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Serial Number: Cam0320
Type:
Viewfinder Camera
Manufacturer:
Voigtländer
Country of Origin:
Germany
Production Period:
1972
Approximate Price:
£6.99
Reference:
https www.ebay.co.uk itm 350932311021
Status: Display
Description:
The Voigtländer Bessy AK is a viewfinder camera manufactured by Balda on behalf of fellow German optics company Voigtländer which introduced the camera in 1965. So called to imply a (in reality, very faint) connection with the legendary Bessa name, the Bessy was a cutting edge camera designed for Kodak’s now obsolete 126 film cartridge, a format overwhelmingly popular at the time among amateur photographers who didn’t want to deal with the hassle of loading traditional roll films.
There were five Bessy models manufactured between the mid ’60s and early ’70s. All of them were for the 126 format and all were manufactured by Balda which, surprisingly, never sold rebranded versions under their own name. The first four (including the AK) are very similar to each other with the only real differences being the lens and type of flash bulb supported. The Bessy AK has a Voigtländer Color-Lanthar 38mm f 2.8 lens mated to a Prontor-Matic V automatic leaf shutter made by Gauthier, the renowned German shutter manufacturer. Exposure is automatically controlled by the selenium meter but for low light situations, a built-in flash bulb reflector can be revealed by swiveling the corner panel directly underneath the viewfinder window.
Like the vast majority of 126 cameras available at the time, the Bessy is very basic with very little manual control to speak of. The only real adjustment that can be made is focus which can be adjusted by rotating the ring surrounding the lens’ front element. Other than that, the only other controls are the textured black shutter button on the user’s right-hand side of the top plate and the film advance gear underneath it.
This camera was obtained by Al Faraj Gallery on the 1st of November 2023
