Paulo J Moreira
VOIGTLANDER PERKEO II
Everybody knows that I have a soft spot for Voigtlander cameras. Although I don't like much folding cameras, I go weak when I see the prints that big negatives make with great lenses, like is the case here. The camera is svelt, superbly built and finished. Sadly, the mythical Bessa II is not as well designed, with very poor lens alignement none of that here. The camera is simple, it lacks a rangefinder (that would put it too close to the Bessa II), although one version of the Perkeo had it, but uncoupled. The major innovation here is a frame counter. No longer one had to look at the little red window and the paper back of the film to control exposure counting. A nice touch that few foldings have. Of course, the main attraction here is the Skopar lens 3,5/80 that produces beautiful pictures. I really don't know why, but this Tessar clone always seemed to me to produce better pictures than the original Zeiss. The Perkeo II is Rolleiflex quality at a fraction of the price, although they are very different to use.
VOIGTLANDER PERKEO II
Everybody knows that I have a soft spot for Voigtlander cameras. Although I don't like much folding cameras, I go weak when I see the prints that big negatives make with great lenses, like is the case here. The camera is svelt, superbly built and finished. Sadly, the mythical Bessa II is not as well designed, with very poor lens alignement none of that here. The camera is simple, it lacks a rangefinder (that would put it too close to the Bessa II), although one version of the Perkeo had it, but uncoupled. The major innovation here is a frame counter. No longer one had to look at the little red window and the paper back of the film to control exposure counting. A nice touch that few foldings have. Of course, the main attraction here is the Skopar lens 3,5/80 that produces beautiful pictures. I really don't know why, but this Tessar clone always seemed to me to produce better pictures than the original Zeiss. The Perkeo II is Rolleiflex quality at a fraction of the price, although they are very different to use.