.

Kowa in Japan used the same leaf shutter, but they used the mirror to cover the film, and had to close the blades first and then move the mirror, and had to cap the viewfinder window, same as the Focaflex did, to prevent light leaking through.

Stephen.

[hannes]

Jun 18, 2015 9:22:26 GMT -5 Stephen said:

It is claimed the Soviet lenses all fit the Bessamatic, but they are very uncommon to find.

Hi Stephen:

The Zenit-4,5,6 Mount is similar to the Bessamatic mount but lenses cannot be interchanged.

I have a Zenit-4 with the Rubin-1, got it from a friend with filters, both finders and the leather case.
Unfortunately the camera was broken when I got it. I could get the shutter working again for a very short time (about 2/3rd of a roll of film)

The camera with this lens is very heavy. But since the lens has a 2.8 aperture it is great fun using it.

Here are some fotos: My Zenit 4







Hannes

[Stephen]

Hannes, have the Soviet lenses actually been tried on the Bessamatic?... as I am told the bayonet is the same, as is the aperture control, but like Retina it may not match the vital cut out, which can be filed into place on the rim of the bayonet.
A Retina DKL will jam on a Bessa, but can be modified, and I suspect the same may be apply for the Soviet version of the DKL mount.
However the Soviet DKL may well be different in other details, and anyhow I have not got a Soviet DKL lens as yet!
Information on the net says Braun DKL fits as does Iloca DKL, it was the Kodak version that was out of step.

Stephen

[Stephen]

I traced a good picture of the Soviet DKL mount and it is a copy of the Kodak Retina version, so that, at the minimum the missing cut out would have to be added to the bayonet rim. This assumes all other details were copied accurately.

Stephen