I would appear to be on a rangefinder roll. This week it is a Voightlander Vito BL. The manual for the Vito BL makes the camera sound like some sentient being from the land of Voight!
” the VITO BL is an optical and mechanical precision instrument which requires gentle and understanding treatment. The camera will repay careful handling with beautifully clear and sharp pictures for many years to come.”
Treat this mid 1950’s camera with contempt and your in trouble. So let’s consider some reasons for treating the Vito BL gently and with understanding.
The Vito BL is attractive to look at and weighs 600gm or just over 1 1/4lbs. It feels solid, comfortable and reassuring in the hand. The film wind on is positive and an evidence of its precision engineering. The camera is supplied with a diffuser for the selenium light meter which allows for both reflected and incident light readings. Nice touch😲(How am I doing?)
The top plate, below, is uncluttered. On the left you have the film rewind knob that pops up when you slide the lever on that side of the camera. The dial includes a film memo, but what are all those initials?
Starting at N and going clockwise – N = Black and White negative film (of course) NK/NA = Artificial light type negative colour film NT/ND = Daylight negative colour film UK/RA = Artificial light reversal colour film UT/RD = Daylight reversal colour film U/R = Black and White reversal colour film.??🤓
Below is the dial for the included Bewi Automat light meter which returns a ‘Light Value’ measurement. How does it work? You first have to set the film speed of the film your using by aligning the value against the red dot. Pressing the button, above the film wind on, for one second will return the ‘light value.’ The shutter speed / aperture combinations available for that light value can then be read from the scale. So in the example below the LV 12 allows for a top shutter speed of 1/300th and an aperture of 3.5/4 all the way down to 1/15th and f16.
The LV reading must then be manually transferred to the camera by pressing the milled knob on the right side of the lens in the image below. Rotating the dial to this LV reading and releasing this knob, locks the combinations of shutter/ aperture into the camera. If you want to stray from the suggested combinations of shutter/aperture, you can use the same milled knob to unlock and take you to your choice of aperture or shutter speed.
My Vito BL comes with a color Skopar 50mm f 3.5 lens.
The base of the camera is a little different to what you might expect. The film chamber is unlocked by lifting and twisting the lever, on the left in the image above. Another evidence of is precise engineering.
So how does this all come together? Click on the video below.
Last week I wrote about my visit to the Spa Valley Railway in Royal Tunbridge Wells, Kent with the Agilux Agimatic. Well, I also took along the Vito BL which I used in the afternoon.
The light meter wants to over expose by about one stop. Having established that, measuring the light value and then transfering it to the camera was very quick and easy. Being able to lock that into the camera and then having a small selection of correct combinations to choose from was great. Having a light meter built into the camera meant I could adapt more quickly to the changing conditions around me. Even with the light meter being one stop out , all I had to do was choose the one below what the meter suggested. Simples!
Compared to the Agimatic, the Vito BL rewarded me with consistently sharper images.
I was surprised just how close I could get to my subjects
These images look as though they were taken in the 1950’s. Very nostalgic🧐
As with the Agimatic, my time with the Vito BL was a very enjoyable one. I think the camera sensed this as it has rewarded me with some really good images, in my opinion. Would I recommend this camera? Absolutely yes. Looks good. Easy to use. Comfortable to hold. Gives great images. What is not to like?
Which do I prefer? The Agimatic or the Vito BL? That’s another discussion.🤔
arhphotographic 