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SUPERB!  1931 Prewar Voigtlander 6x9 Folder with HELIAR lens. FRESHLY SERVICED! - Voigtlander- Petrakla Classic Cameras

Voigtlander

SUPERB! 1931 Prewar Voigtlander 6x9 Folder with HELIAR lens. FRESHLY SERVICED!

$ 295.00 USD

Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted. Ready for immediate use

This week we have an exceptionally fine classic Voigtlander 6x9 medium format folder. It was built in Germany in circa 1931 and is very popular with owners, users and collectors, few are willing to give them up and it’s easy to see why. It’s covered with fine quality embossed leather that feels quite nice in your hands and sports a nicely slanted Voigtlander logo on the rear of the camera.

It’s a lovely camera that easily slips into a jacket pocket or a back pack and yet folds out to take 8 beautiful 6x9 photos on a 120 roll film. Photos alive with all the fine details, lovely colors and rich tonal range that only medium format can provide. When it comes to photos, bigger is better and with this camera you can create a negative that is about 6 times larger than the average 35mm snap shot. So whether you’re interested in large prints, very fine grain, rich tonal gradations or lovely colors, this classic camera will do all of that and may just become your favorite photographic companion.

This camera is also capable of producing 6x4.5 negatives if you use the reduction mask. (The rare reduction mask is included!)

What I also appreciate is that in a period when most folding cameras focused the image by using “front cell focusing” (in which the first lens element is screwed in and out) this camera took a different approach. Its lens and shutter moves back and forth as a unit. Focus is controlled by a lever which is moved by the user over an ivory colored distance scale. This improved optical performance quite a bit, especially when working up close. As a result, when most cameras of the period only close focused to 2 meters and even the superb Zeiss Ikonta lingered at 1 ½ meters, this Voigtlander beat them all and can focus down to one meter. This is pretty impressive for its 105mm lens and it’s very useful when shooting portraits.

This 85 year old prewar German camera is in excellent condition. And thanks to the careful attention we’ve given it, it’s ready to be put to work. (Please see photos) The real leather covering is complete and original. The bellows are light tight. It’s been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted. The quality Compur shutter works smoothly and all speeds (T, B, & 1 sec – 1/250th ) are appropriate. The slow speeds buzz along smoothly and the fast speeds are clean and snappy.

The lens is the highly desirable 4.5/105mm HELIAR, a top quality lens with five lens elements (the Voigtlander Skopar and the Zeiss Tessar had four elements.) This lens was also used on the famous Voigtlander Bergheil plate camera, which is of course well known by collectors for its quality and high price...

The Heliar lens is in excellent condition. There are no separated elements, crystallization or other problems. There are no scratches or polishing marks and it’s capable of producing lovely photos with modern color and black & white films.

All in all, it’s a wonderful classic camera. A perfect companion in the hunt for that perfect shot. You know the one… the one with the Ansel Adams light breaking through the dark storm clouds that leaves you wishing you had a classic medium format camera with you.


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