Voigtlander Prominent 35mm

My father-in laws Voigtlander Prominent

I'm unsure if I'll be able to get another posting out before the beginning of 2026, since Christmas and New Year's fall on the day I generally publish my reviews. Since this might be the final post for 2025, I wanted to make it a special review. 

 Special in the sense that, while the Voigtländer Prominent is an outstanding camera, what makes this camera especially special to me is that my father-in-law owned it, so it holds an even greater, much more cherished place in my collection.

 Let me tell you a bit about my father-in-law. He was the oldest of seven children living in a very small town named Sugar Creek, MO, just outside Independence. They were not a wealthy family, as the father worked at the local refinery. I was told that the house was so small that some of the children had to sleep in closets. At 18, he married my mother-in-law, who was only 17 at the time. By the time he was 22 and my mother-in-law was 21, they had three children.

 Soon after they were married, he joined the Army, where they were stationed in Augusta, GA, where my wife and the third child were born.  When my wife was only 6 months old, my father-in-law and the family were transferred to Naples, Italy. With his wife and three young children, my wife moved to Italy.

My father-in-law always had a passion for photography and, from what I'm told, purchased the Voigtländer Prominent while stationed overseas. After their time in Italy,  the family moved back to the USA. At this point, my father-in-law found a local camera store back near Kansas City, where he honed his photographic skills using the Voigtländer Prominent he purchased overseas.

Voigtlander logo and Prominent name on top of the camera.

 After the camera store, he was hired by Procter & Gamble to sell Duncan Hines cake mixes. He climbed the corporate ladder, moving his family with each promotion due to his outstanding managerial and sales skills. All the while, he still had a passion for photography. He was always taking photos of the family and eventually ended his career as a top executive at some of the largest Fortune 500 companies.

 This article is not only about a truly amazing camera, but also an ode to my father-in-law. Someone I looked up to in my career helped me in so many ways and was a warm, loving, generous, and caring individual. He passed away way too early from an auto accident, almost 30 years ago. We still have his Voigtländer Prominent, which he used, and it's in remarkable condition. For the final post, I wanted to write about this truly excellent camera, which means so much to all the family members.

 I've had the opportunity to purchase other Voigtländer prominent cameras, both the original and the Prominent II, with the standard Ultron and Heliar lenses, along with many different lenses and accessories for their cameras. Still, the camera from my father-in-law is off-limits. It will stay in my collection until I'm no longer around.

 I've reviewed other Voigtländer cameras, so I've written about their history in the past. Let me focus on the history of Voigtländer in a specific timeframe: after World War II, when they rebuilt a fantastic camera brand.

Voigtlander Post World War II:

 Voigtländer emerged from the Second World War with its Braunschweig factory largely intact and quickly resumed work under British military oversight, initially dedicating much of its output to Allied reparations until the new West German currency was introduced in 1949. This relatively undamaged industrial base, combined with a strong pre‑war optical tradition, allowed the firm to re‑establish itself rapidly as a key player in the post‑war German camera industry.​

 In the immediate post‑war years, Voigtländer revived and modernized pre‑war designs, adding new anti‑reflection coatings to lenses and continuing large‑format and medium‑format lens production. The company remained under the ownership of the chemicals and photographic‑paper firm Schering AG, which had acquired it in the 1920s, providing financial stability in a challenging economic climate.​

From Voigtlander Catalog Credit: Pacific Rim Camera

 The 1950s became Voigtländer's golden decade, marked by a broad range of high‑quality cameras and lenses that cemented its international reputation. Compact 35mm lines such as the Vito and the more sophisticated Vitessa appeared alongside the professional Prominent 35mm rangefinder. At the same time, optics like the Ultron, Nokton, Apo‑Lanthar, and Heliar established the brand as a leader in lens design. In 1952, Voigtländer introduced the Apo‑Lanthar 105 mm f/4.5, and in 1959, it launched the 36–82 mm f/2.8 Zoomar, one of the first interchangeable zoom lenses for 35mm still photography.​

