Repair: Voigtländer Bessa R (Part 1)

25 Sep 2024 4 Comments

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , , , ,

Hello, everybody! Do you believe in curses? Some folks believe that items can be cursed, it can come from the previous owner or just a stroke bad luck. You’ll sometimes wonder why things are always in a messed up state or why they’re always broken. The good thing is, curses can be lifted by good karma, faith or the patience of a good healer. Today, I will show you a cursed camera. It has been featured on the internet for a couple of years now, with the owner desperate to find a way of lifting the curse. It’s destiny that brought me and the camera together. Do you think I have enough good karma to lift the curse of the evil jammed shutter? I have been saving cameras and lenses for years, along with presenting you the best articles you can find on the internet. Let’s see if all that goodness will change the fate of this poor thing.

Introduction:

The Voigtländer Bessa R was sold from 2000 up to 2004, it was preceded by a minimalistic model called the Voigtländer Bessa L which doesn’t come with a viewfinder nor a rangefinder. It’s a brave gamble by a small company relative to the giants of the time called Nikon and Canon. The company is named Cosina, a company with a long history and experience. They dared to sell a concept that went against what the market was used to, the effort resulted in an instant classic that spawned a whole line of cameras. Many people are attracted to these because they offer something unique and that not a lot of brands give. It’s still very popular these days and the price has shot up due to the hype from influencers. I will show you if this hype is deserved or not in this series, you will be the judge of it.

This is the most modern LTM camera you can ever buy. It has a lot of modern conveniences which helps in simplifying the process of taking great photos. It is a great “Sunday camera” for leisurely taking photos at a park or the streets. It offers the best in terms of comfort of all the LTM cameras I have ever used.

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Repair: Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/3.5 (late)

11 Sep 2024 2 Comments

by richardhaw in nikon,lens repair,lens maintenance,nikon repair,, Nikon,museum,classic lenses,, Uncategorized Tags: , , , ,

Hello, everybody! I’ve got this crush on Kobayashi Akiko (小林明子) when she was younger, her face was beautiful and she is certainly very graceful specially when singing her hit “恋に落ちて” or “Fall in Love” in English. It’s a song about being in love from an innocent woman’s perspective. I see het at that point in her life as the epitome of femininity, beauty and a lot of other things that I associate a perfect woman to be. She’s now a certified “auntie”, not someone I would fancy for now but I still respect her. It seems that she as aged as gracefully as her hit which has been covered numerous times and by different singers in various languages. Today, I will show you something that’s equally graceful and it has aged well, too.

Introduction:

The Nikkor-Q•C 13.5cm f/3.5 had a long run, with production running from 1951–1962. The one we have in this article was made in the final patches so it’s close to the last one produced. The reason why we are interested in this version is the different style of its barrel. It now looks more modern and some parts are now made of aluminum alloy instead of the heavy brass that we are all used to seeing. This change came about around the latter half of the 1950s, but exact dates are unknown. Of all the known versions, this is the least desirable so it’s also the cheapest one you can get.

The barrel looks much sleeker and the black paint makes it look smart. Nothing much has changed when I use it except for feeling a bit lighter in my hands. It’s very beautiful with all those colorful markings. I must also say that the black paint helps contrast the colors much better. The previous version is also black but I don’t recall that having multicolored markings, they are just white numbers. This one makes it a lot easier to read everything and it also comes in both standard and metric.

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