“I am Lonely” Said Vinnie the Voigtländer Vito BL – by Andrew Morang
Vinnie, the little Voigtländer Vito BL camera, shares shelf space with his friend, Spottie, the Honeywell Spotmatic.
Both feel a bit neglected. After all, one can only use so many cameras in rotation. 35MMC readers will remember that Spottie took an outing recently. Vinnie was jealous. Although well over 60, Vinnie is still a sturdy, well-built little fellow. He is strong and rigid, and has a fine 50mm ƒ/3.5 Color Skopar lens. This is a unit-focus 4-element lens, Voigtländer’s masterful 1949 revision of the classic Tessar formula. This may be one of the best of these post-war 4-element lenses, and it benefitted from being coated. The refined lens and the precision of the entire system contributes to Vinnie’s excellent optical output.