 In 1956, Schering sold Voigtländer to the Carl Zeiss Foundation, bringing it into the same corporate orbit as Zeiss Ikon while initially keeping manufacturing and sales structures separate. Throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s, Voigtländer expanded into leaf‑shutter SLRs and advanced models such as the Bessamatic and Ultramatic, but the cameras were complex and costly to build. As Japanese manufacturers increased efficiency and undercut prices, Voigtländer's high production costs and conservative designs became major competitive disadvantages.​

 In 1965, Zeiss‑Ikon and Voigtländer's sales operations were combined, but falling sales led to the decision to cease camera production and close the Braunschweig factory on 4 August 1971, affecting over 2,000 employees. The physical works were reorganized as Optische Werke Voigtländer, with shared ownership between Zeiss, Rollei, and the state of Lower Saxony. By 1974, Rollei had taken complete control, continuing to produce lenses and cameras under the Voigtländer brand until its own financial collapse in the early 1980s.

 The trademark then passed through German photo retailers and, from 1999, has been licensed to Cosina in Japan, which uses the historic name on modern manual‑focus lenses and niche film cameras, giving Voigtländer a new life in the era of digital photography.

My Camera:

 My Voigtländer Prominent comes with the standard Ultron 50mm f/2.0 lens. The camera body serial # B 46551, and lens serial # 3782651. With this camera, there is a Voigtländer UV filter that I generally leave on the camera, along with a yellow filter for black-and-white photography, a rectangular metal lens hood, and the fitted brown camera case. The camera is 5.5" wide by 3.5" tall by 3.5" deep, and weighs 2 pounds, 0.8 ounces without film.

 The Voigtländer Prominent has some weight to it, and for me, it feels very comfortable in my hands. Maybe because it resembles an SLR more, like what most people are used to with rangefinder cameras. The camera has a somewhat peculiar layout and is something you'll need to get used to.

When you put the camera to your eye, the viewfinder is on the right side of the camera, which, for many, is different. The majority of cameras have the viewfinder either centered or more to the left than to the right. The focusing ring isn't on the lens, but located on the rewind knob. As you turn the outside of the rewind knob, generally used to rewind the film in the film cassette when you're done with the roll, on the Voigtländer Prominent, it focuses the lens. 

Looking through the viewfinder, the rangefinder is bright, with the yellowed area in the center clearly visible. With your left hand, turn the outer ring of the rewind knob to focus on your subject. Once the image is in focus, take your photo. Under the focus distance is the camera's depth of field guide for the aperture used. 

To take a photo, on the right-hand side of the camera is the film advance lever; wind it clockwise to advance the film. The same motion that advances the film also moves an internal bar that cocks the shutter. The shutter speed dial on the Syncro-Compur shutter is set by turning a ring just in front of the shutter cocking lever. The shutter speeds on this camera go from 1/500 to 1 sec, with "B" for timed exposures. According to the Voigtländer Prominent camera manual, it's best to set the 1/500 shutter speed before winding the camera, which cocks the shutter. You can set any shutter speed once the camera's shutter is cocked, but 1/500's not recommended.

If you want to use the camera's self-timer, it can be manually set by pulling down on the shutter's cocking lever once the camera is cocked. This sets the camera's self-timer to approximately 10 seconds when the shutter release is depressed. The camera's shutter release is the larger button on the top of the camera, just to the left of the film transport knob. Behind the shutter release is the cable release socket for timed exposures.

Top view of Voigtlander Prominent camera

Looking at the lens, the aperture is set by turning the aperture ring in the direction that produces a properly exposed image. On the Ultron 50mm lens, the aperture goes from F/2.0 to F/16. To remove the lens from the body, on the bottom of the lens is a large button you press in; interestingly, you can remove the lens by turning it left or right. Likewise, to put the lens onto the camera body, make sure the large button is on the bottom. You can mount the lens either to the right or left as long as the button end is on the bottom.

