C41
Kodak Portra 400
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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The Voigtländer Vitessa (first generation, 1950; Vitessa L with selenium meter, 1954) is a 35mm compact camera distinguished by its unusual film-advance system: a large plunger mounted atop the camera body, operated by the thumb, which cocks the shutter and advances the film in a single stroke. This "barn door" film-advance plunger gives the Vitessa an immediately recognizable silhouette and a rapid shooting rhythm unlike any other camera of the era.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 35mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
A distinctly styled West German 35mm compact with a plunger film-advance mechanism and a superb Color-Skopar lens — one of the more ergonomically inventive German cameras of the 1950s.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm |
| Lens | Color-Skopar 50/2.8 (standard) or Ultron 50/2 |
| Years | 1950 (Vitessa) / 1954 (Vitessa L) – 1960 |
| Shutter | Compur / Synchro-Compur, 1s – 1/500s + B |
| Flash sync | X and M sync |
| Meter | Selenium (Vitessa L); none (earlier Vitessa) |
| Focus | Scale / zone focus |
| Advance | Plunger (top-mounted thumb plunger) |
| Weight | ~520 g |
| Battery | None required |
Voigtländer introduced the original Vitessa in 1950 as a compact 35mm camera aimed at the enthusiast market. The distinctive plunger advance was a deliberate design choice to maximize shooting speed without requiring a traditional thumb-lever motion. Four years later the Vitessa L appeared with the integrated selenium meter — a significant addition in the pre-CdS era when unmetered cameras required constant consultation of a separate exposure meter.
The Vitessa T (1957) replaced scale focus with a coupled rangefinder, making it the most capable variant. Production continued until around 1960, when Voigtländer's attention shifted to SLR designs. Total production numbers are not precisely documented but the Vitessa is found in reasonable quantities on the used market, suggesting several hundred thousand units.
The Vitessa is a camera that rewards handling. The plunger advance, once mastered, enables a very rapid shooting cadence — advance and cock with the right thumb, compose and focus, fire. Photographers who shoot a lot of frames in quick succession (street, events) find the plunger motion faster than a conventional lever once the habit is formed.
The Color-Skopar 50/2.8 is a well-corrected Tessar-type lens that delivers clean, contrasty results across its aperture range. It is not as celebrated as the Nokton or Ultron but is a capable everyday performer. The Ultron 50/2 on select Vitessa variants brings a notable gain in low-light capability.
As a collector piece, the Vitessa is prized for its unusual design and its position in the West German compact camera tradition. It is meaningfully different from the Leica, Contax, or even Rollei-35 tradition — an engineering statement from Braunschweig.
Fixed lens (non-interchangeable). Standard: Color-Skopar 50/2.8 in Synchro-Compur. Premium variants: Ultron 50/2 in Synchro-Compur. No accessory shoe on earliest models; later variants include an accessory shoe. Clip-on flash units (Voigtländer Blitzgerät) attach to the front of the camera. Accessory viewfinder for other focal lengths is not applicable (fixed lens).
C41
Kodak ColorPlus 200 is an affordable, consumer-oriented daylight-balanced color negative film at ISO 200. Known for warm, slightly muted color rendition, fine grain, and wide exposure latitude, it is currently in production and widely available in Asia and select global markets.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →Voigtländer Vitessa
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