Canon VT....Anyone used this?

[laudrup]

Hi Guy's,

I'm fairly new to rangefinders....i've experiemented with a cosmic 35(left nice light streaks across my photo's) and a yashica minister (worked beautifully for a short while).

I normally use a Canon T90 but found this a a bit conspicuous when taking street shots! It sounds like a two continental plates slamming together when you hit the shutter and people tend to think you're a member of the paparazzi!

I've decided to look at a 1956 Canon VT rangefinder, it looks awesome and has a trigger on the bottom to advance the film. It seems to handle well but i haven't used it so i wonder if anyone has any experience of using them?

I'm going to look at one on saturday.

I've got to know the guy who runs the shop so i know it'll be in good order, just need to find out the price.

Anyones advice or experience would be much appreciated.

Cheers

Adam

 

[Sonnar Brian]

They are TOP NOTCH cameras. The trigger wind takes a roll of film to get used to, after that you can advace the film w/o taking your eye from the finder.

I have a Vt and a VIt, the latter with higher viewfinder magnification. Age is kinder to the Vt finder.

 

[dexdog]

I have used a Canon VT from time to time, and have mixed feelings about it as a shooter. It is a solid, well-made camera, but holding the camera with a couple of fingers on the trigger makes it more difficult/awkward to change focus or aperatures (it would be helpful to have a third hand available for these tasks). An accessory grip or handle mounted in the tripod socket helps a little, but they are still harder to do than with a lever-wind model such as the Canon P or L1. Also, the added size and weight of the camera with the integral trigger detract from user-friendly value.

That said, if you are in a situation where you want to blaze away, and don't necessarily need to refocus or change aperatures frequently, the camera performs well. It is a good and fast shooter with wide-angle lenses, because the added DOF of the lens minimizes the need to focus.

I really like the nice bright viewfinder and the switchable magnification, and the V-series viewfinders appear to be less prone to deterioration over time than the P or other VI-series cameras, according to Dante Stella and others.

 

[jlw]

I have a VI-T, which is the same body style with framelines and a single-dial shutter. All these older Canons are beautifully-made cameras. The trigger wind is something you'll have to try for yourself: some people never get comfortable with it, while some others like it A LOT.

(I'm one of the latter -- I like trigger wind so much that I bought the trigger-wind accessory for my Bessa R3a, and I also got a Russian camera called a Droug that has a built-in trigger wind similar to Canon's.)

The big advantage of the trigger is that after shooting one shot, it's very quick to get the camera ready for the next shot: One quick squeeze and you're set. I'd think this would be good for street shooting.

One thing that really helps make trigger wind comfortable is to add a grip that fits into the camera's tripod socket. Canon used to make a beautiful knurled metal grip specifically for the V-t and VI-t cameras; if you can't find one of those, the straight screw-in Voigtlander grip (available from CameraQuest) is a good substitute. With the grip, you can hold the camera by curling the ring finger and pinkie around the grip, leaving your index and "bird" finger to operate the trigger. With normal and wide-angle lenses, it's easy to curl your thumb and index finger up from there to operate the focusing ring of the lens.

The Canon grip had a wrist strap built into it, and this is a great way to use the camera for discreet photography (such as you might want to do on the street.) You just loop the strap over the wrist and carry the camera down at your side, holding it by the grip. When you want to take a picture, bring it up to your eye and release the shutter, then lower it again. The grip and trigger make it easy to wind the camera while holding it at your side. Of course, you also can squeeze off a series of shots while holding the camera at eye level -- the trigger is good for this because you don't have to take your shutter finger off the button to advance the film.

About the V-t specifically, there are a couple of vintage quirks you'd have to get used to (compared to previous cameras you've used.) One is the shutter: the fast and slow speeds are on separate dials, and the fast-speed dial rotates as the shutter fires. That means you have to keep your fingers away from it, to avoid slowing down the shutter. It's usually no problem when shooting horizontal pictures, but you need to learn where to put your fingers when holding the camera for verticals. The other thing about the rotating speed dial is that you have to lift and turn it to change speeds; you can't just count the clicks the way you can with a modern dial. This shouldn't be a problem for street photography since you usually preset the exposure controls anyway, but it's something to be aware of.

Also, some models of the V-t have a film rewind knob instead of a crank; no problem, just a bit slower. (The later versions of the V-t have crank rewind.)

As long as the "vintage" features don't bother you, the V-t is a really satisfying camera to use.

 

[dexdog]

jlw has a good point about the rewind crank. The V-T Deluxe has a nice folding rewind crank, whereas the V-T has a knob. Both work well, but the crank is a nice feature.

 

[airds]

Thoughts

Thoughts

An accessory grip or handle mounted in the tripod socket helps a little, but they are still harder to do than with a lever-wind model such as the Canon P or L1. Also, the added size and weight of the camera with the integral trigger detract from user-friendly value.

I really like the nice bright viewfinder and the switchable magnification, and the V-series viewfinders appear to be less prone to deterioration over time than the P or other VI-series cameras, according to Dante Stella and others.

You'll never find the OEM Canon handle and if you do - it'll be priced at a premium. Best chance is with a whole kit. But there are plenty of good alternative replacements - I bought a neat wee aluminium mini tripod with folding legs that store in the handle - dirt cheap on ebay and twice as handy. Watch the balance, check it can take the offset camera weight! It would be even simple to turn one out on a lathe, if you or a friend had the facilities.

I think the deterioration of the view finders is a bit exaggerated - obviously the conditions each individual camera - remember 40+ years old now - has been kept in has more to do with it. All the ones I've seen in the U.K. with, I suppose a more temperate climate, are very useable after a standard clean.




rdgs

 

[laudrup]

cheers guy's...i appreciate the advice...i'm wishing the week away waiting for Saturday so i can go and look at it!!!

 

[raid]

I have its sister, the VI-L without the trigger at the bottom. I like it, but prefer the P.

 

[JJW]

The V-T is a great camera.

My main LTM shooting iron.

Built for the ages like a brick you-know-what house.

The viewfinder is the only weak point. I use mine with 3rd party finders and set the camera's VF to RF setting for focus.