This camera was the very first 35mm I ever purchased for myself (the first was a gift from my father when I was a teenager), and 70 cameras later it’s still one of my favourites.

First of all, the meter is in working order. This beauty is nearly 70 years old and the meter is still running and accurate. I bought it in Berlin from a man who had purchased it new in the 1950s. He only wanted 20€ for it, and was so apologetic about the fact that the case was missing the name label.

It was an adventure to get it from him, though. Twice, I had to try and meet up with him at his garage only to have him cancel after I’d gone all the way across the city. He lived further south in Neukölln than the S- or U-bahn would go (on the border of Brandenburg) and I was from Wedding so it was a 1 hour and 6 minute jaunt each way every time. But it was worth it.

I didn’t have any particular love or fascination with Voigtländer at the time, I had just searched Ebay Kleinanzeigen for “Vintage Kamera” und “Alt Kamera” under 50€ and this was the first interesting thing that I found. I think it was the “Made is West Germany” that really got me. It’s so vintage that it comes from a past geography and that kind of stuff is directly up my alley.

The first 3 rolls I shot were during a trip to the UK and I wasn’t able to develop the photos for half a year. When I did, I made a real mess of it, too. The last time I had developed my own film was 10 years earlier when I was going to university and taking a photography class (this was before digital photography was even offered). So I used the old equipment I still had and proper bungled the whole process. It was a sweaty, stressful time in the “darkroom” that was a closet with clothes shoved in the door cracks; and I couldn’t get the film loaded correctly on the spool. So in some places the rows of the film coil would touch and therefore not develop at all and leave white marks all over my photos. I was really rather sad at the time, but I’ve grown to love those photos.

Before leaving Germany, I did make three more camera purchases. The first was a Holga toy camera; then a Kiev 4; and the third was a Proximeter for my Vitomatic. That way I could shoot close up shots. One of the major downfalls of vintage rangefinders is that the focusing distance often leaves a lot to be desired in my humble opinion. So I did what I could to fix that and continued to shoot shoot shoot.

I’d say this camera is in my top 5 most used and most loved. It takes clear, sharp photos; the size is small but operable; it’s easy to manoeuvre; and the meter still works!

Rolls Taken with this Camera