Bursting into Prominents

<p>Heavy metal, indeed, the Voigtlander Prominent I Type II, created in the mid-1950's by Voigtlander und Sohn AG of Braunschweig, in what was then West Germany.</p><div></div>

<p>There's a discrepancy in the above photograph, a sort of visual malapropism, which I didn't spot until I began to put the post together, and there really was no going-back. A pat on the back to the first Forum member to spot it... I must explain that this post is due mainly to the generosity of an ex-member of the Forum, a gentleman who wishes to remain anonymous but who describes himself as " A friendly Yank, now persona non grata, evidently because his exuberance exceeded the allowed boundaries." I'm sure many of you will remember the Yank in question, and he has maintained a welcome correspondence with me, contributing much of the hardware featured in this post.<br /> <br>

The Prominent has featured in many posts on this Forum, so I'll try not to be too prolix. From the outset, let me state that I have enormous respect for the quality of construction and finish of these cameras, the almost obsessive attention to detail, while having less respect for the ergonomics of the design, and the rather obvious deficiencies in user-friendliness. The Mark I, appearing in 1950, progressed through three types with minor changes involving viewfinders, accessory shoes and the eventual addition of a rapid-wind lever, and was replaced by the re-designed Mark II in 1958 with a big bright-lined Albada viewfinder, an enormous and very necessary improvement over it's predecessors. The Mark II is today the rarest and most desirable of the Prominents. Despite the fine quality of the cameras and their lenses, the hey-day of the interchangeable-lens rangefinder camera was nearing it's conclusion at the time of the Mark I's introduction, and the competition was fierce from makers such as Leica and Contax, not to mention the growing skills of the Japanese manufacturers. The Prominent was less expensive than most of it's domestic competitors yet offered what is arguably the finest product in terms of materials and construction, but the cameras were not a commercial success. Here's an example of the meticulous detailing, a rewind handle that pops up from it's flush position at the touch of a button.</p><div></div>

<p>Such details abound; even the tripod socket is painstakingly decorated. Here's a view of the top of the camera, all glistening chrome . Note the mechanism at the back of the shutter speed ring for the Synchro Compur shutter that pushes the shutter-cocking lever into the cocked position when the film-wind knob is rotated. I was struck by this primitive arrangement in such an elaborate design, only one step away from cocking the shutter by hand. Indeed, the instructions suggest that the user assists in the process of setting the higher speeds but by giving the lever a little push with a finger. Well, really...</p><div></div>

<p>Internally, the Prominent is impeccably finished, and the baseplate is nothing short of beautiful, with the aforementioned tripod socket and the nifty little film-reminder dial.</p><div></div>

<p>The viewfinder is small and dim, and notoriously misplaced for we right-eyed people. Being on the right side of the camera, (from the rear), one's nose is jammed up against the camera back, making the diminutive viewfinder seem even smaller, though the rangefinder spot is sharp and clear. Focusing is manipulated by the knob on the top left of the deck, moving the whole lens and shutter assembly with a complication of internal linkages; I find having to relax my grip on such a heavy camera to rotate the knob gives me a precarious sensation, and I much prefer the thumbwheel protruding from beneath the deck as utilised by the Fujica SE series, and even the index-finger-wheel of the Baldessa. However, these gripes aside, everything works with a silky smoothness, and the Prominent is capable of taking very good photographs, thanks mainly to the superb quality of it's lenses.</p><div></div>

<p>This is the 50mm f/2 Ultron, the other "standard" lenses on offer being the 50mm f/1.5 Nokton and the 50mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar. Which is the "better" lens has often been debated, but I find the Ultrons to be among the "best" lenses in my possession, full-stop. They compare favourably with, or even better, most contemporary high-end prime lenses I have in terms of resolution and their rendition of colour and a sense of dimension. Also on offer were the macro 35mm Repro-Skopar f/3.5, the 35mm Skoparon f/3.5, the 100mm Dynaron f/4 (illustrated at top), and the 150mm Super-Dynaron f/4. Note that these lenses are truly interchangeable, with their own unique mount, not merely supplementary lenses. The shorter lenses mount in an internal bayonet while the longer ones slide into an external mount surrounding the internal mount. With the exception of the Super-Dynaron, all mate automatically with the rangefinder, no adjustments required. A clever little "Turnit" accessory viewfinder was available for the 35mm and 100mm focal lengths.<br /> <br /> It took me some time to feel comfortable with the Prominents, and I spent some time fumbling for focus rings on the front and putting the wrong side of the camera up to my eye, but after a couple of films I began to feel more at home. After focusing, the little "Kontur" eyes-wide-open finder made framing much easier, though the Prominent is definitely not a camera for capturing the fleeting moment. However. the quality of the results tended to make the effort worthwhile . See what you think; colour from Fuji Superia 200 scanned by the Frontier, B&W mainly Arista 100 through Pyrocat HD, scanned on an Epson V700.<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> </p><div></div>

