Voigtlander
Near Mint! Rare Green Voigtlander 1934 Bergheil Camera (De Luxe) with Heliar lens and 6x9 Rada 120 roll-film back! Freshly serviced, CLA'd!
Cleaned, Lubricated & Adjusted. Ready for immediate use!
This is a Voigtlander Bergheil 6x9 camera in exceptionally fine condition. It is one of the finest examples I’ve ever seen. It was built in Germany as a top quality, double extension camera. The double extension feature is a valuable feature since not only does it allow the camera to focus at very close distances with the standard lens, it also means that various longer lenses could be used as well.
An interesting historical fact is that the Voigtlander Bergheil was Brassai’s favorite camera. This famous photographer used a Bergheil extensively to record images of Paris in the 1920’s and ‘30’s. If you’re not familiar with Brassai’s work, I recommend looking him up on the internet.
This is the rare luxury version carefully constructed of metal and it is distinguished by its green leather covering which features a unique cross hatch embossing and of course the lovely green bellows. It’s equipped with a quality rim-set Compur shutter. This shutter has been carefully cleaned, lubricated and adjusted. All shutter speeds (T, B, 1 sec – 1/250th) are appropriate. The slow speeds buzz along smoothly and the faster speeds are clean and snappy
The lens on this camera is the famous Voigtlander Heliar 4.5/10,5cm (105mm). (A superb design with five elements in three groups.) The Heliar lens is well known, well loved and is recognized as a masterpiece of design. It was an absolute top quality lens of its day. For decades it was a benchmark of sharpness, but its greatness is not simply defined by high resolution. What photographers and artists love about this lens is the beautiful rendition in the fore and back-ground. It’s something the Japanese refer to as bokeh. Simply said, this lens has a gorgeous bokeh. Open up the lens or narrow the depth of field by getting closer and the focus rolls on and off silky smooth as cream… Soft out of focus foreground moves lovingly into sharp focus on your subject matter and then off again into gently blurred background. There are few lenses that do it as nicely as this. If you’ve seen it, you know what I mean. If you haven’t, well then you’re in for a treat…
The superb 4.5/10,5cm (105mm) Heliar lens is exceptionally fine condition. It’s clean and clear. There are no scratches, no cleaning marks and it’s capable of producing beautiful photos with modern color & B&W film.
The camera comes complete with a black 6x9 Rada 120 roll-film back and ground glass back with features a folding leather shade. All in all, an exceptionally beautiful classic camera with an exceptionally fine Heliar lens and shutter.
All in all, an exceptionally lovely green Bergheil camera. Perfect for collectors, artists and photographers with a historical interest.