Shakedown

[br1078lum]

After the near disaster with the first roll I ran through my Vito B post CLA (I opened the camera with the film not rewound), I put another roll in it, and headed out to Troutville, VA to shoot some winter scenery. Apple Orchard Road is pretty neat, so I stopped by the apple barn to get some shots of all the crates piled up around the building. Then some shots along the railroad, continuing up to Stoney Battery Road, where the high trestle is.

Then, the machine at the pharmacy I usually go to tore half the roll off, and I only got 20 exposures out of the 38 I took (that short lead on the Vito always gives you at least one extra shot, and if you're really good, it will give two). All the shots of the apple barn are gone. I had to salvage the first one of what was left of the roll , but the rest are as they were scanned.  Here are some samples.



Vulture And Signal by br1078phot, on Flickr
This is the first exposure that came after the film got ripped in half at the pharmacy.  There is a lot of damage to the negative, not to mention the light strike on the bottom.  But this can be saved.


Vulture And Signal (Corrected) by br1078phot, on Flickr
After a bit of touch-up and cropping, we now have a decent image.


Gone To Seed by br1078phot, on Flickr
This is at the closest focus of 3 to 3.5 feet.  Not sure what it is exactly, as the lens barrel will rotate beyond the 3.5 mark.


Last Of The Crop by br1078phot, on Flickr
Left there to aggravate the deer, perhaps?


Launch Pad by br1078phot, on Flickr
The black vultures (colloquially known as buzzards) like to roost on the trestle until the sun warms them up.  Or a train comes by.

The complete set is at Flickr.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/7699588@N07/sets/72157628919891329/

PF

[Nick Merritt]

These are great!  Funny, I actually pulled out my own Vito B a couple of days ago and plan to load a roll in it.  So this set is inspiring.  Do you have the 3.5 or less common 2.8?

[br1078lum]

Thanks, Nick.  I kind of wish it was the 2.8, but I'm not seeing too many times when the extra stop is needed.  I might be tempted though to get one of the Vito B's younger siblings with the 2.0 Ultron.

PF

[Mike Kovacs]

Nice shots with that famous colour signature of Voigtlander optics.

I'm going to guess that minimum focus is 1 meter (3.28 feet)

I've got a Vitessa barn door I'd love to get running again with the Ultron.

[Nick Merritt]

Had a misadventure with my Vito B last night -- as I was running a junk roll through it to exercise the shutter (1/50 seems more like 1/25, but 1 second and the slower speeds are dead on), I noticed some play in the shutter speed dial front to back, and next thing I know the lens is unscrewing.  Turns out the lockring holding the front plate of the shutter had spun off somehow.

It took a fair amount of doing to figure out how to get the lens assembly back on, but I think I did it.  Now to see whether the focus is correct.

[br1078lum]

Depending on which version you have Nick, the refocusing can either be easy, or slightly difficult.  The one I have (with the Pronto shutter) was of the slightly difficult type, mostly because I had completely disassembled the lens.  Getting those little clamps back on took some help from a bench vise.  But the version with the Prontor-SVS shutter is much easier to focus.  Good luck with it.

PF

[Nick Merritt]

Yes, mine (with Prontor SVS) has those little clamps also -- they're more like little plates that cinch the lens group onto the main focusing assembly.  I knew I was on the right track in reassembling the lens when I saw the screws into which the plates/clamps attach and they were rather badly marred -- probably because the screws are partially hidden under the lens group.  A pain in the a**.