5 Frames with a Voigtlander Vito II

In my late teens, around 1970, a work colleague invited me round to his place to show me how to print from 35mm film using an enlarger. This moment was a total epiphany for me, and from that point, I was well and truly bitten. I saved up for a Zenit B and then got a Hanimex enlarger, plus all the kit for doing my own home processing. Later, I moved up to a Topcon Unirex, which was a superb and sadly underrated piece of kit. A spot weld on the shutter mechanism failed, and that, along with other circumstances, spelled the end of my foray into 35mm for many years.

In the last year, nostalgia got the better of me, and I started trawling around for another camera. I was going to go for an SLR, but saw an almost mint Voigtlander Vito II with Color-Skopar 1:3.5/50 (from 1951-ish, I believe), which I got for a great price. It’s obviously been well protected by the original leather case, and looks and feels like typical German precision work of that era. Having downloaded a PDF of the manual, I was keen to give it a try. I also managed to secure a virtually mint Weston Master V, as I didn’t want to guess at exposures. Like a previous reviewer of this camera, I chose Kentmere 400 to try the camera.

Using this camera is like stepping out of a modern automatic car, and into a Morris Minor. Nothing is done for you. Also, following the instructions for loading film seems to waste at least 2 frames, so I wasn’t able to get a full 24 shots. Nevertheless, the solid nature of the Vito does inspire confidence that this is a quality device. Take a light reading, set the aperture, set the shutter speed and away you go – not! The first few frames, I forgot to wind on, but was grateful that double exposures are prevented. Then, I kept forgetting to cock the shutter. Finally, in my haste, the first few frames were out of focus, as I hadn’t guesstimated the distance to the subject correctly.

People do look at you as though you must be mad, while they click away with their iPhones, but using a film camera forces you to look at the composition, and e.g. whether you need to allow for backlighting. And once you get used to it, the Vito is a joy to use. It just feels solid.

My first two shots were taken at the Weald & Downland Living Museum, where The Repair Shop is produced. These were shot using Kentmere, but I was so ‘focused’ on trying to get a good shot, that I haven’t a clue what settings I used.

The following three shots were taken on Kodacolor 200 in Crete.

I am amazed that a camera that I believe to be older than me has survived, and seems to work exactly as it should.

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