the unofficial Cosina-Voigtlander User Community

It's a new year and time for a another interview with a Voigtlander distributor. This time the subject is Scott Vanthoff. Who's Scott Vanthoff? Why, he's the son of John Vanthoff of course! Who's John Vanthoff? Almost four decades ago he founded Mainline Photographics, which is currently run by Scott and is Australia and New Zealand's only distributor of Cosina-Voigtlander products. They also deal with everything else in the film photography spectrum, from small format to large. Scott's also a heck of a nice guy with a good sense of humor...and a dog named Rufus, too.

Q: Can you give us a little bit of your history as a retailer?

A: Mainline Photographics was started 37 years ago by my father John Vanthoff. It is still a family business which has undergone several changes in direction over the years.
Originally started as a general photographic retail store, then an importer, & distributor. Then on to being a specialist Leica store ( which came about as John was Marketing manager for Leitz Australia)  we arrived finally to our current incantation of being both an importer and direct seller this allows us to compete on the international market place as we are only rather small 3.5 staff, oh and a dog Rufus who sleeps most of the time!
Recently our focus has become more direct mail orientated and now over 80% of our business is mail order.
We also have a handful of selected retailers who we wholesale our products to.

Q: How long have you been a distributor of Cosina-Voigtlander products?

A: Just on three years now.

Q: What made you want to become a distributor of Voigtlander cameras, lenses, and accessories?

A: We saw the product was with the Leica agent here and they were not doing much to promote it so we approached them to take it over and the rest is kind of history. We lowered the prices and offered our Extended 2 year warranty on Voigtlander started promoting it and we now cover both Australia and New Zealand. It is a decision we are very happy with.

Q: Are you a photographer or photographic items collector as a hobby? If so, where do your interests lie (i.e. landscapes, pre-war Leicas, etc…)?

A: I love travel photography and always can be found with some form of rangefinder in my bag. I currently am using the 21mm and 35mm Voigtlander lenses on a Bessa R4m. I have used all the lenses in the Voigtlander range and have to admit that my Leica lenses don’t often see the light of day anymore.

Q: In the time that you have been in the “photography business”, how have you seen the perceptions and use of rangefinder type cameras change in your region?

A: In the wilderness days when it was just Leica new competing with Leica second hand there were times when we thought that the big L had produced it’s last model M. Then just as digital looked sure to give another kick to Leica M along comes Voigtlander straight out of the left field and gives the market just what it needed (and everyone has been telling Leica for years!) An entry level range of M mount lenses and bodies. Now rangefinders are selling quite well again.

Q: How would you characterize the current state of traditional photography in your region?

A: A small but dedicated group is still shooting film and this group seems to be  stable or even slowly growing.  The issue we have here is that digitalk really forced a lot of Mom & Pop mini labs to close and stores to change focus and film has been left out in the cold. Plenty of people want to use it but don’t have access to processing or the film anymore.
Film is like vinyl records etc… there is always going to be a group who are passionate about it. It will just be a niche market in the Photo trade.

Q: How do you see the digital and traditional photographic mediums co-evolving in the future?

A: I think that while digital will become the standard of the future ,film has quite a long life left yet and with digital scanning and printing it gives the film user more options. One pro lab here is now offering to turn digital files into negatives!
In fact Kodak is selling more film now than a few years ago as the Movie studios have grown tired of the ease which digital mediums can be pirated and have returned to film. One thing that we are seeing happen is folks are becoming fed up with sitting in front of the computer, and seeking out other experiences. Our large format sales are being driven by the hobbyist who wants to get outdoors with a simple manual camera.
Also I see that the digital vs film debate that went on has died to a dull roar. I don’t take sides as digital is a great way to photograph but for a lot of us film is also both types of photography are valid.

Q: How are you involved in the traditional photographic community in your region?

A: One of the things we do for our customers is help promote them. From the keen amateur to professionals they really appreciate this. We offer all of them exposure on our website gallery and blog.
Our office and showroom walls are covered with our customers photos as I feel they are what our business is about rather than marketing hype.
We are involved with the local camera clubs and the Photo Marketing Association.

Q: How are you involved in the traditional photographic community-at-large?

A: In general we try to support our local niche market of film users from Large format to 35mm rangefinders with product and advice and extended warranty plans at prices competitive to the big mail order houses.

Q: If you could ask Cosina to produce one product under the Voigtlander badge, what would it be?

A: Ha! I knew this question would be somewhere here…… Whilst I know a digital body would be nice, I personally would like to see them concentrate on honing the whole Voigtlander range and bringing to photographers the best possible value rangefinder system around. I think Voigtlander like the Phoenix has risen from the flames to fly again and will be around for quite a while, it even has attracted its group of keen collectors. Cosina and its team have done a great job!

For more information on Mainline Photographics and it's products you can visit them online at http://www.mainlinephoto.com.au/ or email them at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .