Thursday, May 23, 2013

The Voigtlander Vito CL

I had purchased, well more traded, for a Voigtlander Vito CL 35mm Scale Focusing camera for some Polypan F film.  And not just a few rolls, but a lot of rolls..

I traded more than 30 rolls of film of the stuff for a few cameras, and honestly, it was very much worth it!

One of those cameras I traded for was the Voigtlander Vito CL which had a stuck shutter (oil) and fungus on the lens..  Plus, a little bit of corrosion in the chrome.  Honestly, nothing that can't easily be fixed.  So I fixed it as best as I could.  Needless to say, the camera is working perfectly and the glass looks crystal clear now, minus some dust.  The corrosion is something of a different story, though.  That is a little beyond my skills and capabilities.  Not like it matters, to be perfectly honest.

Nonetheless, I have used this camera a number of times, but I don't quite feel it is often enough.  I really like the results I get using it, but much prefer my Kalimar A for different reasons entirely.

The VITO is a great camera, honestly it really is.  And works really well, has a super sharp lens, and not difficult to use at all.

Voigtlander Vito CL

The images that I have taken with this camera are quite nice, in my eye, and exceptionally sharp, excellent contrast, and really well exposed while using the on-camera light meter.

Whether I have shot B&W or C-41 (Colour Print) film, the images always come out well exposed, and sharp.
Can't always say I can nail the focus on every image, considering that it uses a scale focus where you set the range and distance of the focus to the subject, and hope it's right, or measure it out.
I'm pretty good at guessing when gauging in feet, but I'm not quite there in meters.  Not yet!

Go figure, since I use the metric system in Canada, yet guessing the distance with feet is easier than in meters for me.

And of course, a sample image from the Vito;


Cool Calm Waters

A full in depth review of the Voigtlander Vito shall follow soon.

Until them, keep those shutters firing!