Voigtlander Vito B

I bought a Vito B recently to accomodate a stereo beamsplitter attachment that I didn't realize couldn't fit on my Retinas (the dorr -- duh). I learned quickly that the Vito B is a terrific small hunk of mechanical camera. Lots of fun shooting. Good lens. I picked up a Proximeter to fit it for close-ups, which raises a question:

The Proximeter instructions say to measure the correct distance, but there is no focal plane mark on the camera. Since the lens focuses inside the lens barrel, I think that's a clue to measure from the front of the lens. Any thoughts on this?
 
Vito B lenses

Vito B lenses

Regarding the merits of the Vito B, in my opinion having owned both variants, the Color-Skopar 3.5 is a much better lens than the 2.8.
 
The Vito B is a simple camera (in mechanical terms), and it's a simple swap to move a lens from one camera to another. I did that last year because the original lens was damaged and I had another Vito B with a good lens but bad body.

As always, ensure that you collimate the lens.

There were two body styles for the Vito B -- one had a simple Galilean finder while the other had a bright-line van Albada finder. You can tell the difference between the two, because the top deck of the latter is much taller than the former.

I agree about the Vitomatic IIb. I bought one a couple of years ago, and it's a wonderful little camera with the only downside being the front-mounted shutter release. Those always take a bit of practice and require some care when releasing the shutter.
 
ZeissFan said:
I agree about the Vitomatic IIb. I bought one a couple of years ago, and it's a wonderful little camera with the only downside being the front-mounted shutter release. Those always take a bit of practice and require some care when releasing the shutter.
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Frankly I don't think there is any comparison between the Vito B and the Vitomatic IIb. The Vito B is a rock-solid Voigt and the other is compromise for the market. I have found that the top shutter release cameras are cameras that give you that "solid feeling" when you use them, and the others being made of stamped aluminum have a near plastic feel.

Here are four Voigts I found on ebay from top and bottom angles. The better line also has the two-piece film door.

voigtlanders_4_top.jpg


voigtlanders_4_bottom.jpg
 
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I picked up a Vito CL a few years ago as part of "a box of old cameras". When I got it even the light meter was working and accurate. but it has since died. The f/2.8 Color-Skopar is a very decently performing 4 element lens of the same design as the Zeiss Tessar or Schneider Xenar. It front element focusses rather than the entire lens moving, which supposedly doesn't help with sharpness, but I've been getting decent enough 8 X 10 prints from it. I think that the biggest reason people gert fuzzy shots with these scale focussing cameras is that they do a poor job estimating distances.

I use the bottom of the original case as a half case, which I hate! The camera itself has no strap lugs.
 
If you have a look in Ivor Matanle's book "Collecting and using Classic Cameras" you will find some nice sharp pictures taken by the Vito B and the Color Skopar lens (Tessar design.) I have a Vito 11a (same lens) and can say that it produces nice shots too - Unfortunately mine now has a sticky shutter. You can buy the Voigtlander range-finder that slips into the accessory shoe for these. They work fine if calibrated.
 
Taken w/ a Vitomatic IIa (old style) on superia 400 (not by me, its from pbase):

31013915.020_17.jpg


I confess I have not actually used my Vito B
 
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john_van_v said:
Frankly I don't think there is any comparison between the Vito B and the Vitomatic IIb. The Vito B is a rock-solid Voigt and the other is compromise for the market. I have found that the top shutter release cameras are cameras that give you that "solid feeling" when you use them, and the others being made of stamped aluminum have a near plastic feel.
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The Vitomatic IIb is different from the Vito Automatic, which you have. The Vitomatic IIb is roughly identical in size to the Vito B and is built very solidly. And with the addition of a rangefinder and onboard meter, it makes for a compact, capable camera. Still, you have to get used to the front-mounted release.

I've felt that the Vitomatic IIb was a further development of the Vito B platform and not just a cheaper-made alternative.

vitomatic_iib_250.jpg
 
I picked up a Voigtländer Vito B at a local club auction a couple of days ago. I was told that the 1/2 and 1 sec is not accurate, otherwise OK. Is this something easily resolved (like exercise it a bit and bingo) or better to leave alone? Looking forward to shooting with it. Thanks.
 
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It depends on how inaccurate the other speeds are - but the latitude of most print film is enough that even if your shutter is running at half the advertised speed (eg 1:500 is actually 1:250), it will give acceptable results. That's only one stop of overexposure, and the film should have more than 1 stop of latitude. Transparency may be a different matter, as it has much less latitude so requires much more accurate metering.

To give you an idea of how far out even a new shutter could be, I believe that someone posted something here recently suggesting that the tolerances at the Compur factory were +/- 33% of advertised speed.

The easiest way to find out if it is acceptable is to stick a film through it!

Hope that helps.

Adrian
 
mnmleung said:
I picked up a Voigtländer Vito B at a local club auction a couple of days ago. I was told that the 1/2 and 1 sec is not accurate, otherwise OK. Is this something easily resolved (like exercise it a bit and bingo) or better to leave alone? Looking forward to shooting with it. Thanks.
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The slow speeds go through a gear train. Exercise does not cure timing but faster speeds, 60+ could be ok. Hjagis
 
fidget said:
Stephanie, I wondered how you fixed the dim rf spot with tape?

Dave.....
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Since Stephanie doesn't seem to be answering, I will. On the window in front of the viewfinder, you place a bit of black tape cut to match the shape of the viewfinder patch. It isn't as good as replacing the semitransparent mirror, but it kind of works in that it lets you see more of the reflection in a dim mirror.
 
FallisPhoto said:
Since Stephanie doesn't seem to be answering, I will. On the window in front of the viewfinder, you place a bit of black tape cut to match the shape of the viewfinder patch. It isn't as good as replacing the semitransparent mirror, but it kind of works in that it lets you see more of the reflection in a dim mirror.
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Thanks for the info. Since that post I had read in other places that a piece of tape will help.
Maybe I posted in another thread, the CLR is just dinky, the rf patch was quite dim, but I figured that I had little to lose in trying to clean it.

There is a little lens in front of the prism block which moves as the focus is changed. This was clearly dirty but very difficult to get at. I managed to clean it with slivers of cardboard soaked in window cleaner.

The difference is dramatic. It's a beauty of a patch and vf. Very usable, far better than any of my FSU cams. Shame about the metering.

Dave
 
fidget said:
Thanks for the info. Since that post I had read in other places that a piece of tape will help.
Maybe I posted in another thread, the CLR is just dinky, the rf patch was quite dim, but I figured that I had little to lose in trying to clean it.

There is a little lens in front of the prism block which moves as the focus is changed. This was clearly dirty but very difficult to get at. I managed to clean it with slivers of cardboard soaked in window cleaner.

The difference is dramatic. It's a beauty of a patch and vf. Very usable, far better than any of my FSU cams. Shame about the metering.

Dave
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Yeah, Voigtlander never made a bad camera.
 
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