Voigtlander Vito B

[Rachel]

Not really a rangefinder but a nice example of a later Vito B with bright-line viewfinder and Prontor SVS shutter. This is a lovely solid little camera.

[otthe]

Hi Rachel

I also love that camera - its so nice, with clean design-lines, very compact and solid.

Have you taken pictures with it yet?

I'd like to know how the Color Skopar compares to the Zeiss Tessar (on many of the Zeiss-Ikon cameras I collect and use)

Regards from icey Germany

Josef

www.kamera-geschichte.de

[Rachel]

Josef,

thanks for showing an interest. I've always liked these cameras for exactly the same reasons as you.

I've put one film through it and had some mixed results. Most of the pictures came out well but there is some "banding" across the width of the film in a couple of places which I can't equate to the construction of the camera. I'm tempted to think that the film may have been faulty or that there was a problem during processing. I'll put some of the OK pictures on the board and put another film through the camera.

BTW I don't know whether others do this but I buy bulk packs of 12 exposure 35mm films, usually Konica or Fuji, to try out my "new" cameras.

[Randy]

That's one camera brand I have yet to add to my collection. Seems every time I bid on one I get sniped. I'd really like to have one of the new Bessamatic SLRs that use the M42 lens mount, but the last I knew they go for almost 300 dollars.

[Rachel]

Here are some pictures from the Vito B. I've scanned the negatives but I'm not sure how well they demonstrate the quality of the lens as there always seem to be some "processing" of the image by the scanning software.

[Rachel]

admin said:

I'd really like to have one of the new Bessamatic SLRs that use the M42 lens mount, but the last I knew they go for almost 300 dollars.

Randy,

your thread on the Bessaflex never really took off. They are expensive as are the lenses that Voigtlander make for them but I was lucky enough finding someone who just wanted to clear his stock of the cameras and got one at a little discount.

[John Parry]

Lovely pics Rachel

Very much like the first two... It's surprising how photogenic trees are!

Otthe

Get out there and try them!!!

Regards - John

[Randy]

Thanks Rachel, those are wonderful pictures also! I like the first and last the most.

[otthe]

This pictures do look good - So I gues I should put some film into one of these Voigtländers

I really like the idea of the 12 Exposure films - Thanks

greetings from Germany

Josef

[herron]

rachel said:

BTW I don't know whether others do this but I buy bulk packs of 12 exposure 35mm films, usually Konica or Fuji, to try out my "new" cameras.

That's exactly what I do! Unless I have a photo weekend planned, it takes forever (at least it seems like it, while I'm still anticipating what the "new" camera is doing) to get 24- or 36-exposure rolls completed.

I've been buying 12-exposure 35mm film in bulk for several years from B&H Photo in New York...I get it for a good rate and even with shipping it's cheaper than most places around me that carry it (and not many of them do...just a couple of the camera-only retail shops). I like the Fuji films, but occasionally also pick up some Kodak rolls.

[Rachel]

Great minds Ron LOL !!

[mickeyobe]

Three lovely pictures.
I would like to see that beautiful tree in the middle photo fully fledged.
What kind is it?
I can just imagine a picnic under its shade and the servants unloading the Rolls Royce and spreading the cloth on the ground and bringing the laden hampers.

On my two visits to England I was intrigued by the beautiful irregularly shaped farm lots and wondered how they got that way.
Here in Ontario most lots were laid out as 200 acre rectangles 100 chains by 20 chains. Very repetitious and boring.

Mickey

[Rachel]

Mickey,

I'm not sure what the tree is. It looked very old to me. Next time we take the Rolls up .........

The first picture was taken in Christchurch Park, Ipswich, Suffolk in December and the other two at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire in November.

Irregular field shapes do seem to be a feature of the English countryside. I suppose they've just developed naturally that way and were not really planned. My history knowledge is rusty but I understand that the original farming was strip farming but then that system was abandoned at the time of the "enclosures" and irregular fields were the result. I'm sure an internet search would provide more accurate information.

[John Parry]

Hi Rachel,

Yes - cheese-wedge shaped fields are almost invariably the result of a fallow-field system radiating out from a village. One field would be used for grain, one for vegetables, and the other fallow. The land would be farmed in strips - each owned by a family, with every other strip owned by the Lord of the Manor. The families had to till the Lord's strips as well as their own. The parish priest/vicar had his own field separate from the others (glebe land), but he had to negotiate with his parishioners to get it looked after.

I did an internet search on Bolsover Castle. My, those pesky Peverils really got around. The only reference I could find to the tree though, said it was a yew. Yews were traditionally grown next to castles and churches to provide the wood for long-bows, but I have serious problems with that - unless it is dead! Apart from anything else - yews are evergreen. From the look of the bole, it looks more like an elm, but the spread of the boughs is enormous. Don't know!

Regards - John

[screaminscott]

I as well enjoyed the pictures...and like Randy, I have bid on several of these cameras on eBay only to get sniped...Once again though, lovely pics...

Scott