Manual focus, manual exposure. A leaf shutter. My de luxe model from 1962 has a little window with a mirror which lets you see the aperture. Some call it a “Judas window”, others prefer the “nose”.

The Voigtländer Bessamatic eventually offered 9 interchangeable lenses from 35mm to 350mm. The marketing department used the slogan “…because the lens is so good!” The Color-Skopar 50mm is a great lens as well.

The Bessamatic tried to out-compete the Kodak Retina Reflex series and the Contaflex from Zeiss Ikon. It was priced at around 500 DM and pretty much out of reach for the average family in the 1960s. The camera cost about the same as an average person’s monthly salary! Depending on the accessories (the Zoomar lens was and is expensive, since it was the world’s first Zoom lens), the cost could approach the price of a brand new VW Beetle car! (around 3,700 DM at the time).

What I always find remarkable is that the mechanics have held up so well, even if there is a point to saying a little prayer every time you put the Voigtländer into your bag. Not many mechanics can repair a camera like that…I was fortunate to find someone to do a complete CLA after the film transport failed and now it’s as good as new.

The Bessamatic is like a vintage car you take out on sunny Sundays for a drive in the beautiful countryside. Then, you notice all the niceties you didn’t see at first. Designers came up with an ingenious little “foot” to stabilize the camera when you place it on a flat surface.

Many cameras from this era have a satisfying shutter sound. The Voigtländer Bessamatic de luxe is no exception. About 45,000 copies were made.

Links:

Mike Eckman’s review:

http://elekm.net/pages/cameras/bessamatic.htm

Mike Elek’s analysis.

https://simonhawketts.co.uk/2019/09/29/voigtlander-bessamatic-slr-camera

http://thecameracollection.blogspot.com/2010/10/voigtlander-bessamatic.html

https://vintage-photo.nl/all-you-need-is-bessamatic

https://www.juergen-adler.de/technikged%C3%B6ns/voigtl%C3%A4nder-bessamatic/

http://www.der-klinterklater.de/bessamatic.html

Your imagination knows no boundaries. Move, twirl, rotate. The light is flexible, it will move along and etch its own path onto your sensor. Discover avenues of light your eyes are unable to capture.

See how the rays of light move like a spectacular color ocean in the night. Do they forms chains or strobes, walls or gates?

Steady your hand and start drawing and painting with the light sources in front of you.

This lovely folder was made in Freital in Saxony before the Second World War. Still fully functional, and a bit quirky. This copy comes with a Schneider-Kreuznach Xenar f/2.8 lens and speeds up to 1/500 sec.

Unusual ergonomics as the camera is in a way upside down. But it does fit nicely into your hand, and the movements become second nature very quickly. The mechanics resemble a fine watch.

I started searching for a Welta Weltini after reading Murray Leff’s book on his wartime experiences. Lens of an Infantryman – McFarland (mcfarlandbooks.com) An American GI, he participated in the campaign in Western Europe and documented parts of it on a German camera: the Welta. Officially it was forbidden for soldiers to carry cameras. Why? If a soldier was captured and the camera would fall into enemy hands, it might make identifying units easier and give the enemy clues about troop locations. But Leff cleverly placated his superior officers by taking pictures of them and giving them a print as a present. How did he find a darkroom in a battle zone? He waited for nightfall and poured developer into his helmet.

Leff does not reveal if he used a Weltini or a different model but I like to think he came across a decent copy of the Weltini and made his wartime photos with it. A quality Rangefinder camera, made in Saxony, between 1938 and 1941. You have to get used to the operation as it is a bit counterintuitive. But it sits really well in your hand and is a fun machine.

Welta Weltini II (1938) – mike eckman dot com

Agfa is one of the storied companies of film. Most of the time, Agfa produced affordable consumer cameras to promote its extensive line of film. This particular SLR from the early 1980s is relatively rare and was designed by a famous German design company, Schlagheck & Schultes. The body is black, but it sports the trademark orange button. I also like that the Chinon-made camera has an easy-to-operate double exposure slider. The Agfa is very suitable for double or multiple exposure images and can operate with all Pentax lenses.

I have been using a standard Pentax 50mm lens. The Agfa Selectronic 3 is the best of the three cameras made by Chinon for the German company. It is a rebadged Chinon CE-4. I enjoy the unusual design, especially since I was also able to get my hands on a vintage AGFA strap and appreciate the AGFA effort to offer something special with this camera.

Link https://mikeeckman.com/2022/03/agfa-selectronic-3-1980/

Like all of these pieces, I am interested in the experience of using film cameras. I like to learn about the history they represent, the age in which they were made, the effort to make them competitive. I admire the workmanship that went into these small objects. Here we have a truly small object, the Agfa Optima sensor electronic 1035. Black. Plastic exterior. Compact shape. Design by Agfa’s go-to company Schlagheck Schultes, reminiscent of the iconic philosophy of Dieter Rams and Braun. 4-element Solitar S 40mm f 2.8 lens (multi-coated). 255 grams. Shutter speed 15 seconds to 1/1000 of a second.

Fantastic clear viewfinder. Classic Agfa Red-orange Sensor shutter button. Prize-winning camera. Something to wear. Reminiscent of a later design philosophy by a Cupertino company.

Curious rewind system – the film advance lever becomes rewind lever. When I used this the first time, I was apprehensive – could this actually work? Would I not again spoil precious film? But no, everything worked out fine. Have confidence in the mechanics.

The exposed film is pushed into a light-safe chamber so that even if you open the back, your images are safe. A smart idea, and one of those that makes you wonder why it took decades for an engineer to think of it.

Made in Munich. You had to pay 298 DM at the time. What impresses me is the design philosophy, the ability to re-invent age-old mechanisms, the courage to offer bold solutions, and all of this in a neat small frame. Classic.

Links:

https://www.edition-oldenburg.de/agfa_optima.html

A brief stop in Berlin to survey the landscape and check out the photography stores. I visited fotoimpex, click&surr and, in a neighborhood shop selling laundry machines and other technical gear, managed to snag a perfectly working Kodak Retina IIa from the early 1950s. It was fun bargaining with the owner of the store! Great discovery. Renting a three-speed bike was definitely an experience, but also a wonderful way to get around and slow down.