 Since the camera utilizes a leaf-style shutter as opposed to the standard focal plane shutter, the flash will sync at any shutter speed, which allows the photographer the ability to control the ambient light with flash much better, and this makes film cameras such as Hasselblad and Rolleiflex cameras ideal for weddings, portraiture, and commercial studio work. On the front of the camera, at the 11:00 position, is the PC sync for flash, along with the flash settings: "X" for electronic flash or "M" for flash bulbs.

To load film into the Voigtländer Prominent camera, on the left side of the camera are two buttons you press to open the camera's back door. Once open, you load the 35mm film just as you would any other 35mm camera. Push up the rewind shaft, drop in the 35mm cassette, and bring the leader over to the camera's take-up spool. Thread the leader into the take-up spool slot and wind the film advance. Make sure the film's sprocket holes are in the drive gears and take up the slack. Before closing the back of the film door, I like to turn the rewind knob to take up the slack in the film cassette, so when I close the back and wind to the first frame, I watch the rewind knob turn to make sure the film is actually moving within the camera.

 Once you close the back door, the frame counter needs to be set manually. To do this, lift up on the winding knob, then turn the camera's frame counter to "F" to give you a couple of turns on the film advance until you get to frame number 1.

When you're done with the roll of film, you'll need to rewind it into the film cassette. The rewind knob has an arrow pointing outward. Push the button outwards, and the rewind handle will pop up. Just below the cable release socket is a small button labeled "R". Press the "R" button to disengage the transport gear, then turn the rewind knob clockwise to rewind the film into the film cassette. Once the film is rewound, open the camera back, process the film, and reload the camera with more film. 

 

My Results:

 I loaded the Voigtländer Prominent with a roll of 200-speed film and took one of our dogs to the local dog park to get the pooch some exercise, taking photos of a different area than walking through the neighborhood as I usually do.

 Here are some photos from the local dog park and the shadows on my back patio on a beautifully sunny day in the Portland Area in December. It wasn't a typical December day in this area, so I wanted to make the most of it.

Conclusion:

 I really love this camera. The images are incredibly sharp, and this camera gives Leica and Contax a run for their money. It's exceptionally well-built, the lenses are tremendous, and I like the camera's size and weight.

 The system's weakest link is its lack of lenses, and for many, the camera's focus is a drawback. I've read that people don't like having the viewfinder on the right side, which makes it more challenging for them to use the camera. I don't find it annoying, as others do.

 Here's a link to my other Camera Reviews.

 If you're looking for a camera, lens, or other photo oddity, please stop by my eBay store, Cuny's Cameras and Photo. If there's something that interests you, mention my blog, and I'll offer you a discount.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this excellent camera with extremely sharp lenses. If I don't post another review before the end of the year, please have a Happy Holiday and a fabulous New Year.

 Until next time, please be safe.

Welta Penti camera

My Welta Penti camera

The first time I laid my eyes on a Welta Penti camera was almost 45 years ago. I was working as a salesperson at the local camera store in our area, and someone brought in a beautiful gold-colored camera with dark red trim circling the center. I was a bit flabbergasted when I saw it. The customer had just received it from a relative and wanted to know how to use it.

 At the time, I was in my early twenties, and although I had never seen one before, I started to play with it and explained the camera as I tinkered with it. I was learning about the camera at the same time.  The easy part was explaining the items located around the lens, like shutter speed, focus distance, and aperture settings. Still, when I clicked the shutter, and the advance rod came shooting out of the camera, I think I let out a little gasp of surprise as the woman I was explaining the camera to just smiled and said, "That happened to me when I snapped the shutter, but I didn't know what I did".

 It wasn't until I took the back off the camera and noticed that when you pushed the film advancing rod in, it engaged with the film's sprocket holes and pushed the film into the take-up cannister. The rod stayed in the camera body until you snapped the shutter again. Also, with the back off the camera, I did see that the camera took 35mm film, but not the regular 35mm film that the majority of photographers were used to, but the Agfa Rapid style 35mm film. At the time, we did sell a small quantity of Agfa Rapid film. 

The brilliant gold toned Welta Penti camera with advance rod out.

