The Fellsphoto Vintage 6x6 Gallery

    post-war Baby Bessa (Bessa 66) with Skopar lens

Voigtländer 'Baby Bessa'

'Klein Bessa' Model 66 with 75mm f3.5 Skopar lens and 9-speed Compur Rapid shutter

 

Voigtländer Baby Bessa (Bessa 66) frontal view                       Voigtländer Baby Bessa (Bessa 66) top/rear view

 

 

Voigtländer Baby Bessa (Bessa 66) close-up of Skopar lens

 

 

The Baby Bessa with Voigtar lens in the 1939 catalogue. My post-war version no longer has the hinged yellow filter shown:

 

1939 catalogue entry for the Baby Bessa

click on the catalogue to read it

 

Value:

The price of £6/10/0 shown in the 1939 catalogue is for the 3-element Voigtar lens and Prontor II shutter and would be equivalent to £299 in 2007 by RPI, £1190 compared to average earnings.

The1945 price is not yet known, but the RPI calculator suggests it would have been £9 6s 9d. However, prices for the optical viewfinder version Bessa 66 show that being fitted with the 4-element Skopar lens would add £2 or 20%.to this taking it to £11 6s 9d making the comparable 2007 price £521 by RPI and £2080 when compared to average earnings. 

      

 How to open a Baby Bessa

On the base or underside of the camera see a 2" long lever. It's a safety lock.

Baby Bessa back release lever closed        Baby Bessa back release lever open

 Swing it out 90 degrees to the front of camera. With it pointing out, and at the same end of the camera, hold the body firmly and squeeze the two serrated chrome ends extending from the black end bar. Pull the back away from the main camera body.

Baby Bessa back release    Baby Bessa back open

Note that Voigtländer always have the fixed catches on the body and the release mechanism on the back.

Most other manufacturers fit the release on the body with the fixed catches on the back. In practice this seems to be the more intuitive design in that you, literally, pull the back open. This may seem unimportant, but it affects how you hold the camera:  i.e. which bit you hold firmly and which you pull. It explains why people are often unable to open Voigtländers.

There again, perhaps it's simply what you're used to! 
 

                

    

 

This page was last modified on 28 December 2010 at 14:00.