Voigtlander Vitessa L 140

The first in the Vitessa line was the 125, introduced in 1951. Several minor updates ended with the Vitessa N – 134  of 1954, the last of almost identical models. The market for hobby photography grew, as was the appetite for advanced technology, where on-camera, embedded light metering became a threshold for an upscale model. Voigtlander did not fall behind and, in 1956, introduced the Vitessa L -140, which had four insignificant updates in the appearance of the meter lens and the available EV range.

Overall, the Vitessa N and the Vitessa L were much alike, with several marginal changes. Both are superbly made and immaculately finished. The two L models on my desk click and hum as if they were made yesterday, not a blemish on the body or the lens, more than what is seen on other 70-year-old cameras.

See the basics of this model on the Vitessa N page. Below are the differences and model notes.

• An added uncoupled selenium light meter, with a needle pointing to an EV set against a set film speed value.
• Shutter speed up to 500.
• Optional Color-Skopar 2.8/50 and 3.5/50 lenses. A rare Schneider Xenon lens randomly shows up.
• An added self-timer marked V on the synch selector lever.
• The film type memo dial now carry code letters rather than colour codes. Reset it before mounting the back cover. Letters refer to films per the following:
  • N: negative black and white
  • UR: reversible white and black film
  • TD: reversible colour film
  • KA: colour for artificial light
  • TND: negative colour film for daylight
  • KNA: negative color film for artificial light
  • It represents the film types used then, and I assume all of them are redundant now.
• Marginally larger viewer.
• On the 2^nd version of the Vitessa L 140, the shutter speed and aperture dials can be interlocked to maintain a fixed EV.

Reading the manual is strongly recommended before operating the camera. There is none online, so one may consult the Vitessa L manual and the Vitessa T manual on Butkus’ site and hope for the best.

• The meter reader has an embossed table that meticulously lists film speeds in DIN, ASA and WES – Wstom meter values, which is 2/3 of the matching ASA. Each column is under a letter, A to F. With the thumb dial at the back, set the tiny cylinder in the lens to the matching letter, and the needle will point to the suggested EV as marked on the cylinder. All that if your eyes are good enough to read it. See image.
• The front dial on the lens assembly controls the shutter speed, with the markings of the extreme values, B and 500, left to the user’s imagination. Set the red dot on the dial to the desired speed.
• The inner dial is the aperture value. Set it using the lever at the bottom of the shutter speed dial to match the EV suggested by the meter. On the Vitessa L 2^nd edition, once f stop is set, the speed dial will carry the aperture with it, retaining the EV.
• The synchronization lever on the side of the aperture setting dial, X/M, which also doubles as a self-timer actuator, marked V. The V value is hardly visible under the front door. Changing the setting is via an unmarked, unassuming fin at the bottom of the lens assembly, just by the lens board. See image.
• As with the early model, the frame counter needs to be manually reset before remounting the back.