Want to Buy Voigtlander Bessa II

[campy51]

Anyone thinking about selling one or maybe trading? I have 500C/M, Rolleiflex 2.8E, Bronica EC-TL with 75mm,100mm,50mm,150mm, Kodak Medalist II, Minolta Autocord.

 

[Alex Varas]

I would like one of these too but prices went mental lately with Voigtlander Bessa II, even with Skopar lens.
Recently I tried Agfa Record III and Agfa Billy Record II, with Solinar and Apotar lenses, really good cameras. I think Skopar lens is liked more overall.
Other alternative would be Telka III, 95mm Tessar type lens, really well built and robust, excellent lens, sharp and contrasty.

 

[nosmok]

FWIW , the Agfa 105 f/4.5 Solinar (found on certain Records, Billy and otherwise) beats the coated 105 f/3.8 Heliar Bessa II I had like a gong. To the point that I don't miss the Bessa's RF at all. Your mileage may vary, of course, but as Alex Varas says above, Bessa prices are mental lately. Of course, anything Agfa might be trapped in immobile grease at this point-- but a cleaned, sorted scale-focus Agfa will still be lots less than a sorted Bessa II.

 

[gone]

The Soligor 105 is certainly a fine lens, but a Heliar is a Heliar. It's all amout IQ and 3-D, not sharpness.

There are about a dozen Bessa RF's and a Bessa II on eBay, from $149 to $699. The $699 is a Bessa II with Heliar, the less expensive ones are Skopars and Helomars. I can't imagine buying a Bessa II w/ a Skopar or Heliar for less than that.

 

[Alex Varas]

OP has a Medalist II, Heliar and sharpest 6x9 I ever tried, probably is looking for portability and still a nice lens.

 

[gone]

There's a Bessa RF on eBay w/ a Heliar and a bad shutter for $197. 71, that is a steal! Shutter is easy to fix, I CLA'd mine, it's simple.

 

[campy51]

I have been reading about film flatness issues. Is this a real problem?

 

[Alex Varas]

I have come across of several Bessa RF, their main problem is not the film flatness, of you load film correctly you shouldn’t have any problems.
Main problem is the struts, easily bended and not straight, this cause all kind of problems including not sharp image across the negative.
Both RF and II models shares same way of loading film and opening/closing front door.

 

[nosmok]

The Soligor 105 is certainly a fine lens, but a Heliar is a Heliar. It's all amout IQ and 3-D, not sharpness.

There are about a dozen Bessa RF's and a Bessa II on eBay, from $149 to $699. The $699 is a Bessa II with Heliar, the less expensive ones are Skopars and Helomars. I can't imagine buying a Bessa II w/ a Skopar or Heliar for less than that.

Think you meant 'Solinar', not Soligor. Anyway, it's not just about sharpness. The Solinar does everything better than the Heliar, for me. I also have a 135mm Soli that covers 4x5 and it's the best of that FL for that format that I own. That was a heckuva lens formula that Agfa put together (I guess it was from the Laack people that were absorbed by Agfa), yet it still flies under the radar a bit.

 

[EdSawyer]

The struts and resulting film to lens plane misalignment issues are real. I had a mint bessa Ii heliar and could never get sharp corners with it due to this. Superb camera otherwise. Ended up using a tourist II Anastar instead, though it lacked the elegance and the RF. But a lot less expensive.