 While I had the camera's back off, I double-checked that the shutter was opening and closing. The aperture was operating correctly, which it was. I explained to the owner of the camera that it was called a Half-Frame camera, meaning it used only half the size of a standard 35mm camera. She would get twice the number of photos from a roll of film. If she purchased a roll of 20 exposures, she would be getting 40, 41, or possibly 42 pictures from the roll. I sold her a roll of film, loaded it into her camera, and sent her on her way. 

 The whole time I was holding this camera, I couldn't help but think, What a beautiful camera. Keep in mind, this was around the same time as I was starting to collect cameras and the ones that impressed me the most were camera with color, like the Kodak Rainbow,  Petites and Beau Brownies camera, so a gold camera with dark red circling the camera just sort of blew my mind and I wanted to know more about them.

 Fast forward 45 years, and at a recent camera collectors fair in Seattle, I purchased two Penti cameras, both in good working condition. I had previously owned a few of the Penti cameras, but sold them off years ago so when I saw them at the camera show, I thought it would be great opportunity to add them to my collection and also to write about them in one of my camera collecting blog posts.

History:

Welta Kamerawerks, a significant yet often overlooked German camera manufacturer, has a history that mirrors the turbulent narrative of the 20th century in its Dresden-area home. Founded in 1914 as Weeka-Kamera-Werk by Walter Waurich and Theodor Weber in Freital, a suburb of Dresden, the company was renamed Welta-Kamerawerk Waurich & Co. in 1919. From its inception, Welta carved out a niche for itself by producing a wide array of high-quality, medium-priced folding plate and roll film cameras, putting it in direct competition with other German contemporaries, such as Balda and Certo.

Welta Kamera Werks

 Before World War II, Welta was known for its solid engineering and innovation. The company produced a range of popular models. Still, it was cameras like the high-end Weltur series that cemented its reputation. Introduced in 1935, the Weltur was a sophisticated folding camera featuring a coupled rangefinder. This design element positioned it in direct competition with premium brands. Welta also ventured into more ambitious designs, creating the unique folding Twin-Lens Reflex (TLR) cameras, the Perfekta (6x6) and Superfekta (6x9). Though not commercial successes, these models are now highly prized by collectors for their fascinating design and mechanical complexity. Many of their cameras were offered with high-quality lenses from renowned makers like Carl Zeiss and Schneider-Kreuznach, appealing to serious photographers.

 The aftermath of World War II dramatically altered the company's trajectory. Located in what would become East Germany, the Welta factory was dismantled and its equipment sent to the Soviet Union as part of war reparations. However, production managed to restart by 1947 under the new state-controlled entity, VEB Welta-Kamera-Werk. The company continued to produce successful pre-war designs, such as the Welti 35mm folder. It absorbed other nationalized firms, including the Richter company in 1950, which led to the development of the successful Reflekta TLR series.

 Despite its resilience, the era of consolidation in the East German photographic industry marked the end of Welta's independence. In 1959, VEB Welta was merged with several other Dresden-based camera makers, including Belca and Altissa, to form the massive conglomerate VEB Kamera- und Kinowerke Dresden, which would later become the famous Pentacon. Following this merger, the Welta name, which had defined quality German cameras for over four decades, gradually disappeared from the market, marking the end of a significant chapter in photographic history.

My dark red and turquoise Welti Penti cameras

 The Welta Penti was introduced in 1959 and produced until 1977 with a few modifications. In 1961, the Penti I and Penti II were introduced. The Penti I had a broader front viewfinder area and small knobs on the lens to control the different lens functions, like aperture and shutter speeds, and the Penti II was similar to the Penti I but incorporated a selenium cell light meter. 

 All Penti cameras are 35mm, half-frame cameras that take an 18x24mm image in a vertical format. The Penti and Penti I cameras have a Meyer-Optik Tripolan 30mm f/3.5 lens. The Penti II has a Domiplan 30mm f/3.5 lens.

 The 28mm to 30mm is considered a standard lens for the half-frame style cameras. The Welta Penti cameras came in different colors; all had a brilliant gold-toned camera body, but the band around the camera came in black, dark blue, turquoise, dark red, or white.

