Daniel Pietzsch

My first 6x9 camera

Back in October I impulse-bought my first fold-out 6x9 camera at the Photobörse Ratingen (a kind of cameras-only flea market and trade show).

It’s some Voigtländer Bessa with a 110 mm lens and a maximum aperture of f/4.5:

I’ve fancied having a camera like this for a while now. Because I imagine them being great for landscapes: they are compact, relatively light and pretty robust – which is good when you’re hiking. They have an aspect ratio well suited to landscapes and the negative size is the largest medium format has to offer (panoramic cameras aside).

And my demands for its controls are not very high, either. I only plan to use it outdoors at daylight, which means that

1. the aperture doesn’t have to be large, nor has the lens to be a great performer wide open,
2. the exposure has to be set only once in a while, so controls don’t have to be super-convenient, and
3. I don’t need to focus accurately, because for the most part, I will set it to infinity and forget about it.

That’s why a cheap model like this one will do.

Last month I finally went out with a roll of Fomapan 100 to see if it’s working properly. And it is: No light leaks, most shutter speeds seem to be accurate, the aperture works, focus works, lens works. It’s not very nice at f/4.5, but much better at f/5.6 and from f/8 and above seems to render perfectly fine. Which I’m happy with.

I’m looking forward to trying this out on a proper hike, but for now, here are a few shots from that test-run: