As this has been a troublesome month for my new-to-me Voigtlanders, I have decided to reuse some of the ones I already have, such as the Bessa.

I had issues with this camera the first time I tried it as the winder was very, very stiff. This time, I used the advice in the comments and put on some surgical gloves. It did make the winding easier at the beginning, but it still got stuck right at the end of the roll. I think next time, I will try rerolling a 120 onto a 620 spool as they are slightly narrower.

Anyway, I took the Bessa on a camping trip to Iron Gorge. I set it to half-frame by adding the mask that came with it, then loaded a roll of Ilford FP4. As this was only the second time I have used this set-up, I found it difficult to frame the photos. The viewfinder is for full frame, with no guides for half-frame. Now writing this, I realise the square in the middle is probably the half-frame view.

All this doesn’t bode well for the results, does it? So marvel in the history of the reason the location is called Iron Bridge!

Here is my, and I am sorry for this…phone photo of the bridge…

I went camping here specifically to see this bridge, I love a good bridge. I highly recommend you read this article with interesting facts about this, the FIRST ever cast iron bridge. It was started in 1777 and connected the towns of Broseley and Madeley. So important was this bridge that by 1810, the area was known as Iron Bridge.

It seemed perfect to use a Voigtlander here as they were one of the first makers of branded optical equipment, and this bridge was also a first. You know I am waffling, avoiding posting my photos. Well, here are some of them.

Such a beautiful site deserved the full-frame of 6×9, but once I loaded the film, there was no going back. I am slightly disappointed with the results, as it was such a lovely location and a gorgeous day. The weather for the whole camping trip was perfect, blue skies and 20 degrees heat each day.

The next voighty post will be a new-to-me camera, that worked…sort of. Seriously, this is not turning out to be a very successful month at all. With that in mind, I might forgo the Purma month I had planned for May.