Voitglander Brillant medium format camera

tripper62

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I just bought a focussing Brillant -- i.e. one where the viewing lens is connected to the focussing lens and you do get to see some focussing in the view finder, unlinke the non-focussing one that Martin has filmed a couple of vids on. On the face of it it is easier to load than the more basic/ earlier one. There are no spigots for the film spool to go on it just snaps into place; and the film does not have to go under the bar (is that a good thing though).

I have never used a medium format camera before or a camera as old as this and I have some questions: it seems to have a 'cocking' leaver that you have to set - this is the lever to the right of the shutter speed settings in the photo, and then you release the shutter with a lever on the other side of the lens: does that sound right? Or am I getting confused with a timer release -- if so then the other leaver on its own does not appear to release the shutter.

Having done that you cannot wind the film on unless you first use the lever on the right side of the camera above and similar to the set exposure number to 1 lever: does this sound right?

The only manual I could find online covers the more basic model but not this one -- if anyone out there happens to have a manual for this model...!

Any thoughts/ help much appreciated.
Tim
 

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Hi Keith,
Thanks - I had looked there before and thought it was all the more basic model; but I have just noticed that the german language one has an illustration with the compur lens like mine, and luckily my wife speaks german!

Tim
 
OK, I got the first film back from the developpers -- scans attached - I (thought I ) took 12 shots but I only got an image on the last 7: the final two are me getting the settings wrong in low light I believe, but the other 5 seem to show no issues with light bleed, focus is nice and sharp and tonal range seems good. But there are 5 spaces of completely blank (I presume unexposed) film on the negatives. The version of the Brillant I have has an 'advance lock' i.e. you can't move the film on until you have released the shutter..... any thoughts as to what might have happened here?

Interested in any ideas as I don't want to waste half a film every time!
Rgds,
Tim
PS thinking about it maybe that is not accurate about the lock : there is an unlock lever by the film advance knob and the advance locks when you have wound enough film on for the next shot. You then need to activate the lever to advance the film. It isn't actually connected to the release -- so is it just that I have not actually activated the shutter release I wonder? Though not sure how I could get that wrong - it's not rocket science!!
 

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But there are 5 spaces of completely blank (I presume unexposed) film on the negatives
If the film is clear, they are either unexposed and the shutter didn't open or horrendously under-exposed. If they are black, they are totally over-exposed and the shutter stayed open far too long.
so is it just that I have not actually activated the shutter release I wonder?
If the frames are clear, this sounds likely.
 
If the film is clear, they are either unexposed and the shutter didn't open or horrendously under-exposed. If they are black, they are totally over-exposed and the shutter stayed open far too long.

If the frames are clear, this sounds likely.
yep completely clear, so that sounds like that is it. I wonder if the shutter was possibly sticking to start with, could be a while since the camera was used. Could also be under exposed though, to be fair, because the aperture lever is very free to move and I could have easily knocked it. I need to learn to set it by touch (because I can't read the flippin' numbers as much as anything).
Thanks,
Tim
 
When you have no film in it, check the shutter at all speeds to confirm its working, I think they can be a little awkward to load as you have to disengage the winding mech and then rear engage it,

You wind the film on, cock the shutter, set the aperture and fire the shutter this is all done on the lens,

I think the blank frames are caused by incorrect winding
 
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