Voigtlander Vito first version

[PaulC]

I just got my first 35mm folding film camera - a 1940s Vito - and what a lovely little piece of engineering it is.



It had been asleep for a long time, so the focusing ring and shutter needed waking up with a bit of lighter fluid and the film wind-on sounded smoother with some sewing machine oil added.

It has an automatic frame counter and wind-on lock, so you shoot, wind on until it locks, cock and shoot again. The shutter button is the metal bar on the door with the cable release in front of it. If you want to do a time exposure without a cable, the silver lever by the cable release point acts as a "T" setting (shift it to the side, shoot on B and the shutter stays open until you shift it back again).

I had to run a film through and wind it back several times before the wind-on system got going again, but now it operates perfectly. The exposure lock only releases when there is a film running over the rollers, so it will always seem to be broken if you find one without a film in it.

The frame counter on the top is reset by hand - there is a little lever on the back of the top plate that swings up allowing you to dial in the start of a 24 or 36 frame roll.

The film loads the same as in a 120 camera and there are no sprockets to pull it, so I guess you need to take care that it is straight.

To rewind, you lift the wind-on wheel and wind back with the rewind wheel. To load you lift the rewind wheel and drop in the cassette.

That's all there is to it. really. Simple, effective, solid and very stylish, to my eye.

[Photographed with a Zeiss Triotar 135 on a 5D mk2]

[ludoo]

The Vito II is really nice, I had one then sold it and later bought a IIa again. Voigtlanders are addictive, once you have on ein your hands and realize how heavy and well built those little cameras are, it's hard not to get another.

Give a Vitomatic II a try, I bet you'll love their 1:1 viewfinder and integral light meter.

Edit: how did you open the front of the lens to get to the shutter? I might have to do the same to my Vito B.

[PaulC]

I didn't open it, I just cocked the lens and put a few of drops of lighter fluid behind the cocking lever.

[djmike]

Hi Paul,
That's a lovely one. I have same one early this year. It looks just escaped from war.


This is taken by ILFORD ISO100. 60 years mini Austin shot by 60 years camera.


Suggestion1: always set at F8 to have better focusing range.
Suggesiton2: open you EYES. The VF is so small.
Mike

[PaulC]

I see yours has an accessory shoe. I saw three different versions of this model listed somewhere, one difference is there are two different filter ring diameters, 29mm is later and 32mm earlier, I think mine in the 29mm. I don't know what other variations there were.

I think mine has a frame spacing problem - there's something wrong because it stuck at frame 15 on the first proper roll (36 exp) I put through it. I'm waiting to get it back from the lab now but I strongly suspect some gearing problem in the exposure lock mechanism.

[PaulC]

As feared, there are huge gaps between the frames. Apart from that, it's not bad at all:



Now, do I try taking it to bits to try to fix it or do I just try to sell it for a profit down at the souq?

Does anyone have any idea why the frames should be twice as far apart - and more - as they should be?

[djmike]

Paul,
Mine is 29mm, too. I have not shot color film yet.
Mine has "Bulb" shutter and winding problem recently (can not wind) and I have 36 shots on first roll but film is not in fixed pitch. I am disassembling them to figure out whether I can fix it or not. You can remove the two wheels easily and go on. You can find the pleasure form this vintage germany camera.
Mike

[PaulC]

That sounds as if you also have a problem with the wind-on feeler system. Have you tried rolling the left-hand roller as if film was going over it, to see if it will activate the shutter release (the shutter has to be cocked, of course)?

The automatic lock seems to be the weak point of this camera.

[djmike]

Left-hand roller does not work. I have disassemble it for couple times, and it operates no problem when I remove the main cover but won't work after I reattach the cover.
I need more time to work on this.

[Laurence]

I really MISS my former Vito B. It's one of those "never should
have given away" cameras. The Color-Skopar is an AMAZINGLY
SHARP lens.

In fact, you have inspired me to bid on a Vito B at auction.
The feel of the solid camera in the hands is unmatched, and again
the images are superbly sharp. I'll try to dig up a couple of images
from the Vito B and post them.

