jim_baker6

The old Voigtlander Vito and Vitomatics with their Color-Skopar lenses are great cameras. I had a Vitomatic which had a dim rangefinder patch but it was repaired as part of a service. I think it was as simple as cementing an optical component back in place. Personally I always factor into the purchase price a service with these old cameras. The leaf shutter in particular sooner or later will need a service. If the light meter is not working then I don't think it can be repaired and, personally, I would look for another camera. The service completed and the light meter OK, I have peace of mind. In my case I eventually sold the Vitomatic for two reasons: firstly, the viewfinder tended to flare in backlit conditions and, secondly, the camera was a little heavy. I bought an early Vito B, the one where the aperture and shutter speed adjustments are completely independent. These early cameras do not have a rangefinder so I purchased a separate Voigtlander rangefinder that clips into the cold shoe on top. This simplifies the optics making the viewfinder and the rangefinder extremely bright (much brighter than in the case of the Vitomatic) at the expense of slower operation (the focussing distance has to be manually transferred from the rangefinder to the lens). I'm very happy with my Vito B and use it regularly. The Color-Skopar lenses in the Vito B and Vitomatics are the same and all produce great images.

<p>I had a plastic CV 21mm viewfinder that came with the (CV 21mm f4) lens I bought. I am a glasses wearer so either the viewfinder must have enough eye relief or there must be a way for me to fit a correction lens. I have had several CV viewfinders and have always found the eye relief to be inadequate. This 21mm was no exception. Also there's no way to fit a correction lens. I then bought the plastic Leica 21mm viewfinder and it worked, with glasses. Only just but it worked. It would be even better if I did not have to wear glasses. It's relatively expensive but I buy lenses with the intention of keeping them and after a while you forget the cost and just have the pleasure of using it. </p>

<p>Thanks for the link. It's a mine of information. It seem that the screw mount Leicas were specifically designed for the 50mm f3.5 Elmar i.e. the viewfinder was designed to just exclude this lens (which is just about as small a lens as you can get). So almost any other lens will intrude so the question becomes; does it intrude too much? I have the Canon 50mm f3.5 collapsible and it does not intrude either. The only other lens I know of that does not intrude is the Super-Rokkor 45mm f2.8. </p>

<p>Does the Voigtlander (CV) 50mm f2.5 screwmount lens intrude into the IIIf viewfinder and, if so, by how much? It looks like the lens was designed so that it did not intrude significantly, if at all. I have a few screwmount lenses and have a rough idea of the lens diameter and (flange-to-front) length combination that would intrude into the viewfinder so if a fellow member only has the lens and could let me know the dimensions, I would be grateful.</p>