Vintage Voigtlander Vito
What is your opinion of the Vintage Voigtlander Vito Automatic 35mm Camera?
I intend to purchase one before my travels… is the old Voigtlander a trusted brand?
I am thinking of investing in a 70’s model…is it a trusted brand?
Voigtlander is an old–they were making cameras in the first half of the 19th century–and trusted brand. Over the years they produced everything from the sublime to the mundane. Having been taken over by Rollei in the 1980s, they eventually went out of business in the ’90s; but the name lived on, notably on cameras and lenses made by the Japanese firm Cosina.
Though I’ve handled a Vito, I have not handled a Vito Automatic. The Vito was a cute, little folding camera, but it used very imprecise scale focusing instead of an accurate rangefinder, and the same is true of the Vito Automatic. Furthermore, the Automatic has, I believe, a selenium meter. While not requiring batteries, selenium meters eventually stop working, so your camera may be without a working meter making it no longer “automatic”.
But if you like the camera and it isn’t overpriced, go ahead and buy it.
