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.

The Prominent 6×9 was introduced in 1932 as the top-of-the-line folding rollfilm camera from Voigtländer, which also sold similar models with fewer features as the Bessa, Virtus, Perkeo, and Inos.

[2] The base-board opens when a button is depressed, and the spring-loaded lens carrier advances to the correct position, making the camera ready for exposure.

[3]: 4  It is equipped with a fixed Heliar anastigmat 105 mm f/4.5 lens, developed contemporaneously with and similar to the Carl Zeiss Tessar, and one of two supplemental Focar close-up lenses can be added for portraits or macro photography.

[3]: 12–13 Records indicate that approximately 10,000 Prominent 6×9 cameras were made from 1932 to 1935, including 5 prototypes with a faster "Turbo" shutter with a top speed of 1⁄400 sec.