Voigtlander Bessa 66 (about 1939)

The Voigtlander Bessa 66 is a folding camera that takes 2-1/4" square (6cm x 6cm) pictures on size 120 roll film.  It was made from 1938 until 1950 with an interruption due to WWII.  This one was made probably in 1939 and was an export model because the distance scale and the depth of field calculator are in feet.  The Bessa 66 came with a range of lenses, shutters and viewfinders.  The available lenses were the Voigtar (three elements in 3 groups), the Skopar (4 elements in 3 groups) and the Heliar (5 elements in 3 groups).  [An element is a single lens.  Groups are separated by air spaces and a group consists of either a single element or multiple elements cemented together.]  The available shutters were the Gauthier Prontor II (fastest speed 1/175 second), the Deckel Compur (1/300) or the Deckel Compur-Rapid (1/500).  The available viewfinders were a folding open frame finder, a folding optical finder and an enclosed optical finder.  The cameras with enclosed viewfinders also had automatic frame counters.  The features on this Bessa 66 include an uncoated f/3.5 Voigtar lens, a Compur-Rapid shutter, an enclosed optical viewfinder and an automatic frame counter.  The shutter is not synchronized for flash and does not have a self-timer.  Anti-reflective lens coatings, flash synchronization and self-timers appeared post-WWII.

The top of the camera has the film winding knob and the frame counter window.  The bottom of the camera has the lens door button, the 3/8" tripod socket, the base support and the depth of field calculator.  The front has the lens door and the viewfinder window.  The back of the camera has the viewfinder eyepiece, the frame counter start slider, and the little red window.  The red window has a shutter that you open and close using the knob next to the window.  The film back hinge is on the left and the film back latch is on the right.

The lens is an uncoated, f/3.5-f/16, 75 mm, Voigtlander Voigtar lens with front cell focusing.  A 32 mm Series VI filter adapter fits the lens.  The Voigtar is a Cooke Triplet design.  The Cooke Triplet was invented in 1893 by Harold Dennis Taylor (1862-1943) at the Thomas Cooke and Sons optical firm in England.

The shutter is a Compur-Rapid leaf shutter with speeds of 1, 1/2, 1/5, 1/10, 1/25, 1/50, 1/100, 1/250 and 1/500 second.  The shutter release is on the lens door and is interlocked with the automatic frame counter to prevent double exposures.  The socket for a cable release is on the top of the shutter release mechanism near the lens door hinge.  The shutter is manually cocked with a lever on the side of the shutter.

When you press the lens door button the lens door pops open and you can pull the lens door down until the lens struts click into place.  To close the lens door you press the curved plate under the lens to unlatch the lens struts and push the lens door closed.

To open the door to the film compartment you turn the base support to the front, squeeze together the latches and pull open the door.  The film door latches when you close it.  Turning the base support back under the base moves a tab under the bottom latch to keep it closed.

The frame counter has to be at zero in order to load film.  If the counter needs to be reset you rotate the toothed roller near the supply chamber to the left until you hear a click, then cock and release the shutter.  Repeat until the counter is at zero and the film winding knob turns freely.  The take-up spool goes into the cradle on the left under the winding knob.  The new roll of film goes into the cradle on the right side.  Thread the backing paper into the slot on the take-up spool, close the back and wind the film until the number 1 shows through the little red window.  You push the start slider to the left and a one will appear in the frame counter window.

To take a picture you set the aperture and the shutter speed, focus the lens, cock the shutter, aim and press the shutter release lever on the lens door all the way down to take a picture.  The lever then locks to prevent a double exposure.  The winding knob unlocks when you press the shutter release lever.  Turn the winding knob until it locks to advance to the next frame.  You need to advance to the next frame to unlock the shutter release lever.  After you have taken 12 pictures the frame counter resets to zero and the winding knob turns freely to let you wind up the roll of film to be ready to load a fresh roll.

