Voigtländer didn't trouble themselves with serial numbers. The Voigtländer name was bought out by RINGFOTO GmbH & Co., and subsequent licensed use for the Voigtländer Bessa L and R cameras made by Cosina from 1999. Eventually the company went the way of many and ceased operations in 1982.
With the introduction of roll film in the mid 1920s Voigtlander started making a series designated as the 'Rollfilm'. Heritage, Voigtländer cameras have tended to exhibit quality in both buildĪnd optics. In the early 1900s Voigtlander decided to get serious about camera manufacture and introduced the Alpin 9x12cm plate camera. Petzval, named after the mathematician who did the tricky bit. The company developed the first mathematically computed lens, the f/3.7 Following the yearĪfter the first commercially available photographic processes were announced Initially in Vienna then Germany from the mid 1800s. Of photography by some 90 years, scientific instruments being its business With new color pictures and improved print quality, this book covers the early history of Hasselblad, from the very early cameras before the Hasselblad name. Voigtländer is decidedly unusual in that the company predates the invention In 1983 and was the first purchase for the embryonic Living Image. identifying numerals thereon denoting the 2,813,471 number of exposures.
The Bessa II was introduced around the same timeĪs this Bessa I, but had a coupled rangefinder. 3 Cabinet, London with serial number 29245, the other German, engraved Euryscop IV No. and having a principal aperture for framing the picture camera and the base. A rangefinder version was introduced in the mid 1930s of a limited edition of just 600 lenses, each with unique serial numbers. It was just known as the Bessa and came with a variety of shutter and A unique limited edition lens, this Heliar 50mm f/2 from Voigtlander has been. The Bessa series started out in the early 1930s when The satin chromed top housing is pressed from brass and the majority of the workings are from turned brass too. The bellows follow long established practice and are natural leather with card stiffeners and linen liner. The front hatch is a slightly heavier gauge steel pressing, with faux leather and black paint with the lens support riveted in place and finished in crackle paint. Construction is primarily of stamped steel plate riveted together to form the main body, this being painted gloss black externally and satin black inside. Two with correction for parallax error when the subject is close to theĬamera. Compensation for the consequential viewfinderĬhange is by four rotating masks in the viewfinder, two for distance and
Rear hatch allowing both red windows to be used, this is to allow eachįrame number to be used twice. When the mask is fitted it retracts a blind built into the X 6cm format, the latter achieved with a removable mask fitted at theįocal plane. The Voigtländer Bessa I is a simple German, strut braced, self erectingįolding roll film camera for 8 frames 6 x 9cm format or 16 frames 4.5
Voigtländer Bessa I, folding 120 roll film camera C1950