Voigtländer Prominent
35mm rangefinder camera / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Prominent refers to two distinct lines of rangefinder cameras made by Voigtländer.
Overview | |
---|---|
Maker | Voigtländer |
Type | 35mm rangefinder camera |
Lens | |
Lens mount | proprietary bayonet |
Focusing | |
Focus | manual |
Exposure/metering | |
Exposure | manual |
Shutter | |
Shutter | Synchro-Compur leaf, behind-lens |
Shutter speeds | 1–1⁄500 + B, X/M |
General | |
Dimensions | 5+1⁄4 in × 3+5⁄8 in × 3+1⁄4 in (133 mm × 92 mm × 83 mm) (with lens)[1] |
Weight | 25 oz (710 g) (without lens)[1] |
The first Prominent, stylized in all-caps as PROMINENT and also known as the Prominent 6×9 to distinguish it from the later camera line, was a folding, fixed-lens rangefinder camera that used 120 film and was first marketed in 1932. Relatively few were sold and the post-war Prominent, using 135 film, is better known.
The second Prominent (stylized with small caps as ProminenT) was a line of 35mm interchangeable lens cameras built after World War II in the 1950s, equipped with leaf shutters. The second line of Prominent cameras were marketed as professional system cameras against the Leica threadmount and M bayonet mount and Zeiss Ikon Contax rangefinder camera lines. Voigtländer also sold the Vitessa and Vito lines of compact 35mm rangefinders contemporaneously, generally equipped with fixed, collapsible normal lenses, as less-expensive alternatives to the Prominent.