[AgentL]

PentaxForums.com Marketplace Listing

Item for Sale
Voigtlander Bessa-T Olive 101 Edition, 35mm f2.5 Color Skopar, 35mm Finder, Extras

Asking Price
825.00 USD

Item Location
Bandon, OR (United States)

Item Description
I have to lead off this listing by saying that the kit you see in the picture is one of my favorite cameras I've ever experienced using. It has come time to part with it purely because the full-frame digital experiment in the form of the Pentax K1 is such a success. I've decided that the Leica M mount is a system for another time.

The Voigtlander Bessa-T is a very interesting camera. It's an early 2000s (which is to say, the final stage of 35mm film cameras being the mainstream) take on the Barnack Leica models. The optics built into the body are purely a 1.5x rangefinder, the brightest/clearest/easiest rangefinder I've ever used, in fact. Alignment is perfect. The body is quite small but not tiny, a very comfortable size for a lightweight and compact rangefinder camera, lighter than a Leica by quite a bit. It's plastic, but has a very nice smooth finish and feels sturdy. And, of course, being the 101 Heliar special edition, it's a wonderful olive green. The special edition also has more metal fittings than the regular Bessa-T model, so the dials which would be plastic on the lower model are nicely-machined aluminum on this one. Everything has a super nice mechanical positivity about operation. Nothing is loose-feeling or sloppy. This body is in about the nicest condition you'll find for a camera that's actually been shot with, and I suspect when I bought it about 2.5 years ago it had only been handled a few times and shot maybe once. It's in wonderful shape.

The Heliar edition of course came originally with the collapsible Heliar 3.5/50, and a tiny metal viewfinder (which was hard to see framelines through). I replaced that setup with the LTM version of the Color Skopar 35mm f2.5 (with an M adapter which fits perfectly and places infinity focus in the right spot, I went through a couple adapters before hitting on this one), and the bigger plastic-body Voigtlander 35mm viewfinder, which has a very large view and is very easy to look through. The Skopar lens needs no introduction, you can look around on the web for a description if you don't know about it. It renders neutral, pleasing images with great sharpness and colors. Some people say the LTM version is better suited for film than digital - I wouldn't know. I do think the fit and finish on the LTM model is a little better than the newest version of the lens; I've heard of looseness in some of the fittings on those, and when I handled a similar 1.4/40 in a shop the focus ring was a little too stiff. Everything about this version is excellent. There could be a bit of tiny dust; I really can't tell and can never see any with the naked eye, but the photos included seem to show up a little, so there you have it.

Condition of everything is excellent. The viewfinder is the only part of this kit to have noticeable marks, you can see there is a bit of what looks to me almost like dried glue on top, as well as a bit of scuff/dent in the plastic, purely cosmetic.

Included are three Tiffen filters, the original nylon strap (unused), lens hood and cap, along with the two boxes (one presentation style, one outer) which make up the original packaging.

This is considerably cheaper than the value of all the parts of this kit if I separated them, but I wanted to give the camera a chance to find a good home before taking it to different seller sites. If any of the components of the kit are really on your shortlist, you could message me about it, but I'd really prefer to sell the kit.

Thanks for looking!





























Are you the original owner of the item being sold?
No

Are you selling or trading this item?
Selling

Item Condition (Key)
Used
Excellent

Shipping Destinations
United States

Shipping Charge
$15

Shipping Services
USPS Priority

Accepted Payment Types
PayPal

Return Policy & Additional Details
No returns unless not as described or pictured.

Please send me a private message if interested in the item!

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Last edited by AgentL; 08-16-2022 at 08:46 AM. Reason: Sale price

[AgentL]

Minor bump!

[AgentL]

Fri-Mon, the 12th through 15th, $800 plus shipping. Which is a sweet deal, I may add! You know you want to try out a classy rangefinder built after 2000!