My Camera:

My Welta Penti is a small and compact camera, making it another fantastic option to keep in your pocket or jacket, ready to take photos. The camera measures 4.25" wide by 2.75" tall and is only 1.5" deep, weighing 8 oz. A metal lens hood and case are available for the camera, but unfortunately, my camera does not have either one.

Around the lens, and closest to the camera body, is a ring that controls the shutter speeds, which range from 1/125 to 1/30, and a square that represents timed exposures. Inside the shutter speed control is the lens's focusing ring, which focuses down to 1m. Inside the focusing ring are the lens's aperture settings, which go from F/3.5 to F/22. On the Penti camera, these are awkward to move. Now that I've shot with the camera, I understand why they added the small knobs to the updated Penti I and II model cameras. These are the only settings on the camera, except for the frame counter, which is reset to zero using a wheel located inside the camera.

To remove the back to load the film, there are two grips molded into the back of the camera that you grab and pull the back away from the camera body. The back is held in place with two spring clips that engage with the molded grips to secure it to the camera body.

 Once you have the back off the camera's body, you see the two Agfa-style film cassettes, along with a silver pressure plate that swings down when loading the film and a sliding bar that holds the take-up cassette in place. The nice thing about these film cassettes is that nothing is holding the film inside: no tape or clip is used. The film is loose inside the cassette and has just been wound onto a spool.

To load the Agfa style cassettes, insert 35mm film. Luckily for me, I just purchased a 100' roll of B&W film, which I just loaded into my bulk film loader, so I have plenty of film. Just remember, you don't need a lot of film because you're getting twice as many photos on the roll. 

 Here is the procedure I used to load the cassettes. I removed the film cassettes from the camera and, along with my bulk film loader, placed them in a dark bag. I cut off a piece of film, approximately 2-3 feet long, from my bulk loader and slid the end of the film into one of the cassettes, ensuring the film's emulsion faced down, just like any 35mm film. Once I pushed the film into the film cassette, I removed it from the dark bag and trimmed the exposed film's corners.

I placed the cassette with the film inside on the left side of the camera's body, pulled down the pressure plate, and gently slid the trimmed end of the film into the take-up spool on the right-hand side. I snapped the shutter, and the film advancing rod popped out of the camera's body. The film is transported from the film cassette to the take-up cassette by a piece of metal with two prongs that push the film into the take-up cassette when the film advancing rod is slid into the camera's body. 

 When you take the photo, the pronged metal piece disengages from the film's sprockets. It moves to the left, so when you push the rod in, the pronged piece of metal grabs the film's sprockets and pushes the film from the cassette on the left to the take-up spool on the right. At this point, flip up the pressure plate, and immediately to the left of the viewfinder is a thumb wheel that allows you to zero out the frame counter, indicating the number of photos you've taken. Pop the film back onto the camera body, ensuring it's positioned correctly, and then start taking pictures.

The problem in my circumstance was that, since I didn't know how long the film I cut was, I didn't know how many photos I'd get on the unknown length of film I cut in the dark bag. The good or not-so-good news is that, with these cassettes, you don't know when you reach the end of the roll because you're transitioning from one cassette to another. There's no rewinding the film into the cassette. When you're done with the roll, the pronged metal piece has no more film to push into the take-up cassette, and a film tail (the end of the film) protrudes from the take-up spool.

 

My Results:

Now that I had film loaded in the camera and my trusty Sekonic L-308 meter with me, I took general meter readings. I then took our dog for a walk through the neighborhood. I snapped a few photos, both vertically and by turning the camera to get a few horizontal images. Here are the results from my walk with Ernie.

Conclusion:

What a fun camera to shoot with. It's small, compact, and fits easily into my pocket. The film advance rod popped out as it should, the viewfinder framed the images well, and there were no snags on transporting the film from one cassette to the other, which is what I was most worried about when using it.

 The few minor drawbacks I have with the camera are that, with my larger hands, the settings were a bit clumsy, but not too difficult to use once I got accustomed to their location. Additionally, I was unsure of how many images I had taken on the film, so I had to insert the film cassette. Out of the approximately 2 feet of film I put in the film cassette, I received 22 good images on the negatives, two of which were partial frames.

