Item in age-appropriate condition. Works - with marks, see photos. Shutter and exposure not tested with film. With original bag. Prominent refers to two distinct lines of rangefinder cameras made by Voigtländer. 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. It was in 1952 the first range finder camera with leaf shutter and interchangeable lenses. The Prominent offered expert picture quality, and was much cheaper than its counterparts, the Leica and the Contax. The camera never became very popular, it just gave users not the same feeling. Maybe now is the time to change that wrongful idea. The Voigtlander is an astonishing but stubborn design which is reflected by its “all is different” approach. Heavy, yes. Almost 1 kg shining metal. Small, yes, round and rectangular at the same time. The rangefinder window differs from the viewfinder. Odd, but also charming. Two big knobs gueard the top of the camera, perfectly aligned at the corners. One to focus with the rangefinder, but it is the far left knob. Only the knob on the right does what it is suppose to do: winding the film. With two long turns. Underneath is the frame counter. The rangefinder is coupled but gives you also the distances so you can do zone focussing as well. By the way, focussing is not done by rotating the lens, but moving the lens elements, due by a sturdy spring in the lens! Be carefully if you want to dissemble the lens for cleaning, the spring has a lot of tension. On the top plate of the right knob you can of course also rewind the common 135 film.