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.
View profile →rangefinder-35mm
The Voigtlander Vitomatic II (1958) is a compact 35mm fixed-lens camera produced in Braunschweig, West Germany, and represents the rangefinder-equipped step-up from the base Vitomatic I. Where the Vitomatic I and Ia offered only scale focus, the Vitomatic II integrated a coupled rangefinder patch into the optical finder, allowing the photographer to confirm sharp focus at any distance rather than estimating subject distance on the scale.
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 →BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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Labs in our directory that process 35mm film.
Before you buy used
About this camera
The Vitomatic gains eyes - the II added a coupled rangefinder to the selenium-metered Vito platform, giving accurate focus confirmation without requiring a battery.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 35mm (24x36 mm) |
| Mount | Fixed (non-interchangeable) |
| Years | ~1958-1963 |
| Lens | Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.8 |
| Shutter | Prontor-SVS / Prontor-SLK leaf: 1s - 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | X and M sync |
| Meter | Selenium cell, EV scale |
| Exposure | Manual (EV-guided) |
| Viewfinder | Optical with coupled rangefinder patch |
| Focus | Coupled rangefinder |
| Battery | None (selenium) |
Voigtlander introduced the original metered Vitomatic in 1957, adding a selenium cell to the proven Vito B body. The market quickly revealed that scale focus limited the camera's appeal for photographers accustomed to the rangefinder precision offered by competing cameras from Leica, Zeiss, and Kodak. The Vitomatic II, introduced in 1958, addressed this gap by adding a coupled rangefinder.
The Vitomatic II coexisted with the Vitomatic I variants throughout the early 1960s, serving as the premium offering in the range. The IIa designation was applied to later production batches with minor updates to the finder or shutter mechanism.
By the mid-1960s, the entire Vitomatic line was superseded by the Vitoret series and the move toward fully automatic viewfinder cameras. The Vitomatic II was discontinued as the market shifted away from manually coupled rangefinders in the compact category.
The Vitomatic II is one of the cleaner expressions of the West German compact rangefinder formula: a high-quality Tessar-type lens, a coupled rangefinder, a battery-free meter, and a Prontor leaf shutter in a well-made aluminium body. It offers the Color-Skopar's known optical quality at a price point significantly below the Vitessa or Prominent rangefinders that represent Voigtlander's higher-tier production.
For collectors and users, the battery-free selenium system is an important practical advantage: no adaptation, no obsolete mercury cells, no improvised workarounds. The camera either meters correctly or it doesn't, and the photographer compensates accordingly.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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.
View profile →Voigtlander Vitomatic II
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