[martinsmith99]

I've looked at these for a long time.

Nice camera and I think you'll enjoy it.

[Laurence]

I found these examples from the Vito B and Color Skopar lens on a CD.
I even had the exposure information written down on my old notepad
for this period!

These are simply test images that I took, not meant for critiques, but
to show the sharpness and color rendition. Of course, the web KILLS
the original image, but trust me when I say the originals are SHARP!




Vito B
Provia
f:8, 1/125th





Vito B
Provia
f:8, 1/125th




Vito B
Provia
f:8, 1/60th

[Attila]

Skopar.... great images as always!

[Laurence]

[Attila]

I found any Skopar sharp like hell no matter Color-Skopar or older uncoated ones. I kept Color-Skopar. Heliar even more amazing I found my Color Heliar wasn't same good than uncoated one so I kept Heliar. Lanthar is most expensive one in 6x9 so I did never try it out. This Vito shoots are amazing lot more better than any 35mm folder shoots what I seen. You did handle masterly all process from shoot to scanning.
My arsenal currently Bessa I Color-Skopar and two Bessa RF Heliar I rate them good as than Biotar 75mm f1.5 at 35mm camera lenses. Trully amazing products.

[Nesster]

Those are truly excellent samples of Skopar photography

[Laurence]

Paul, I hope I didn't actually hijack this thread. I figure that, since it's a Vito thread, it might be okay?

Thanks very much, Nesster!

Attila: So you think that the Color Skopar lens compares favorably to the
Biotar?

[Attila]

[PaulC]

I finally summoned up courage to try to fix the Vito, unscrewed the two top wheels and the two little screws under them, carefully lifted the top off and had a look. I couldn't see anything obviously wrong, so I splashed some lighter fluid on it to shift any dirt and then added a few blobs of sewing machine oil to the cogs, put it back together and - hey, presto! - it now seems to be measuring off the 35mm frames with reasonable precision.

I guess it is just the same old dirt problem that affects shutters. The cogs inside the top cover seem sturdy enough to withstand any amount of ordinary use. This repair was a cakewalk compared to most other things folders need doing (which all too often involve taking the shutter out of the bellows and then struggling to get it back in again).

Now I need to get another 35mm film.

[PaulC]

Well, it now works perfectly. The focus seems to be right at all distances (though I was mostly shooting stopped down), the pictures tend to be flat and some of them have a blue cast which might not be the case with the color-skopar, but they are sharp. It tendst to flare quite badly.

Here are a few shots from today's film:

[PaulC]

And here's a final one, showing how much detail the lens records at 1m distance (it seems to be at its best at short distances):

[djmike]

Great job, Paul.
I shall take time to disassemble mine in coming New Year Holiday to see if any I can get rid of the problem on my Vito.
Happy New Year.
Mike

[PaulC]

[estudleon]

The skopar (color, color X and uncoated) that came in vito, vitomatic, and vitos CLR, CL, etc. are the same tessar design. But I found that the folders lenses are a bit sharper than the RF 50 ones. With the RF (ie vito CLR) you need to use F/11-16 to obtain sharp corners and F/8 to obtain sharp centers

The SLR skopar color X are greats lenses. You have very good corners from f/8 and very good centers from F/5,6.

I had RF with 50 mm lanthar lens, and it is not a skopar IQ. Some older lanthar in vito Cl (not folder) was so blue that can transmit this cast to the color film. It occur to me.

In SRL I had a super lanthar 2,8/50 (a lens that never was in catalogue till I know). Not so sharp as the skopar.

All the skopars 50 mm lenses for 35 mm format are more or less sharp, but not as sharp as the planar 50 mm design from F/2,8 to F/8. But from F/11 to F/ 16 the better skopar (the SRL sure) can win.

Rino.

[nemesis101]

Great camera but I'm pretty sure NO Mini is 60 years old! That would make it 1949, which is more likely the time-frame for the equally innovative Morris Minor?


Doug