Building a Voigtländer Prominent system

[Luddite Frank]

Seconded. I've had most of the system, I and II, either simultaneously or bits-at-a-time, including one of the mirror lenses with its box (115mm? I forget)

Utterly gorgeous fit and finish; eccentric ergonomics. I sold my last 4-lens outfit (including a mirror lens, and Nokton) over 20 years ago, and haven't really regretted it. I'd rather have Leicas.

Then again, if you want a Prominent, run it alongside an Exakta, which makes the Prominent look quite rational. Somewhere I have an Voigtländer (accessory) accessory shoe. Was that the Prominent I or something else?

Cheers,

R.

Roger,

Your remarks caused me to laugh out-loud ! 😀


Visual Darkness,

I have a nice Prominent I outfit, with the 35 Skoparon, 50 /1.5 Nokton, and the 100 Dynaron; Turnit 3-way finder, nice ERC, and some lens cases... need to find some hoods and filters.

As others have commented, the fit & finish is exceptional, the lenses are excellent, but the ergonomics are... unique ( to be generous ), and the lens selection somewhat limiting.

That said, if you are able to find good pieces, and spend enough time familiarizing yourself with the system, they can perform as well as any other camera of this era.

I have NOT found it to be a camera that I can just casually grab every now and then, and trot-out and take a roll of great pictures... it requires dedication.

Enjoy your camera and good luck with assembling your kit...

Please keep us updated !

🙂

Luddite Frank

 

[VisualDarkness]

I found the same thing true, it's a "think camera". You need to take time really caring to shoot, but once the shutter goes off I must say it feels more satisfying than my slr's.

 

[VisualDarkness]

One more question that popped up in my head while waiting for some film developing stuff.
The framlines in my camera are way off-centered from the focus window in the rangefinder. the window is between the lower lines for 100mm and slightly to the left. Should it be like that? Also I have some trouble seeing them, but I've read that they aren't the best.

 

[Luddite Frank]

I don't recall the Prominent having frame lines in the VF ?

(Or is that because I have the Version 1 ?)

 

[peterm1]

I went on with servicing the Turnit and it was extremely easy and now it's an good condition, it had suffered no irreversible damage.

Voightländer Turnit repair 3 by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voightländer Turnit repair 2 by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voightländer Turnit repair 1 by A.Sundell, on Flickr


Starting to look quite nice and I've shot some film to check things and had two mysterious lock-ups that suddenly just loosened, but it may be a user fault. The Dynaron is usable but in need of service and I will probably switch the shutters between the cameras. Does anybody know how to adjust the composition lines properly in the viewfinder? Can can barely see them as they are too blurry.


Voigtländer Prominent + Ultron + Skoparon + Dynaron + Turnit - Front by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent + Ultron + Skoparon + Dynaron + Turnit - top by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Damn these are handsome looking cameras - makes me sorry to have sold mine.

 

[KoNickon]

One more question that popped up in my head while waiting for some film developing stuff.
The framlines in my camera are way off-centered from the focus window in the rangefinder. the window is between the lower lines for 100mm and slightly to the left. Should it be like that? Also I have some trouble seeing them, but I've read that they aren't the best.

Do you mean that the rangefinder patch isn't centered on the framelines? I wouldn't worry about that too much -- the framelines aren't parallax corrected, and, if yours is like mine, they're barely visible anyway, at least indoors.

 

[VisualDarkness]

Do you mean that the rangefinder patch isn't centered on the framelines? I wouldn't worry about that too much -- the framelines aren't parallax corrected, and, if yours is like mine, they're barely visible anyway, at least indoors.

After I had been out two nights in a row (ended with three and I'm too old) as a student does at times I sat down to check the issue, dumb move. The issue was that the two screws that holds the rectangular front glass for the finder were loose and allowed movement.

I adjusted it a couple of times and got it better and better at first. The bad part came when I had some kind of blackout from tiredness and accidentally unscrewed one screw completely instead of tightening it. So now I got a screw and a small quadratic nut that are impossible to get back in place without taking the top off. Ironically the lines are much much much better now though!😛

 

[VisualDarkness]

I just received something a bit unexpected. I was scanning Ebay a bit a while ago and saw a listing for a "Prominent manual Nordic language" for a good price in the US. I checked the pics and it was actually in Swedish so I just had to grab it. So now I got a Swedish manual (blue version) in really good condition that has traveled the Atlantic at least twice only to come back home.

Funnily some translation just doesn't sound right and I bet an English or German one would make more sense, but still I find it worth it as a fun thing.

 

[VisualDarkness]

I have a Polarizer for the Prominent though it looks like the elements are separated due to cement deterioration. Amazingly the center of the filter actually works.

I've tried to get the glass out both mechanically and with heat (really hot hairdryer) but no luck. Any ideas? I thought about cooking or use the oven, though I got no idea about heat but the filter is junk in this condition anyway.

 

[VisualDarkness]

After a quite hectic time and a trip to the north I finally came around to develop my first roll. I'm glad I took the torn film as a first try as it went disastrous but still the decently exposed (less than half) frames looks quite nice against the light.

Today I'll buy a Plustek 8200i to scan with and share with my father so I can scan the roll. Next mission is to shoot the rest of the loaded film and send a nice big package (two Prominent + Lenses) to Zacks for CLA once I get an answer from the Swedish customs on how to send it for service.

 

[VisualDarkness]

One pic from the roll

 

[VisualDarkness]

A bunch of shots from the last rolls before CLA. Shutter speeds are really wonky at best and it shows. The second roll development went really good except that the film got twisted.


Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr


Who can explain this flare?

Voigtländer Prominent 1st round by A.Sundell, on Flickr

 

[VisualDarkness]

I actually managed to take it apart to make the shutter go way smoother, focusing re-greased and the rangefinder clean with adjusted framelines (got the loose screw back in there). Now it works really well and I'm surprised that I got it back together!

 

[VisualDarkness]

Wow, they made really nice boxes back in the day, got a near mint one now!

 

[Crazy Fedya]

First roll shot but I broke the film while rewinding, I know why it broke though. I hit the end of the roll at a slight pull of the advance lever and apparently it put some tension on the counter spool, so despite pushing the rewind knob it suddenly ripped the film on two.

As guessed it was the case (the film felt too short) I opened the camera in total darkness and now keep the film in a light sealed case. It probably looks really ugly though after having me pulling it out by hand. Oh well, at least the I won't feel any pressure of getting it right the first time when I get my development kit.

The same film-ripping story here, on two separate rolls. Had to open it in dark bag to extract it. Pictures came out fine.

Also, it helps seeing framelines for 50mm, if a rectangle is drawn on viewfinder window with a Sharpie, approximately going over the lines. Makes them much clearer.

 

[Ronald M]

My mentor, who was a wedding photog, bought a pair when they first came out. He claimed they took wonderful photos.

They were returned inside two weeks because the RF were made party from unhardened brass and there were bits of metal visible. His day job was failure analysis metallurgist.

He told the dealer they looked "as new." Not too much later he got a nasty call.

Hopefully the problem was rectified.