Voigtlander Vito B and Leica IIIg viewfinders and other things

[jim_baker6]

<p>I wear glasses so I'm always concerned about how useable is a camera's viewfinder. I've had a Voigtlander Vito B for some time and used it with a Kontur finder because its small viewfinder is hopeless for glasses wearers. The Kontur works fine but getting the best out of the lens needs rangefinder, even for its f3.5 lens. I recently bought a Leica IIIg whose viewefinder, even though it has parallax corrected projected framelines, is also hopeless for glasses wearers. I was determined to find a solution for both these cameras. My right eye glasses prescription is -2.75D spherical plus -2.0D cylindrical for distance and -0.5D spherical plus -2.0D cylindrical for near. I've tried cutting out the middle of my (plastic) glasses lens and fitting them into an eyepiece. It works fine when the camera is used horizontally but not when the camera is used vertically. There's just too much cylindrical astigmatism. I therefore experimented with correction eyepieces designed to fit various old SLR's and found by trial-and-error that a -3D correction eyepiece worked fine on the IIIg. I cut away the 'grooves ' at the side of the eyepiece (which would enable the lens to be slotted into place on an SLR) but kept the lip along the top. How to fit it to the Leica? You may laugh, but Blu Tak works fine! It holds the correction lens securely and of course does not damage the camera in any way. This solution was not possible for the Vito B because any SLR correction lens is too big i.e. would not allow the camera back to be opened (of course this is not a problem with the bottom opening Leica). I therefore experimented with plastic lenses designed for opthalmic swimming goggles. By trial-and-error I found that -3.5D lenses worked best with the Vito B. These lenses can be cut quite easily using a fine toothed coping saw. Again I used Blu Tak to secure the lens in place. As you can see, the lens is just the right size and does not interfere with the opening of the camera back.<br>

They both work fine!<br>

</p><div></div>

[jim_baker6]

<p>...one thing I forgot to mention: of course the existing Leica 'double porthole' is removed before attaching the correction lens.<br>

The Leica IIIg performance of course exceeds that of the Vito B in almost every way but I have a fondness for the Vito B puffing along behind the Leica. The 1:1 Voigtlander rangefinder is extraordinarly bright, brighter than the IIIg. Also the viewfinder (they are both about 0.7 magnification) is brighter, I guess because it consists of just two lenses (plus the correction lens). So optically I think the Vito B viewfinder wins out but of course the Vito B rangefinder is not coupled. The 50mm f2.8 Elmar vs. the 50mm f3.5 Color Skopar? They are both about the same at f8. At f4 the Elmar is a little sharper at the edges and the bokeh, again at the edges, is definitely better. That said in general use most of the pictures taken with either camera would be fine. The Vito B is lighter and, even with the rangefinder fitted, fits nicely in the hand. The Vito B wind on is ratcheted but the IIIg is wind on is completely silent. Both shutters are whisper quiet. There's quite a big difference in the price...<br />Well that's all folks!</p><div></div>

[maciek_stankiewicz]

<p>Jim, I was wondering how would You like Voigtlander with different, improved "mirror" viewfinder, present in some Vito B, Vito BL and Vitomatic models... It's one of the most beautiful viewfinders: Big, bright, 1:1 ratio with much bigger "entrance" and nice, precise frame. <br /> Here are few words about the difference:<br /> <a href="http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Voigtl%C3%A4nder_Vito_B">http://camerapedia.wikia.com/wiki/Voigtl%C3%A4nder_Vito_B</a><br /> Since the camera with bigger viewfinder is higher I would go for BL model (with Lightmeter added) or High-End and Heavy-weight Vitomatic model.<br>

All of my Color-Skopar lenses (f2.8 or f3.5) are excellent. I love the warmth they are adding to color photographs.</p>

[jim_baker6]

<p>Maciek: thanks for the advice. I have a Vito BR so I can appreciate what you are saying! It's a great camera, the only one I own where I can see the framelines, with glassses on, without moving my eye. Like the Vitomatic, it's a heavyweight. All my rangefinder cameras do a great job while being different. If I do have a problem it's having too many cameras to play with! I have a Konica II (no framelines, rangefinder and viewfinder combined), a Leica IIIg (separate magnified rangefinder, projected framelines), a Vito BR (combined 1:1 rangefinder and viewfinder, with projected framelines) and the Vito B (completely separate rangefinder, no framelines). To a greater or less extent as you add optics into the viewfinder, you lose contrast: clearest is my IIIg, then my Vito BR, then my Konica II. On the other hand, the Vito B has the simplest possible optics and is astonishingly bright which makes the viewed image appear sharp, too. Also the separate rangefinder, which is extremely easy to view, is 1:1 (there are no lenses in the viewing path, just a semi silvered mirror) so, unlike the IIIg, it doesn't have to be focussed. The only downside is of course that the rangefinder is uncoupled (although having the scale on the rangefinder match the scale on the lens barrel is a help).<br>

As I said, they are all different but, provided the problem of being a glasses wearer is addressed, they all do a good job. </p>

<p> </p>