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DPChallenge Forums >> Hardware and Software >> Voigtländer Vito B
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 03/14/2010 12:24:20 PM · #1


Found this at a thrift store yesterday. Don't know why I am buying old film cameras at thrift stores, but it seems to be a fun thing to do while unemployed, yes?

Anyway, from what I have found on the web, this is slightly different than the "Vito B" models I've seen pictured. Voigtländer Vito B. It has a lever on the bottom with no markings (ie it can go to one side or the other), rather than a lever on the side with V, X, and M marked (for flash, manual or timer modes). I have yet to determine that the lever actually does anything. It has four shutter speeds plus "B" (which I haven't tried). All the pictures I can find have the side versus the bottom lever for this model. Not sure if this is a very early model, or if it has been repaired at some point with a different lens.

Will take film in today to see if it actually works. :-)

Message edited by author 2010-03-14 15:47:54.
 03/14/2010 12:51:19 PM · #2
A little search shows the B series had ether a F/2.8 the B1 and B2 or the F/2 in the B3 (numbers are Roman).
 03/14/2010 01:20:33 PM · #3
OK Deb I think I found a owners manual link
 03/14/2010 03:32:17 PM · #4
If I'm not mistaken, the lever cocks the shutter. I think they later moved it to the side because it was difficult to cock when mounted on a tripod with a large plate. I could be mistaken however.

R.

ETA: reason for it was to allow multiple exposures without advancing film... Assuming that's what it is. Some of these type of cameras had that feature...

Message edited by author 2010-03-14 15:36:38.
 03/14/2010 03:35:37 PM · #5
Here's a Wiki how-to on the B; it doesn't mention your lever though...

Voigtlander B instructions

R.

BTW, it's got a "g" in the name...
 03/14/2010 03:46:54 PM · #6
Thanks, guys! I'd seen the Wiki how to, which is where I found out about the lever that I don't have. The lever that I DO have, I think is a self timer lever that does not currently work. However, if it is stuck, the camera will not shoot but WILL advance film, which I did not know so I have pretty much most of a roll of blank frames, I think. Now that I've figured where that lever needs to be, I think it will work a bit better, huh. :-) Always fun to get new toys!

Edit, and yes Bear, I spelled it incorrectly. I knew it looked funny.... I have requested the thread title be changed if possible. Thanks!

Message edited by author 2010-03-14 15:49:31.
 03/14/2010 06:28:29 PM · #7
Yep, the little lever on the bottom is a self-timer thingie that doesn't release. I can force it but I think I'll just let it be. The shots that I took after I figured that out seem to be OK - no light leaks. Will have to learn to estimate distance (wondering if it is in meters or feet?) and light...
 03/16/2010 08:29:49 PM · #8
One bump to see if any of our German contingent can find any additional information about different models of the Vito B. Pictures to come later. (This whole "shoot the whole roll then get it developed" thing takes time, don't you know!)

Message edited by author 2010-03-16 20:30:00.
 03/20/2010 09:20:40 PM · #9


Makes for a nice tourist camera!!

Message edited by author 2010-03-20 21:46:06.
 03/20/2010 11:27:59 PM · #10
Did y'all know that Voigtlander is actually the oldest camera company?

Voigtländer is an optical company founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer in Vienna in 1756 and thus the oldest name in cameras. It produced the Petzval photographic lens (the fastest lens at that time: f/3.7) in 1840, and the world's first all-metal daguerrotype camera (Ganzmetallkamera) in 1841, also bringing out plate cameras shortly afterwards. It set up a branch office in Braunschweig in 1849, moving its headquarters there later. The company issued stock in 1898, and a majority of the shares were acquired by Schering in 1925.

Over the next three decades, Voigtländer became a technology leader and the first manufacturer to introduce several new kinds of product that would later become commonplace. These include the first zoom lens (36–82/2.8 Zoomar) in 1960 and the first 35mm compact camera with built-in electronic flash (Vitrona) in 1965.

Schering sold its share of the company to the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1956, and Zeiss and Voigtländer integrated in 1965. In 1972 Zeiss/Voigtländer stopped producing cameras, and a year later Zeiss sold Voigtländer to Rollei. On the collapse of Rollei in 1982, Plusfoto took over the name, selling it in 1997 to Ringfoto.

From 1999 until the present time (2010), Voigtländer-branded products have been manufactured and marketed by Cosina; for these, see Cosina Voigtländer.

I didn't know that. Thank you, Wiki :-)

R.
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