FILM STARS-Prominent features

John Wade takes a detailed look at a very versatile Voigtländer from the 1950s

- John Wade

The Voigtländer Prominent was launched in 1951, a time when 35mm coupled rangefinder cameras were at their peak. Yet it anticipated the approaching popularity of single lens reflexes (SLRs) by offering a device that converted it from rangefinder to reflex use. And it surrounded itself with interchangeable lenses, viewfinders, close-up attachments, filters and other accessories that put it at the heart of a system capable of tackling just about any subject. Today the Prominent appeals to film enthusiasts who enjoy using older cameras, as well as collectors who revel in its eccentricities.

There are two models. Early versions of the Prominent I lack an accessory shoe and use a knob to wind the film; a later variation of that first model adds a shoe and a two-stroke lever wind. The Prominent II, made in 1958, is similar to the Prominent I but with an extra-large, life-size viewfinder incorporating bright-line frames for wide-angle, standard and telephoto lenses. The basic controls of all the cameras are similar.

The lenses

Six lenses are available for the Prominent: three 50mm standards – f/1.5 Nokton, f/2 Ultron and f/3.5 Color-Skopar – plus a 35mm f/3.5 Skoparon wide angle, 100mm f/4.5 Dynaron medium-tele and a 150mm f/4.5 Super-Dynaron telephoto.

The standard lenses bayonet directly onto a Synchro-Compur shutter mounted on the front of the body and speeded 1–1/500sec. Focusing is by a knob on the top plate, with a distance scale around its edge and a depth of field scale below. As the knob is turned the shutter plus lens move back and forth. Coupled with a coincident image rangefinder in the viewfinder, this measures and sets the distance.