Andy Collins 
, Sep 07, 2010; 09:41 p.m.
This is the camera that I found at the flea market for $8.50, with its original case. It was pretty dirty and grimy, and I'm sure it was priced that low because the seller knew nothing about cameras that require film loaded in them to operate. I have heard many good things about this camera on this site, so I was very excited to find it, and even more excited to find out that the meter worked. It's a really nice, compact camera but it's got some weight and heft for sure!. It feels nice in the hand and is fun to use. Mine has some kind of damage in the viewfinder, but not enough to hinder operation or viewing the light meter needle at the bottom of the viewfinder. I thought I'd share a few pics from the camera. I must say that I'm quite impressed by it! The meter is apparently fairly accurate and the lens is very sharp! It's a solid piece of German engineering. I'll be loading it up again shortly and taking it back out very soon.
Voigtlander Vitomatic IIa with Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.8
Andy Collins , Sep 07, 2010; 09:44 p.m.
Old equipment
Andy Collins , Sep 07, 2010; 09:46 p.m.
Interesting skies!
Andy Collins , Sep 07, 2010; 09:48 p.m.
Sunset through the trees
Andy Collins , Sep 07, 2010; 09:52 p.m.
All of these were shot on Fuji Superia 400 X-Tra. Thank you for looking!
patrick stack 
, Sep 07, 2010; 11:28 p.m.
Andy -
Nice find, looks as new, found a good home, didn't it? These are really excellent lenses, (I think,) you'll find after playing with it for a while that it will become a favoured user. Try some B&W, the contrast will be hard to miss. Nice score.
Patrick
Rod Larson , Sep 08, 2010; 12:35 a.m.
Nice looking camera. In their day these were considered the low end and made for the
occasional snapshooter but they are capable of producing photographs that can stand up
against anything then or now.
james kennedy 
, Sep 08, 2010; 12:52 a.m.
Andy, the cap on a certain brand of of 35mm film cassette makes a perfect lens cap for these cameras. Can't recall which brand, but it may be Fuji. Whichever cassette is made of whitish translucent material. I'll see if I can determine which brand.
Rick Drawbridge , Sep 08, 2010; 01:00 a.m.
It's the feel of the Vitomatic, and the build quality that I like, Andy, and the precise way everything functions. I'm sure you'll grow to like it very much, and the Color-Skopar lens is really excellent, with Tessar-type contrast, and very sharp. It's the base-plate, and film loading system that I find so wonderfully over-engineered! Nice pics from your first outing; the sky photograph is really moody. Is your rangefinder suffering from the customary dimming?
Stefan T. , Sep 08, 2010; 03:11 a.m.
Well Rod, not really the low end, there were other Voigtländers with simpler lenses like the Lantar. The Vitomatic IIa was more for the advanced amateur who could not afford a Leica, although lower than the Prominent. I own one for myself. My first camera was a 1964 (my year of birth) Voigtländer Vitrona, the first camera with a built-in electronic flash, but that one stopped working years ago. The Vitomatic is a bit earlier, I guess from 61-63, but I really had to get a Voigtländer of that era, because it's not only my age but I was also born in Braunschweig, were these cameras came from.
The camera is indeed a jewel!