I also seem to have a slight light leak coming from either the bottom of the camera, as there’s a consistent bright area on my photos, which I’ll need to investigate. The images also look to have an “infrared” glow to them, which I liked.

 To read about any of the other cameras reviewed, click the link.

 I also sell cameras, lenses, and other odd camera items on my eBay store, Cuny's Camera and Photo. Stop by and go shopping.

 Thank you for taking the time to read about this fantastic little camera. I'd love to hear from you, so please email me with any comments or concerns you have about any of my reviews.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Futura-S Camera

My Futura-S camera.

As a camera collector for over 50 years, I was unaware of the Futura cameras for almost 45 years. It wasn't until a friend and fellow collector mentioned the Futura camera that it stuck in the back of my mind, as I haven't come across one in all these years of collecting.

 After hearing about the Futura cameras, I did some research and had many questions: How well were they built? How many lenses were available? How many different models did they offer? What lens mount did the camera offer? So I pulled out my trusty camera bible, McKeown's camera guide, and started to learn about the little-known (to me) brand of Futura cameras.

Futura Logo on the camera

Having purchased my Futura-S camera in a "lot" of cameras purchased, and it wasn't until I received the box of cameras that I noticed one of the cameras was the Futura-S. The only thing in the photo of the camera "lot" was the back of the brown case. The top of the case was missing, so I figured it was some random or very common camera that I've owned in the past, but when I took the camera out of the case, the Futura was in surprisingly good condition and seemed to be working, too.

 Picking up the camera, I set the shutter speeds to higher speeds to see if the shutter fired, and it did. The transport moved and cocked the shutter. The lens looked clean, and then I tried some of the slower speeds on the camera. That's where I ran into some difficulty. The slower speeds locked up the shutter, and it wasn't until I reset the shutter speeds to a higher speed that the shutter closed, and I was able to cock the shutter again.

 One of my first thoughts was I wanted to run some film through the camera to see how it handled it. Then, I felt compelled to write about my experience with the camera and how it was handled, knowing I couldn't use any shutter speed lower than 1/50 in my testing experience.

History:

Fritz Kuhnert founded Optische Anstalt in Freiburg, Germany in 1942. The company initially manufactured optical equipment for the German military during World War II. The factory was bombed and destroyed during the war. In 1946, Fritz rebuilt the company in Gundelfingen, a nearby town, and concentrated his efforts on producing consumer cameras due to the growing photography market.

 1947, the company introduced its first camera at Photokina, the Efka 24. It was a simple scale-focus camera that used 35mm film to produce 24x24mm images. The name "Efka" was derived from the phonetic spelling of Kuhnert's initials, "FK." In 1950, the company introduced the Futura, a more advanced 35mm rangefinder camera with interchangeable lenses and a proprietary screw mount. The lenses were named after Kuhnert's family members: Elor (his wife Elenore), Evar (his daughter Eva), and Petar (his son Peter). 

 In 1951, due to financial difficulties, Kuhnert sold the company Hamburg ship-line owners Ernst and Eduard Komorowski, who renamed it Futura Kamerawerk GmbH. Under their ownership, the company produced four different 35mm rangefinder cameras, including the Futura S, which was introduced in 1952. This model featured a Synchro-Compur shutter and maintained its predecessor's distinctive design and lens mount. They also produced two of the fastest standard 50mm and portrait 70mm lenses of the time with a maximum aperture of F1.5, named Futura Frilon.

 Futura Kamerawerk struggled to compete with established German brands like Leica and the emerging Japanese camera industry despite producing high-quality cameras. The company ceased operations in 1957 and closed the factory in 1958. Today, Futura cameras are valued by collectors for their unique design and historical significance.

My Camera:

My Futura-S is 5" wide by 3" tall by 2.5" deep with my Futura Elor 50mm f2.8 lens. Without the fitted leather case, my camera weighs 1 lb. 9.4 oz. The Futura-S is a very well-made camera but a bit heavy due to its solid cast metal body. I prefer heavier cameras because they fit my hands better. Cameras like the Nikon F body, the Robot Royal, and now the Futura cameras feel comfortable.

