Voigtlander Vito BL : Help!

[rick_drawbridge]

I've just had the good fortune to acquire a very original copy of this fine camera, the later version with the funky little Bewi Automat meter. I've down loaded a copy of the only on-line manual I can find, though it relates to a slightly earlier version of the BL.

 

One thing puzzles me. In the viewfinder, top left, there's a little rounded glass protuberance which seems to have a constant red/pink tinge to it. I can find no reference to it in the manual, and I can't figure out it's purpose. It doesn't seem to change colour, or do anything much at all. I have other versions of the Vito but this is an oddity. Does anyone have any information on this?

[cliffmanley]

<p>Flash ready led for dedicated flash ? Is there an extra contact point on the hotshoe?</p>

[mike l]

<p>LED pah! It's the also funky little built in smile detector.</p>

 

[longname]

<p>For the light meter maybe? Light meter could be busted? Could be telling you if there's enough light for the aperture you've set. My Dynamatic II has something like that but it's red/green.</p>

[tom_cheshire]

<p>Those answers so far are funny. </p>

<p>It is likely a red "not enough light" warning thingy. Is the light meter functional? </p>

[cliffmanley]

<p>I don't know why I said LED when I think they are actually neon. But anyway there were indeed many cameras that they put these ridiculous little flash ready indicators in and around the viewfinder in a marketing attempt to sell you the special flash that went with the camera. I put a question mark next to my statement since I don't know anything about that particular camera.</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

<p>Rick I did some precursory looking around. This model had a lot of variables the one site noted 90 possible variations.<br>

Five different VF, three different light meters, three shutters, two lenses etc.  This could be difficult to narrow down.<br>

Another site I read described a (the) light meter as without a needle and stated an instantaneous reading.<br>

http://www.designundphoto.de/seite%20ca0337%20voigtlaender%20vito%20bl.htm<br>

Maybe this is a sort of go-no-go, if the current exp.settings result in under/over exposure this portion of the finder alerts the user.<br>

Frankly, this seemed more of an advertising/handbook description from the late 50s, than a modern interpretation, but maybe one of the native speakers can do better, the included english "babblefish" translation is not any help at all</p>

This of course would then be dependent upon the function of the light meter!

<p> </p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Thanks, you've all covered quite a few bases. I've not been able to uncover any more information, and I've had a really close inspection of the viewfinder under strong light. This model Vito has a brightline viewfinder, and I'm beginning to suspect that the glass bobble is part of the frame projection system. Most cameras with a projected brightline use a separate window to reflect light for the brightline borders, but there no such window on the BL, and I've been wondering if the clever Voigtlander people have built a lens into the top of the viewfinder to utilise the light entering the very large viewfinder area. I'll try to get a photograph of it tomorrow. I suspect the faint colour is of no significance.<br>

The light meter has no display in the viewfinder in the Cl, so I guess we can rule out that line of enquiry.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>I post a couple of pics of the mystery object. Though it looks intrusive, when one's eye is up against the viewfinder the "bobble" appears up the top and out of the frame. Strange ... First pic is from the rear, the second from the front.</p><div></div>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>From front:</p><div></div>

[marc_bergman1]

<p>Rick,</p>

<p>I can't help you in identifying the object, but I will say that if I saw that when looking through a viewfinder, I would drop the camera and run, screaming from the room.</p>

<p>I guess I have seen too many Science Fiction movies.</p>

[chuck_foreman1]

I think Marc's comment is was too funny! I agree nothing to do with a light meter. What if the blob of glass that is the finder has suffered some shock? Could this be a kind of manifested crack?

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Thanks, <strong>Marc</strong>...I've placed the camera in a lead-lined box in the basement....</p>

[gerry b.]

<p>Element separation in the viewfinder assembly?</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>I'd wondered about that, Gerry, but I think it's too big an object and too irregularly shaped to be that phenomena, and it appears to be fixed to the <em>top</em> of the viewfinder.</p>

[guzzi01]

<p>I chipped the VF glass on the very edge while installing the top cover on a camera once, ended up with a distortion about like yours but not quite as bad.</p>

[rick_drawbridge]

<p>Thanks, Ronald, that's an interesting theory. A very close inspection suggests that this object may begin as a crack or chip from the interior corner of the viewfinder.</p>