New toy - Voightlander

[Rob]

It looked lonely in the shop window, so I had to buy it. £20 and it has it's original leather case.

It's a circa 1961 Voightlander Vito CD and it doesn't have batteries, but does have a light meter! I've taken one roll of film and it works absolutely fine. Spent last night giving it a service and you wouldn't know it wasn't new.

For those who care about such things it has an f2.8 50mm lens (fixed) and concentric rings which let you go from f2.8 to f22 and from B to 250th. It has a flash sync socket and a shoe. It doesn't have anything else, but it takes a pretty damn good picture though!

Front view:

Top view:

 

[Scurra]

Nice buy rob... have fun with it and be sure to show us some of the shots you get from it.

 

[Hertz van Rental]

The light meter is a selenium cell - that big thing top front left. Selenium cells generate electricity from light - more light, more electricity. Check it's calibration as they tend to slip. Their big drawback is they loose accuracy at low levels and stop working altogether in poor light.
Nice camera with a good lens though.

 

[Rob]

The light meter is a selenium cell - that big thing top front left.

I managed to figure that out with the cunning use of obscuring with my finger by accident. Now I know why all those 60's cameras have that blobby lego block on the front! I guess the bobbles capture light from all angles to get an ambient reading.

The metering seems good, although it was freaky bright in the UK yesterday, so it's a good job I loaded Reala 100 for testing as the camera was at it's limit.

It's really tricky focussing by guessing the distance and working out the hyperfocal length and all that, but I did pretty well for my first film with it!

Here's a couple of examples of shots with it

and

 

[Mumfandc]

Seems like a nice camera to walk around with. I was just looking at some old Zeiss Ikons...they look kinda the same as your Voigtlander.

However the new Zeiss Ikon is coming out. http://www.zeissikon.com

I think it's only limited production. I have a Contax G1 with a Carl Zeiss 45mm Planar lens. I'm just curious if the optics are pretty much the same thing for the new Ikon (it has a Zeiss Planar 50mm norm lens).

 

[ringnebula]

The old voightlander's are pretty fun little cameras. I have a Vito B that I love to death. It's a shame mine doesn't have a light meter though, I actually have to think about exposure. Arggggg. Not to mention guessing the focus is tricky at best.

But, they are just such cool cameras.