Re: [Leica] what 6x9 cm folding camera to buy?

["Joe B." <joe-b@dircon.co.uk>]

At 13:32 04/01/00 +0100, you wrote:
>I am planning to play around a bit with medium format to see how that
>affects print tonality and I am looking for a good value 1950s or 60s
>folding 6 by 9 cm camera with a very good lens and possibly a coupled
>rangefinder. I want to avoid collector cameras, but I still want quality.
>There is a big photo flea market here this coming weekend, and I would
>appreciate any tips beforehand from this knowledgeable group. (BTW is the
>real negative format 55 by 85 mm just like 6 by 6 is 55mm square?)
>Thanks and regards, Chris

One that is regularly praised and has a remarkably nice and modern-seeming 
design is the Voigtlander Bessa II with the Colour Skopar (a very good 
Tessar clone). These are 1950s coupled rangefinder cameras and are 
delightful. The one I have is the same but with the Heliar lens, which 
makes it a lot more expensive but may not be noticeably sharper- many argue 
about this though. The Heliar lens has a bit of a cult following and many 
love the look, but the Skopar is great too and at something like half the 
price it seems a good option. I've been tempted but I have too many such 
cameras already. If you buy a Bessa II, make very sure that the lens 
standard has no wobble- this is found on some and may be the result of 
people trying to force the camera shut the wrong way, or something like 
that. This is one camera where you do not want lens tilt. There are various 
other Voigtlanders and many other possibilities. Always check the front 
standard rigidity, and look at he lens with a flashlight from behind (ie 
shining it through the lens at you), many have massive scratching and are 
barely usable but this isn't easily visible by normal lighting. With 
folders such as Super Ikontas that have albada type finders (reflected 
frame) check that the viewfinder is usable and that the framelines are 
still visible and that the rangefinder is ok, although that can often be 
fixed, as far as I have been able to ascertain fixing old faded or cloudy 
Albada finders isn't. At least I have never found anyone who says they can 
do it in the UK.  You can find a lot of information on this kind of camera 
on this site;

http://www.cosmonet.org/camera/index_e.html
Joe B.