The old mercury Batteries which aren't around anymore had a different voltage then their new alkaline equivalents. There is a replacement battery by "Weincell" which claims to have the same voltage as the old ones at 1.35v rather then the 1.5v of the new ones. The difference in voltage throws off the meter. Mine oddly had 1.2v, no clue what's that related to though. My meter was off by two stops with that battery but that must be camera related. I can live with it, I just have to remember to set the film speed accordingly. I hope that helped, best regards
Thank you for your reply. But does the setting of the film speed effect the measuring result of the light meter or is the adjustment of the film speed merely a compensatory measure to compensate for the faulty results of the light meter, which is affected by the battery voltage but not by any user settings concerning the film speed? Am asking, because I had a nearly flawless Bessamatic Deluxe as a teenager, with apparently the only flaw that the light meter did not work. Now I can't wait for my "new" CS to arrive, but I don't know if it will be working correctly. So I never had any experience with a working light meter, but hopefully I soon will.
@@die_schlechtere_Milch Well, the most important thing is that the lightmeter is consistent. If it consistently shows a result which is off by a specific amount you can just compensate with the filmspeed dial and it will be just fine. I’d suggest downloading a lightmeter app onto your phone and comparing the result with each other. Set the f-stop and and shutter speed to the same value and adjust the filmspeed of the camera until it meets the result of your lightmeterapp. Than you’ll know by how much you’ll have to compsensate. On the other hand it could be just fine as well I hope that answers your question, let me know
My dad bought one in 1957. I just bought a used one from Germany made in 1957. It’s in perfect condition and has a superb case and is still 100% fully functional.
Maxim, that was a well put together review of the Bessamatic CS in only 5 minutes and 43 seconds. I have both a Bessamatic Deluxe and the CS. I prefer the older Bessamtic Deluxe, because its viewfinder is significantly brighter than the CS.
Dear sir, can u show me the battery chamber, the contact
share.icloud.com/photos/033jv0SZ0fWo5Gatml5jV39VA
your pics in the end are incredibly beautiful
can you please explain the math behind the Ersatzbatterie?
The old mercury Batteries which aren't around anymore had a different voltage then their new alkaline equivalents. There is a replacement battery by "Weincell" which claims to have the same voltage as the old ones at 1.35v rather then the 1.5v of the new ones. The difference in voltage throws off the meter. Mine oddly had 1.2v, no clue what's that related to though. My meter was off by two stops with that battery but that must be camera related. I can live with it, I just have to remember to set the film speed accordingly. I hope that helped, best regards
Thank you for your reply. But does the setting of the film speed effect the measuring result of the light meter or is the adjustment of the film speed merely a compensatory measure to compensate for the faulty results of the light meter, which is affected by the battery voltage but not by any user settings concerning the film speed? Am asking, because I had a nearly flawless Bessamatic Deluxe as a teenager, with apparently the only flaw that the light meter did not work. Now I can't wait for my "new" CS to arrive, but I don't know if it will be working correctly. So I never had any experience with a working light meter, but hopefully I soon will.
@@die_schlechtere_Milch Well, the most important thing is that the lightmeter is consistent. If it consistently shows a result which is off by a specific amount you can just compensate with the filmspeed dial and it will be just fine. I’d suggest downloading a lightmeter app onto your phone and comparing the result with each other. Set the f-stop and and shutter speed to the same value and adjust the filmspeed of the camera until it meets the result of your lightmeterapp. Than you’ll know by how much you’ll have to compsensate. On the other hand it could be just fine as well I hope that answers your question, let me know
My dad bought one in 1957. I just bought a used one from Germany made in 1957. It’s in perfect condition and has a superb case and is still 100% fully functional.
Thanks for the video. I have a Bessamatic too…a slightly older model. I’ve started using it again and took it to Yellowstone last summer 😀.
great choice!
Maxim, that was a well put together review of the Bessamatic CS in only 5 minutes and 43 seconds. I have both a Bessamatic Deluxe and the CS. I prefer the older Bessamtic Deluxe, because its viewfinder is significantly brighter than the CS.
Thank you, now as you mentioned it I noticed that. Unfortunately my Deluxe has some shutter and lightmeter issues - I’d love to use it.