Voigtlander Vito B Color-Skopar: f2.8 or 3.5?

[pinkarmy]

i know the Color-Skopar f2.8 is good
--i know it is, my Vito BL has proven that.
but how about the f3.5 version?

i already have a few Voigtlander with the Color-Skopar f2.8
so i am tempted to get a small top Vito B (my first) with a different lens...seems cheaper...
is this a BAD--or less than ideal--idea?

[KoNickon]

The 3.5 is excellent -- I've actually heard reports it's better than the 2.8 (Tessar designs are pretty much maxed out at 2.8 so a smaller maximum aperture will be more in its sweet spot).

The small top Vito B is a really cute piece of work.

[batterytypehah!]

^Second that. The f/3.5 is great, and of course a little easier to scale-focus. Dirty scan of a gratuitous bokeh/flare test shot from mine:

[jesse1dog]

It's a surprisingly heavy little camera. Mine hasn't a bright line finder, whose has, so if you can pick up or have a Leitz finder to go with it .......
A great little camera.

jesse

[Fawley]

I have both cameras, but I haven't had the larger 2.8 version a long enough time to compare the two. My 2.8 has a much larger, brighter finder than the 3.5, but I like useing the 3.5 better simply because its a much smaller lighter camera. I have it with me a lot as a "walking around camera" and I am happy with the optics. Here's a shot from my gallery taken with the 3.5. Lighting was pretty dim so I would have opened up quite a bit.

[pinkarmy]

that's encouraging!!
just...any objection?

[farlymac]

The 3.5 is an excellent lens, Pink. Just look at the shots again of my Vito B post CLA. No complaints from me.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588...7628919891329/

PF

[pinkarmy]

so i got this Vito B with Color-skopar F3.5.
what a pleasant machine.



i followed farlymac's great Flickr link to have a little cleaning and caring...except the hard part

it seems ok when i played it without film (a true thumb torture!), the shutter fires alright (only the slow speeds act lazy, that i can take)

however, what is strange is that when i put a film into the camera, the shutter would just stuck open most of the time.
it only closes when i advance.
so most of my first roll are over-exposed AND very blurry.

this is the ONLY proper frame, which is still slightly blurred even at 1/1000sec.


and the next frame had this strange behavior:


and this:


WHAT HAPPENED???!!

[Keith]

Don't sell that camera .... I really like this!

On a more serious note the shutter probably needs a service. Possibly not opening fully.

[pinkarmy]

Originally Posted by Keith

Don't sell that camera .... I really like this!

i love old-fashioned "happy-ending" movies...but not exactly in this way

[farlymac]

Yeah, looks like a complete shutter cleaning is in order here, Pink. You can't go half-way on a CLA. The slow speeds being off is a big indicator of dirty gears. And it looks like on that one frame that the film didn't get wound properly. You're little one is getting bigger, already starting to walk!

PF

[pinkarmy]

Originally Posted by farlymac

...looks like on that one frame that the film didn't get wound properly...

what i suspect is that the advance lever did not draw enough tension (like my thumbs) to cock the shutter completely, hence the shutter open but have no power to close (and also didn't get wound the frames properly).

the advance lever also winds on forever without locking up for the next frame.

Originally Posted by farlymac

...You're little one is getting bigger, already starting to walk!

PF

yes, time flies and she is learning a lot of thing...like winking at boys

[pinkarmy]

i noticed that my Vito B does not have the double interlock-- i can wind and wind without firing the shutter. i beg some spring is off.

[batterytypehah!]

^You mean with film or without?

Without film, that's normal. There's no stop in the advance mechanism itself, it's all governed by the sprocket above the film gate. Make sure it's really grabbing the film.

Mine hangs up on the slow speeds, too, but works fine at 1/15 and above.

[pinkarmy]

Originally Posted by batterytypehah!

^You mean with film or without?...

even with film...

[pinkarmy]

here a clip showing how my Vito B behaves:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/67984623@N05/7151479047/

if i clock the shutter by film spigot using my thumbs, shutter fires.
if i pop in a film and clock the advance lever, the shutter fails.
you can notice the shutter release lever (the mech under the brass "A"-shaped bridge) do not return to the "clocked" position, more and more after every wind.

[dotur]

www.ivanlozica.com

Vito B with Color-Skopar 3.5 and (slower) Pronto shutter was my first camera, my grandmother's birthday present back in 1959. Cleaned twice since 1953, it looks and works like new. The lens is sharp as a razor, draws like a human eye, easy and user friendly for zone-focusing. Better built than Leica M3 - just a bit limited by fixed lens and slow shutter(s). Timeless indestructible machine, a well designed little handy marvel for daylight street photography and a pleasant travel companion.


0343dot2011 by dotur, on Flickr

[pinkarmy]

Originally Posted by dotur

...a well designed little handy marvel for daylight street photography and a pleasant travel companion.


0343dot2011 by dotur, on Flickr

a sexy portrait!
make me even more crazy/eager to make mine back to work again!!!

[John E Earley]

[John E Earley]

[farlymac]

Great shots of your little classic, John. Never did find out how Pink's camera turned out. haven't heard from him in a while.

I finally picked up a BL last month, and as soon as I get around to going over it, I'll be making a comparison shoot with the two so that Pink's question might be answered.

PF

[pinkarmy]

Originally Posted by farlymac

...Never did find out how Pink's camera turned out. haven't heard from him in a while...PF

hello everybody, i am still alive and here!
it is just that my baby girl is one and a half now and keep bumping her head + throwing things around my tiny home so i don't dare / have time to mess with my non-working-well cameras.

[Kent]

Either lens is a good one. I could't say which one is better.
I have given my VITO B (w/ 2.8/50) as a present to a very good friend of mine (because he fell in love with the looks of that cam when he saw it).

But some days ago I have taken a completely broken VITO B with the 2.8/50 apart and adapted the lens to the NEX-mount. Another friend of mine has done the same with the 3.5/50. Perhaps we can try a comparison on digital...

[farlymac]

You'll look back on these as the joyous trimes, Pink. We'll keep thinking about you.

PF