Voigtlander Perkeo I

The Perkeo I seems to be one of the cameras that has recently seen some resurgence due to film photography influencers praising it highly. I'm usually skeptical about these things but in this instance, I'm about to do the same.

Overview

It's a compact size medium format folder. It's not smaller than my Icarette, but that would be hard to beat. It is definitely and noticeably smaller than the various Isolettes I have. It is also lighter, operates very smoothly and there's just something very pleasant about this camera. The design is very pleasing to the eye, and intuitively placed controls just don't get in your way.

The unit I got wasn't pristine but easily cleaned, and most importantly, all the mechanisms were fine, and the glass was well. It came equipped with the 'cheaper' Vaskar 4.5/75 lens which, you know, if this is cheaper, I'm looking forward to one day shooting the 3.5/80 Color Skopar 'high end' version. I mean, I usually don't upload the whole roll of film, but I did this time because, damn it, that lens is rendering things fine.

Interesting tidbit is that the one I have comes without the double exposure prevention mechanism --one article I can't find anymore claims that this upgrade was only introduced after the first year of production, in 1952. Good. I hear they are quick to break. I prefer a safer non-breakable camera, even if it means an occasional double exposure --as it did this time, see frame number five.

How was shooting? 

Like I said, pretty seamless. Wind, cock, frame, shoot. Everything is where you'd expect it to be. It really is superbly made. The folding design makes it easy to carry, of course. 

The Vaskar is a lovely lens, and it seems to have liked the Rollei RPX 100 I shot on, rendering deep shades smooth and punchy. It has a bit of a falloff and the bokeh can swirl a little --that's mostly an aesthetic preference, I think, rather than anything to objectively judge a lens on. It is sharp where needed and smooth where it should be.

The only thing that I personally felt lacking was no rangefinder because I've been spoiled by the Isolette III by now --but that's easily made a moot point if you use an external one. I didn't and shooting mostly around 5.6 on this overcast day, still was able to get most things where I wanted - 10 points for Vaskar. I was definitely sweating the second frame with the close up of a small structure but managed to get even that right. What helped was the 4.5 maximum lens opening of the Vaskar --I bet if it was wider, I wouldn't be showing that shot. Partly why I think super fast lenses are kinda overrated, but that's a whole different post.

Bottom line

I lucked out with the unit that I have, as I bought it at a fraction of what they go for nowadays. If it wasn't for the low price, I most likely would never have splurged, and I would have missed out on a truly great shooting experience. 

If you can get one, get one. If you have one, shoot it. They deserve to be used and they will reward being picked off your shelf with smooth operation and great results. Some cameras get hyped beyond their true merit. This one is well worth the praise it gets.

Further reading:
a thorough article on Photo Thinking

Voigtlander Perkeo range on camera wiki