The "S" in the Futura line stands for Syncro-Compur, or the shutter system used on this camera. All of the exposure controls are located around or on the lens. The shutter speed dial is located on the outside of the lens area and is moved by two knobs on opposite ends of the dial. The shutter speeds go from 1/500 to 1 sec. along with "B". Also, on the bottom of the shutter speed ring is "Futura Freiburg."

 The focus is controlled by the ring just inside the shutter speed control. This ring has a larger knob sticking out to change the focus as needed to create a sharp focus. The aperture ring is on the lens barrel itself. The aperture range is f/2.8 to f/22. There is an even larger knob located on the outside of the shutter speed ring, which sets the flash sync for "X," electronic flash, or "M," bulb flash.

To remove the lens, you unthread it from the body. The lens has a proprietary thread mount of 33.8mm, so it's not your usual Leica or Pentax thread mount system. I must say, the lens has a very fluid and lean look to it. On the back of the camera is the rangefinder viewing eyepiece. The rangefinder on my camera is exceptionally bright and accurate. We'll see when I test the camera with film in it.

On top of the camera going from left to right, is the rewind knob, which has an arrow on top to show the direction to turn to rewind the film into the cassette. Next is a cold shoe used for a mounted meter or flash attachment.  Behind the cold shoe is a pointer switch, which you can point to either  SW, 'Schwartz/Weiss' (Black & White); C, 'Color'; CN, 'Color Negative.', which is a reminder to the photographer to the film in the camera. Thank you, David Babsky and Mike Eckman, for this information. 

 Next to the cold shoe is a lever which on my camera is a non working on my camera self-timer. Above that and slightly to the right is an additive frame counter. Twist the dial to "0" when you load the film, and the frame counter increases. Just below the frame counter is the cable release threaded shutter release. An interesting item about the shutter release is you can "lock" it down for longer exposures by turning it to the right after depressing it, which locks it in the open position until you turn it to the left to release it. 

Having the locking shutter release is good if you don't have a cable release, but the bad thing is you're still moving the camera a bit during exposure, which might create blur in the image. On the far right is the film advance knob. This turns counterclockwise to advance the film.

 Four nubs on the bottom of the camera lift it and give it stability when placed on a flat surface. Also, there are two knurled buttons, one on the left, to release the drive gear and allow the film to be rewound into the film cassette. The larger one in the center of the camera opens the back of the camera to load film. Slide the larger button toward the arrow pointing to "O," and the back will come off by pulling it down.

Once the back is off the camera, the take-up spool comes out for more effortless film loading. The camera's serial number is imprinted on the metal plate under the frame window. My serial number is S11244. When you put the back onto the camera and slide it up, it automatically locks onto the camera.

 My Results:

Now that I have put a roll of T-Max 400, 24-exposure film into the camera, which I purchased out of date a few months back, I want to walk around the neighborhood to take photos. Unfortunately, my wife was taking a nap, so I needed to keep my eye on our two dogs, who have a tendency to bark when out of sight. So, I just stayed mainly in my backyard to take the photos.

 I have to say the camera was extremely fun to shoot with, but the one thing that kept bugging me was the camera advance knob. I'm just not used to turning the knob counterclockwise to advance the film. It's not that big of a deal, but I kept turning it clockwise for the first few frames to advance the frame. Once I had it in my head that the winding knob was "backward," it went smoothly, and the camera did a fantastic job. 

 Here are a few of the frames from my backyard.

Conclusion:

I don't know how I didn't know about the Futura-S for so many years. It's a fantastic German rangefinder camera with excellent optics. While my camera could use a complete CLA to bring it up to excellent condition, I have to say that for its condition, it did great.

 I can see why this is a desirable camera, especially for the discounted price from top brands like Leica or Alpa. The camera is compact and easy to use, and the rangefinder produces fantastic results.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this underappreciated German rangefinder built in the 1950s.

 I'd love to hear from you if you have any questions or comments about this camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.