Voigtlander Vito C - My Little Buffalo
9 25This sturdy west German camera is a must have for anyone’s vintage camera collection. Around 50 years old and still taking great photos! It shoots 35mm film with style.
A gift given to me that was bought on an online auction. I was so excited to as I had never had a camera with so many settings. It also came in its very own case, that to me looks like a buffalo.
This camera was manufactured between 1960 – 1968. It is a very sturdy piece of equipment. Online manuals are still available for the camera if you are getting a little confused. You open the back by pressing the buttons on the side together and then load the camera like normal. Close the back once finished and you are almost ready to go. The film counter is at the bottom of the counter so you can keep track of what number you are on.
The distance measurements are in feet but just divide by three to get a more or less distance in metres (eg. 4.5 feet = +-1.5m… obviously not a problem if you don’t use the metric system!) The F-stop ranges from 2.8 for a very tight focus up to 22 for a wide focus range. The shutter settings are from 1/250 to 1/30 and also includes bulb mode.
Once you are ready to take a shot you need to prepare the shutter which is the same mechanism that advances the film, it is a lever that sits at the back of the camera and you pull it all the way to the front and release it. Then you look through what is one of the nicest view finders I have ever seen (you have to look through one to know what I mean but it’s a winner) and next to the lens you push down the ‘button’ to fire the camera.
The hot shoe does not seem to be linked to the camera so you would still need to fire a flash manually even if it is attached to the camera.
I took a while to fully understand all the settings and get my focus right but this camera takes such beautiful shots, I have not had the camera for very long and have thus only shot two rolls so far both in monotone colours.
If you come across one of these in a second hand store or auction it is well worth getting as it is takes such great photos and makes a great accessory in its very stylish bag!
written by nicx on 2011-04-04 #gear #rangefinder #review #old #vintage #german #user-review #requested-post #sturdy
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