Voitlanger Redemption Arc
filmdump 22
To be completely honest, as someone who has been a photographer for over 15 years I do not consider myself that well versed in all the tech aspect of photography. To this day I still find it hard to hold a conversation with someone who is chatting it up about best gear and camera specs. But anyways, one day I was on a reddit thread looking at what the community considered a Leica “dupe” & that was my first time hearing about Voitlanger cameras.
After seeing that and doing a couple of youtube deep dives, I kept my eye on fb marketplace for Voitlangers and lucky for me there was one for sale in San Diego for a fair price. Specifically it was the Bessa R4A which is known for being very compatible with wide lenses. Impulsively I bought the camera.
The lens that the camera came with is a 75 mm lens which isn’t exactly compatible for the camera. The tightest frame lines for the camera was 50mm so for a good while when I shot with this camera I had no way of properly composing my image in the viewfinder. There were definitely many rolls that came back leaving me disappointed.
But then occasionally I would get some good rolls back which would encourage me to continue to test and try it out.
During our trip to Japan I was able to finally get some lenses that were more suitable for this specific camera. I bought one extra wide lens; 21mm and then one standard 35mm lens. However the photos back from my Japan trip were the ones that I was most disappointed with.
I know objectively these are not bad photos. I think I just held an expectation in my head of what the outcome would be. Perhaps I thought that with a “Leica dupe” it was going to make any photo I take amazing. (I do believe the resolution of some of the Japan photos had to do with a Japanese film stock that I was using).
Yet I continued to keep trying and shooting, taking it on a trip back home to Texas and attempting to take a picture everyday. This was the roll that redeemed the camera for me again. Crisp photos, beautiful color, good exposure.
As I write this, I am realizing that, it’s not that the camera has changed, or my subjects have changed. It really all stems from my own preconceived expectations. For whatever reason, I expected this camera to make my photos better. & I am reminded that this up and down; the disappointing rolls and the redemption rolls is the whole reason why I love shooting film.
You don’t need to have the best gear. What you need is patience, and the ability to let go of expectations and embrace what’s imperfect. What matters most is that I am slowing down, observing, reflecting and growing. All this to say I love my new old camera, and excited to shoot more with it in 2026.
As always thanks for reading & I hope you enjoyed the photos <3
Candidly Angie is my online photo journal. I share thoughts and photo dumps every other week. If you enjoy my work subscribe so you never miss a post. My blog has always been free, but if you enjoy seeing my work you can show your support by pledging any amount.
Love this. Your photos are great - and you opened my mind up to a camera I’ve never heard of before - thanks for sharing.
I’ve felt this deeply, but not just with the Bessa R exclusively, I’ve experienced it with every camera I shoot. And those waves of bad rolls and redemption rolls really make the experience worth it all that more. Thank you for sharing!