Post by conan on Dec 4, 2016 4:28:38 GMT -5
So this is my third Bessamatic and this one is a real beauty and is pristine – probably 98-99% cosmetically. The meter works and the screen is very clean.
The Bessamatic is interesting because it appeared in 1958 after the Kodak Retina Reflex and at the same time as the Braun Paxette Reflex. (In 1956 Schering sold its interest in Voigtlander to Zeiss and in 1965 it became a Zeiss division) Zeiss were fully aware that Voigtlander were working on a leaf shutter SLR and this camera and its successors fitted into Zeiss plans to dominate the leaf shutter SLR market.
Unlike the Contaflex the Bessamatic had a true interchangeable lens design rather than the Contaflex front element lens changes. (Some lenses could also be used on some of the Kodak Retina Reflex’s – albeit with a small modification) Voigtlander also did something Zeiss were never able to do with the Contaflex – produce an instant return mirror design in 1962 – Zeiss engineers might have been surprised that Voigtlander could design something even more complex than they could.
In some ways the Bessamatic is a nicer camera to use than a Contaflex – it has a far longer winder stroke which makes it far smoother than the heavier and stubby Contaflex winder.
This one was $40 - about 28 euros