The focusing scale has distant and near settings for snapshots.  When the aperture is set at f/8 and the focus is set to the circle symbol (about 32 feet or 10 meters)  on the focusing scale, the depth of field extends from 16 feet or 5 meters to infinity.  When the lens is set at the triangle symbol (about 11 feet or 3.3 meters) the depth of field extends from 8 feet or 2.5 meters to 16 feet or 10 meters.  Use the depth of field calculator on the bottom to estimate the depth of field for other settings.

For long exposures you can put the camera on a stable support and use a cable release.  You can turn the base support forward to set the Bessa 66 on a level surface without tipping over.  The tripod socket takes a 3/8" screw.  You need a 1/4" to 3/8" adapter to use most modern tripods.

The Bessa 66 folds to about the size of a 35 mm camera.  The Bessa 66 and Bessa 46 (4.5cm wide x 6cm tall pictures) were known as "Baby Bessas" because they were so compact.  The camera is entirely manual.  Scale focusing takes a little getting used to.  A hand held range finder helps with focusing.  An exposure meter helps with setting the aperture and shutter.  When the camera was new, 100 speed film was "fast."  The camera settings have enough range to use current 400 speed film on a sunny day.  The frame counter on this camera is a little cranky after 80-plus years and takes gentle handling.

Voigtlander started making scientific instruments in 1756 and made its first camera in 1840.  The camera factory closed in 1971.  After 1999 Cosina Co., Ltd., Japan, made products with the Voigtlander name. 

This picture was taken several years ago on ISO 100 Arista.edu Ultra film.  The Bessa 66 makes nice pictures.

View-Master Personal Stereo Camera (1952-1955)

You might remember looking through a View-Master viewer at a reel of scenic views or cartoon favorites on a reel of color stereo slides. You might not remember that you could have made your own View-Master reels with this View-Master Personal Stereo Camera. Sawyer's, Inc., Portland, Oregon, began producing View-Master reels and viewers in the 1930s. During the 1950s stereo photography boom, Sawyer's sold a home photography View-Master system consisting of a camera and a film cutter. The photographer would shoot a roll of 35 mm slide film, have it developed, and either send the film to Sawyer's to be mounted in View-Master reels or cut and mount the film at home using a View-Master film cutter and empty View-Master reels. The cameras were made for Sawyer's by Stereocraft Engineering Company, also in Portland, Oregon. Patents on the camera were filed by Gordon N. Smith and assigned to Stereocraft. Stereocraft Engineering Company made other products for Sawyer's and eventually merged with Sawyer's. Sawyer's merged with GAF in 1966. GAF got out of the photography business in 1977. View-Master viewers and commercial reels are still sold as toys.

The body of the camera is die cast metal with a small amount of chrome. The top of the camera has the winding knob, film length indicator, exposure counter, exposure calculator/aperture setting/shutter speed setting knobs, a flash connector and a film advance indicator. The bottom has the film loaded indicator, the tripod socket and a summary of the instructions for loading film. The front of the camera has the front lens of the viewfinder, two windows for the paired lenses, the A/B shift knob, the cable release socket and the shutter button. The back of the camera has the rear lens of the viewfinder. A spirit level is visible through the viewfinder. The film door is hinged on the left and has a latch on the right. The camera weighs 1 lb. 7-1/2 oz. (0.67 kg) without film. It is 6 in. wide by 3-3/4 in. high by 2 in. deep (15 cm x 95 cm x 5 cm). The camera came in either black or, uncommonly, brown.

The lenses are matched, fixed focus, View-Master f/3.5-f/16, 25 mm, coated anastigmats with three elements in three groups. The range of sharp focus depends on the selected aperture. Close focus is as close as 4 ft. with the camera set to f/16, and 10 ft. with the camera set to f/3.5. The best stereo effect is with the aperture set to f/11 or f/16 for the greatest possible depth of field. Subjects should be no closer than 6 or 7 ft. The lenses are spaced 2-7/16 in. (62 mm) on centers, which is about the average interpupillary distance for a natural stereo effect. The lenses are located behind plane glass windows that protect the shutter blades. The window mountings hold Series V drop-in filters. The camera came with retaining rings threaded into the window mountings. Wratten 85 color correction filters were commonly used with tungsten balanced Kodachrome A film outdoors in daylight.

