Voigtänder Vitessa and Vito II : Cameras and Photos 2024

[Godfrey]

I've just posted to Flickr some rendered photos from the first test rolls put through my resurrected Voigtländer Vito II and Vitessa cameras.

I bought the Vitessa after Jason Schneider wrote that nice piece on the Vitessa line as I'd always been curious about them: I used to see them on the shelves in every used camera shop around the Bronx and Manhattan when I was in High School. A very interesting camera ...

Voigtländer Vitessa​

In the past, I owned a Voigtländer Vito B two different times, liked it each time, and ultimately sold it off for one reason or another. About 10-12 years ago, I was walking in Palo Alto and I see this guy moving a box from the local museum towards the dumpsters. As I passed, I glanced into the box and saw a bunch of old cameras...

"What are you doing with these things?"

"Junk. People donate every old piece of junk they have presuming we will put it on exhibition. We don't have space to store it all, so it goes in the dumpster."

"Hmm. Do you mind if I look and take one or two? I'd like them for decoration."

"No prob, they're just garbage anyway."

So I grabbed a couple, one of which was this Vito II. It's been sitting on top of my bookcase ever since, collecting yet more dust. A couple of months ago, I was looking at it up there and said to myself, "Well, you're sending the Vitessa in for service anyway, chuck that one in too and see if it can be repaired." It didn't look that bad, just dirty as all heck and a gummed up shutter. So it was completely cleaned, the bellows checked, and a worn out shutter spring replaced.

Voigtländer Vito II​

A couple more pics of the cameras and a dozen or so photos made with them are available to look at on Flickr: Voigtländer Cameras and Photos 2024

Enjoy! G

 

[Muggins]

They look pretty good to me! Do like Voigtlander camera generally, mind, so I'm biased!

 

[wlewisiii]

I prefer the VIto myself. I never liked the plunger but the little clamshell Vito I had was a lovely little camera. Would not mind another one 🙂

 

[Godfrey]

@wlewisiii :: Having run two rolls through the Vito II and one throught the Vitessa (so far), I tend to agree.

The Vitessa was designed with a lot of novel advancements/conveniences (combined film advance, shutter cock in one motion, the barndoor folding mechanism, the rangefinder ...) but honestly the little Vito II is handier and easier to operate in general: it opens and folds more easily and simply, film loading is easier; on the other hand, you have to remember to cock the shutter manually, and focus by scale. The lens in these two cameras is identical and produces identical results, and as far as I can determine, the Vito II has a self timer and the Vitessa does not. The Vito is much smaller and lighter.

In essence, the Vito II is a nicer, handier camera. The Vitessa's period competition (fixed lens folder) is the Retina IIc, which in my opinion does a better job of including the advancements the Vitessa provides in a handier package ... and (at least until the Vitessa T model) has alternative focal lengths to use as well (35 and 85 mm) where the Vitessa is purely a fixed lens camera.

But it's fun to use these lovely old cameras and marvel at the many different ways that the manufacturers went in addressing new features and conveniences. The Color-Skopar 50mm f/3.5 lens is quite a nice performer, and there's something classy about these early post-WWII cameras and how they feel in the hand.

G

'
Corvette - Santa Clara 2024
Voigtländer Vito II
Fujifilm ACROS 100​

 

[titrisol]

The VitoII is a lot of fun, and those skopars are very good
I use mine as travel camera as it is small and not very heavy and fits my backpack internal pocket well.
It allows me to take snapshots of interesting stuff I find while at work

White Sands NM

The Vitessa is gorgeous, I bought mine (Skopar) about 20yrs ago and had it serviced in the NL and makes very good pictures. But its a lot quirkier and heavy.

 

[wlewisiii]

@wlewisiii :: Having run two rolls through the Vito II and one throught the Vitessa (so far), I tend to agree.

The Vitessa was designed with a lot of novel advancements/conveniences (combined film advance, shutter cock in one motion, the barndoor folding mechanism, the rangefinder ...) but honestly the little Vito II is handier and easier to operate in general: it opens and folds more easily and simply, film loading is easier; on the other hand, you have to remember to cock the shutter manually, and focus by scale. The lens in these two cameras is identical and produces identical results, and as far as I can determine, the Vito II has a self timer and the Vitessa does not. The Vito is much smaller and lighter.

In essence, the Vito II is a nicer, handier camera. The Vitessa's period competition (fixed lens folder) is the Retina IIc, which in my opinion does a better job of including the advancements the Vitessa provides in a handier package ... and (at least until the Vitessa T model) has alternative focal lengths to use as well (35 and 85 mm) where the Vitessa is purely a fixed lens camera.

But it's fun to use these lovely old cameras and marvel at the many different ways that the manufacturers went in addressing new features and conveniences. The Color-Skopar 50mm f/3.5 lens is quite a nice performer, and there's something classy about these early post-WWII cameras and how they feel in the hand.

G

'
Corvette - Santa Clara 2024
Voigtländer Vito II
Fujifilm ACROS 100​

All good points.

My favorite of the type/era remains the Zeiss Ikon Contessa 35. A lovely solid brick of chrome plated steel with a lovely 45mm f/2.8 red T Tessar. I need to get another one...

 

[titrisol]

The Nerwin cameras are all lovely, and using them these days feels arcane but awesome
The Contessa35 is very tactile and you need to train in feeling which of the rings you are moving

Contessa 35 v1
This week I have a leica IIIf with me, next trip I'll take the Contina II and then the Contessa 35

 

[css9450]

I have one of the early Vitos..... Vito I I think? It is marked as just Vito. This was the version which supposedly had been briefly intended to use 828 film and they were changed to 35mm kind of late in the game, or so that was the story I read. Its been well-used in its long lifetime but it still takes good pics. I'll never stop being amused by the way the lens kind of tumbles out of the camera body when I open the door!

 

[Godfrey]

Definitely looks like the predecessor to my Vito II! 😀

I found one of the accessory shoe adapters for the Vito II ... Now I can fit my Kontur 24x36 viewfinder, the Voigtländer rangefinder, or the modern Voigtländer meter to it. I'll line it with a bit of thin tape to protect the body from getting scratched.

G

 

[Muggins]

Yes, that's the only issue, that viewfinder is very squinty! You can see why they introduced huge VFs on the later fixed-lens models.

I would agree that @css9450 s camera is a pre-WW2 Vito - that bar release is the giveaway.