Users Comments: 75mm Color Heliar

Rob-F

Rob-F

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I have not seen many comments about the 75mm Color Heliar. The few I have seen range from lukewarm to "good for the money" but I don't see anyone hopping up and down over it. I notice it didn't rate too high in the "sharpest VC lens" thread. As the satisfied user of a 75mm pre-ASPH Summilux, I'd like a second 75 for travel. Before I plunk down for a 75 Summarit, I like to know how good the Color Heliar is.

What have you to report?
 
I like mine very much but then I'm just a lucky amateur, not a professional. I don't use it a lot but find it a nice focal length. I do a lot of family and kid pictures and it makes lovely prints. The build quality is not up to Leica standards but it seems quite good to me. Joe
 
I'm not a sharpness nut, nor am I particularly picky about lenses, but when I bought a 75mm Color Heliar a few years back, I was truly disappointed. I realize that I might have gotten a bad sample, but images from the Color Heliar sample that I owned were just plain soft.

Now, coming back into the RF world after a brief absence, when the time came to get a 75mm that would give me good value for my money, I bought a Summarit-M. And have absolutely no regrets.
 
I have the CV 75 and just love it.

I have the CV 75 and just love it.

It's size is just right and I can't complain about sharpness at all. I have been very satisfied with it. I use the hood with it always, BTW. For the price you can't go wrong.
 
I've got one, use it a good bit, it's a great lens but unfortunately it gets compared to the Leica alot . A Leica it is not but I dare you to tell the difference in handheld shooting. It's a good bit smaller than the Summilux 75 so that alone would make travelling easier.

it makes great pics:

swim.jpg


morgan_tri-x_800.jpg


VC_75_ty_tay_.jpg


Todd
 
I'm happy with the 75 Heliar; it's very compact compared to the other 75s, light, and as new-old-stock mine was pretty inexpensive too. I like the focal length, but mostly shoot wider than 50 even, so the 75 is seldom used. Sometimes I'm tempted by the 75 Summicron but the cost would be really hard to justify for so little use even if the image quality is drool-worthy. 🙂
 
I bought mine used for around $250.00 from memory ... fanatstic value for such a capable lens and nice and compact!

TheBox_10.jpg
 
I recently purchased a used one from Cameraquest (thanks for the overnight shipping, I used the lens a lot in AK!!!). I simply love it, though I don't jump up and down due to the 1m minimal focus distance. The size is not too bad and I now like the 75mm focal length better than 90mm. It is fast enough for most shooting and even if it was faster, the DOF would be too narrow for portrait shots (my opinion).

Reid reviews (http://www.reidreviews.com/reidreviews/) gives an excellent review of the product. Yes, it is not a Leica, but it is an excellent lens.

2657449558_e5b4981f80_d.jpg

(sorry for the bad scan, I no longer have my film scanner)
 
I owned a 2,5/75, sold it when needing money and bought another one some weeks ago. It seems, I like it because it's good when used wide open, it's compact and well finished.
Some pics on my flickr (eg girls with icecream, man with orange)
 
I think that considering the size of the lens it has good speed at f2.5 ... I've used mine in pretty lowlight with 400 pushed to 1600 which gives it a lot more versatility. I agree about the 75mm focal length being ideal ... sometimes when you want to step up from a 50mm, 90mm is too long and once you've used a 75mm regularly 90mm will stay in the bag often as not. I sold my 90mm APO Lanthar as soon I realised this!
 
Keith said:
I think that considering the size of the lens it has good speed at f2.5 ... I've used mine in pretty lowlight with 400 pushed to 1600 which gives it a lot more versatility. I agree about the 75mm focal length being ideal ... sometimes when you want to step up from a 50mm, 90mm is too long and once you've used a 75mm regularly 90mm will stay in the bag often as not. I sold my 90mm APO Lanthar as soon I realised this!
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That is an interesting observation. I use 50mm a lot and sometimes wanted a narrower FOV but 90mm never did it for me (I have bought and sold 3 90mm lenses ... :bang🙂. Maybe I should give the 75mm a try some day ... 😉
 
maddoc said:
That is an interesting observation. I use 50mm a lot and sometimes wanted a narrower FOV but 90mm never did it for me (I have bought and sold 3 90mm lenses ... :bang🙂. Maybe I should give the 75mm a try some day ... 😉
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It's funny ... 90mm seems to be one of those lenses you tell yourself you should own and use but never do! 😛

I have two in the cupboard which haven't seen daylight in a year now ... an f2 Summicron and a Tele Elmarit. I used the Summicron a couple of times and thought ... "Wow that's nice, I should use that more!" Never have though ... but I really like my 85mm Zuiko on my OM's and use it quite a lot! 😕
 
Mine had a nice look to it, but front-focused on my M8 (an oddball in a field of back-focusers), so got rid of it after a good while gathering dust. Person who owns it now is happy with it.
 
Keith said:
It's funny ... 90mm seems to be one of those lenses you tell yourself you should own and use but never do! 😛

I have two in the cupboard which haven't seen daylight in a year now ... an f2 Summicron and a Tele Elmarit. I used the Summicron a couple of times and thought ... "Wow that's nice, I should use that more!" Never have though ... but I really like my 85mm Zuiko on my OM's and use it quite a lot! 😕
Click to expand...

My all-time favorite lens was the Nikor 105/2.5 Ais in the "old" film days 😛 But now I can't even imagine using such a "long" tele-lens ... 🙁

There are four 75mm lenses in m-mount out there, the three Leicas (1.4 2.0 and 2.5) and the CV 75/2.5 ... The 75/1.4 is a dream lens and heavy beast, but how does the 75 / 2.0 compare to the CV 75 / 2.5 ?
 
75/2 vs CV 75/2.5? if preserving detail was really important at large print sizes (>8x10), i'd think about the summicron. it is fearsome sharp across the frame at any aperture. but otherwise, i'd keep my shekels and buy the heliar at about 1/10 the cost. it's so compact, a pleasure to use. look what todd, jon, keith, and pavel can do with it ... 🙂

for everyday use and travel, the CV's a great piece of gear.
 
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