Voigtlander Bessa & Brilliant V6 Two Classic 1938 Medium Format Cameras – By Phil Harrison
The Voigtlander’s in question are a 1938 Brilliant V6 TLR and a 1938 Bessa folder. My Grandfather had this model of Bessa, I found his camera in our attic and learnt how to use it when aged around 10, this gave me my interest in photography. I’ve seen transparencies using Dufaycolour (see note 1) film taken on his Bessa. I bought my current Bessa a few years ago together with the Brilliant. They seemed to be in good order, enough shutter speeds worked to take photos but a drop of light oil and the 80 year old shutters were smooth at all speeds. The lenses needed cleaning between the elements but the Bessa’s bellows proved light tight. They obviously needed testing with film.
