Voightlander with Lanthar 2.8/50

Mr.Grumpy · Oct 21, 2013

Hello all,

I recently picked up a Voightlander Vito CL, an early model> I have tried my best to figure this beastie out but real information is scarce. I still have two questions:

My camera has three marks on the top of the take-up spool. Two are red. One of them looks like a sun, the other like a lightbulb. The third is an arc of black and white squares. The whole thing rotates as the film is advanced, changing which icon is closest to the photographer as the film is exposed. What is this thing supposed to be and how do I use it correctly?

I got back my first roll of film today and I was supprised at how well the photos turned out! I got, pretty much, the framing that I wanted and the exposures were close to spot on. Now, I am no expert at all on the "guess the distance" focusing feature on the camera but, based on the DOF gauge printed on the lens barrel, all of my images, regardless of aperture, are all out of focus around the edges but generally sharp in the center. I read a thread about a fellow who fixed on of these lenses to a Canon EOS and got similar results but that's kind of an "off label" use of the lens and I'm not sure it pertains to my situation.

I went ahead and cleaned the lens off as best I could (I didn't see any dirt on there to begin with) but am leery of the cost in film and fees (and lost photos) if the next roll through is similarly "pin-hole-camera-efffect"ed. Is this kind of thing typical of these lenses or do you think my cleaning will ahve sharpened things up a bit?

Thanks

Ken

Ysarex · Oct 21, 2013

The symbols on the take-up spool are just a film type reminder. The sun is daylight color film, the light bulb is tungsten color film and the 3rd symbol is b&w film. You should be able to rotate that ring to an index to remind you of what kind of film is in the camera.

If you can scan a representative frame and post it here we may be able to give you a better assessment of your lens performance concern.

Joe

vintagesnaps · Oct 21, 2013

I think that camera is a viewfinder; I have Voigtlander rangefinders/lenses but I think they also manufactured some simple basic viewfinder cameras (theirs probably being metal and more sturdy than many of the plastic midcentury cameras).

I would think the lens would be decent but is there a focus scale that shows a person, a bunch of stick figure people, and mountains?? - if it does then it could be the focus is close, not so close, and really far away! You see those markings on some basic midcentury cameras and lomo style cameras that have been modeled after cameras sold in Europe/Asia anywhere from about the 60's to 80's. So obviously the focus isn't that precise compared to a good SLR or rangefinder and maybe that's why you're seeing the effect you're getting.

These are from a couple of sites I've used.
Vito
Marriott - Voigtlander Vito CL

Mr.Grumpy · Oct 21, 2013

Ysarex said:
The symbols on the take-up spool are just a film type reminder. The sun is daylight color film, the light bulb is tungsten color film and the 3rd symbol is b&w film. You should be able to rotate that ring to an index to remind you of what kind of film is in the camera.

If you can scan a representative frame and post it here we may be able to give you a better assessment of your lens performance concern.

Joe

Sadly, the power cord to my scanner has gone missing. Have to try to find that....

compur · Oct 21, 2013

If the shutter has a "B" setting, hold the shutter open and open the film door and shine a flashlight through the lens. Look through the from the other side from the light. You should now see if the lens is clean or not. The Lanthar was a budget lens from Voigtlander. It is a simple 3-element design but still capable of very good results, especially when stopped down a few stops.

But, like many older lenses, the inner element(s) may have become hazy with time or may have even developed fungus. This is often not visible until you shine a light through it. Don't just look at a bright scene through the lens -- you must use a flashlight to really see the internal cleanliness.

Mr.Grumpy · Oct 28, 2013

I got my scanner working! OK, here is one of the shots. it's like it's smudged all around the outside.

vintagesnaps · Oct 29, 2013

That almost looks to me somewhat like the effect from using a Lensbaby, where the center area is in focus and then when the lens is tilted you get that blurred out of focus effect (depending on how much you tilt it). Makes me wonder if there's somethinggoing on with the lens... seems like that camera and lens shouldn't give you that effect in your photos.

I took a look at Lomography's international website in the section where people post photos they took with a particular camera. With the one you have the only thing at all similar to this photo that I saw was one that showed a road going off in the distance and it got less sharp the farther the road was from the camera - but I didn't see any posted that looked like this photo of yours.

Did you photograph subjects close to and farther away from the camera? I'm just wondering if you got the same effect with everything, but I don't know if that will help determine the cause.

I wonder if it could be due to the pressure plate? or anything else in the camera that might cause the film to not be laying flat in relation to the lens? I'm just troubleshooting (or spitballing, whatever you want to call it), trying to think of possibilities.

Mr.Grumpy · Oct 29, 2013

Well, of course this is a used and very old camera but it is in pristine shape other than this issue. I did have a dickens of a time loading the film and wasn't sure that the first frames were even advancing. Here are some of the other images from the roll. FWIW, I don't really see this effect on the photo of the cottage window.