<p>No.2</p><div></div>

<p>No.3</p><div></div>

<p>No.4</p><div></div>

<p>No.5</p><div></div>

<p>No.6</p><div></div>

<p>No.7</p><div></div>

<p>No.8</p><div></div>

<p>No.9</p><div></div>

<p>No.10</p><div></div>

<p>No.11</p><div></div>

<p>No.12</p><div></div>

<p>Beautiful cameras, Rick. So minty. The results are nice and snappy! I love the light in Afternoon in the Barn"</p>

<p>Malapropism? I'll hazard a guess. That lens hood doesn't fit either of those lenses. </p>

<p>If we were a little closer, <strong>Louis</strong>, I'd come and pat your back...Dumb mistake on my part, but the standard Vitessa lens hood <em>is</em> prettier than the Prominent one, and I wasn't going to go back and re-shoot. Once again, you've chosen my favourite image to comment upon... Many thanks.</p>

<p>I love the first B&W image the most, and the cameras!!!? Every time I haw a camera like those in my hand, my hart biting up faster. The feel of those mechanical beauties is very exiting. It is not the nostalgia, it is a loose of the real photographic equipment, the feeling of a machined, metal instrument, meant to be used expertly, not like today overall black, mainly plastic cameras, usable for most of the masses as a point&shot cameras, being as a 600 dollar or a 8000 dollar camera. All the same to me. It is not the nostalgia to remember, to learn how to use a camera with all related technical details including, the film, you just loaded in. It is a same to me, to drive a sport car with a manual gearbox and has to use the clutch and the shift, all synchronized to do all the trick and wonderful part of the driving, which is like a horse, you has to learn to control and feel the horse when you ride it. I'm 75 very shortly 76 and still driving a manual gearbox car, which I enjoying to drive, bought recently a new, still manual, and always driven manual, because otherwise the whole driving is boring, extremely boring for me. And I don't even care if the car is a super chevy, Corvette, Nissan 300ZX, etc., it is not areal car for me, if it is not shift, manual gearbox car. It is a transportation only. Yes, I know, even a new Lamborghini comes with an automatic gearbox. No manual anymore. Slowly, the machines, computers going to control us.<br /> Email? . . . I wonder if anybody can wright a letter on a pice of paper, by hand, anymore. Please don't blame me for this lines, see the future.<br /> Thank you for posting those images of your beautiful cameras.<br>

I seen the rest of the images and I like many of them, specialty B&W.</p>

<p>Lie Loouis .. I was going to hazard that same guess becasue I recognized the accessory. But What do I know.... often accessories are multi purpose. Great images Loved them all the late sun on the flowers and shoes and of course in the barn were great. I  liked the line of the barn,tree house too!!  I'm pretty sure I know the Yank!!  Thanks too for sharing this equipment! <br>

 </p>

 

Ooh and I hope this post brings out that Hungarian guitar player member he is a ummm .. prominent aficiando (pun intended)

<p>Hi Chuck. My English is not very good, specially for humors. Like your "pun". (?)<br /> <em>"Ooh and I hope this post brings out that Hungarian guitar player member he is a ummm...." (?).</em><br /> There was a very famous Hungarian-Gipsy guitar player, in the US, 1960-70s, if you know Jazz music, a guy named Gabor Szabo. RIP.</p>

I have Prominent I and a Prominent "1.5", the latter with brightline finder and lever advance. Two 50/1.5

Noktons, the 35/3.5 and 100/4.5.The cameras are beautifully finished,but "not well thought out" with regard

to the RF mechanism. Easier to adjust the RF than on the Vitessa, which defies description. The optics

are first rate; I bought an adapter to use the Nokton on my Nikon RF. I ended up replacing a broken spring

in the RF mechanism long ago. Seem to remember an adjustment screw in the back of the camera body

that has to be set with the back off, then adjust the RF with the top off. In some back and forth sequence...

<p>Excellent work as always Rick. I hadn't realized that the lenses on Prominents were interchangeable. I guess they are similar to the Contaflex system? </p>

<p>Like others, I really like that first picture. It has a timeless quality about it. Looks like it could have been taken yesterday or 50 or 100 years ago. Thanks for sharing.</p>

<p>Nice write up Rick! I always have a soft spot in my heart for the Voigtlander optics, starting from their Petzval, Heliar to modern classic like Ultron and Nokton. From user point of view, they are eccentric but not too hard to manage. From collector point of view, their chrome, leather and workmanship are truly top grade. I have also successfully adjusted the rangefinder on the Prominent I.</p>

<p>Since I have never used their wide/tele lenses, could you please say a few words about their performance and character?</p>