The shutters are guillotine types located in front of the lenses. They function like the shutter on the Minox camera. Continuously variable shutter speeds run from 1/100 second to 1/10 second plus bulb.

The aperture and shutter speed knobs are coupled to an exposure setting calculator. You set the film speed (from ASA 5 to 100) to the season (Summer or Winter) and match the weather conditions to the brightness of the subject by selecting the aperture and shutter speeds. It is a very workable system. Stereocraft put the same calculator on the TDC Stereo Vivid camera they made for Bell and Howell.

The film advance and rewind are unique to this camera. Using a 36-exposure roll of 35mm color slide film, the camera makes 69 pairs of 12 mm x 14 mm pictures. Four pictures fit in the area taken up by one full frame 35 mm picture. 34 pairs of pictures are made on the lower half of the film as it moves forward from the film cassette to the take-up spindle. A knob on the front of the camera shifts the lenses from lower to upper, and the film transport from forward to reverse. 35 pairs of pictures are made on the upper half of the film as it moves back from the spindle into the cassette. The wind knob turns counterclockwise for advance and clockwise for reverse.

The shifting lenses on the View-Master Personal Stereo Camera

The shutter is open on the bulb setting to show the lenses.

When the camera was new photographers would send their Kodachrome film to Eastman Kodak for processing and have the processed film returned uncut. They then had the option of sending the film to Sawyer's or one of their dealers to be mounted on View-Master reels or cutting and mounting the slides themselves. Sawyer's sold a film cutter and blank, View-Master personal reels. The film cutter is a necessity for do-it-yourself mounting because it is difficult to cut the slides by hand to fit a reel. Blank View-Master reels are no longer made, but old stock still appears on eBay. It might be possible to cut your own reels on a paper craft cutter like the Cricut machine. Commercial View-Master reels from a thrift store could be reused by taking out the old slides. Some commercial reels are in demand as collectibles, making it a good idea to check prices before sacrificing one of your potentially valuable commercial reels.

The model FC-1 film cutter uses a 15 watt light bulb to illuminate the slides. The knob on the front advances the film through the cutter. Pressing the handle punches out the chips for one stereo pair. To keep from mixing up the chips from different stereo pairs you should mount the slides as you go along. To punch out the pairs of chips you feed the film from right to left with the emulsion side down. Once you finish one row of pictures you turn the film over and cut the second row, feeding the film from left to right with the emulsion side up. The View-Master camera has a square notch on the right film gate and a rounded notch on the left film gate so you can tell left from right, and the notches match the guides printed on blank View-Master personal reels.  If you are intending to make your own View-Master reels it is a good idea to find the somewhat uncommon film cutter first.

The chips can be slipped into a View-Master reel holding 7 stereo pairs. The personal reels have spaces to write descriptions of slides if you write small. A 36 exposure roll of color slide film makes enough pictures to nearly fill 10 View-Master reels.The same View-Master hand viewers for commercial reels work with personal reels. Sawyer's made a 3D slide projector for viewing reels in 3D with special Polaroid glasses. You also needed a special aluminized screen that reflected polarized light. Sawyer's also made 2D projectors that projected only one slide of a pair.

There is a matching flasholder that is unique in having a built-in range finder. You looked through the eyepiece at the top of the flasholder and turned the inner part of the dial to merge the double images into one. This measured the distance to the main subject. You then set the outer part of the dial to the guide number for the flashbulb and film you are using. You read off the aperture to use according to the tonal value of the main subject.

There also were close-up attachments, which I don't have, that focused at 36 inches or 24 inches.