New 50 3.5 Heliar nickel any interest or comments?

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Fenwick

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Was considering the new 50mm 3.5 nickel heliar
Does any one have any comments on this lens
It does seem a little pricey
 
How about - I want one desperately but will never have enough money to spend that foolishly?

William
 
Define foolish for yourself & only then ask that question. It differs for everyone. I can not justify it but you might be able to.

Shrug.

William
 
Ditto. I have the original LTM version & the Nikon RF (S mount) version & it's obviously a very good lens. Only downsides IMHO are the less than optimal ergonomics (& loose aperture ring) on the LTM version, which appear to have been retained in the new nickel finish version.

Benjamin Marks said:
What Joe said. I have one of the Nikon-S ones, VERY sharp. Then again, at f:4 it ought to be.

Ben Marks
Click to expand...
 
I have one of the new nickel ones. Yep, she's plenty sharp but it's a lens that takes some getting use to. Like changing the aperture by turning the lens hood and remembering to disengage the infinity lock. But it's small and light and did I mention it, sharp.
 
Picked up one as well.

Its sharp, small/light & slow. So for normal light situations, traveling light, its a great lens, assuming you don't mind collapsing and uncollapsing it..... ;) However, that's what I find kind of neat, since it stores away so compactly.

Takes a bit getting used to the aperture location.

IR cut filters from B&W (as well as uv) have threads that are a bit long, causing a bit of inconvenience :(.

For the uv filter, might be better to get the CV one, if you use filters on your lenses.

Merry Christmas
Rob
 
Would love to see some samples on film from the new lens.

I´m tempted by the new 50/2 Heliar as well but I fear its out of my budget currently... :(
 
Fujitsu said:
Would love to see some samples on film from the new lens.

I´m tempted by the new 50/2 Heliar as well but I fear its out of my budget currently... :(
Click to expand...

So far I like the 50mm f/3.5 much more. I previously owned the 50mm f/2 and wasn't satisfied with the sharpness.
 
There are some samples of the Nickel 50mm f3.5 on the Flickr site "Voigtlander Heliar 50mm f3.5". Some are with the Nickel and some with the version from the R3M 250 year anniversary camera. There is no difference between the performance from the earlier version than the later Nickel (or the SC version for that matter). I have to admit that the Nickel version is better looking though.
 
I own the original Heliar 5cm 2.0and 3.5 lenses, and I like to use both of them. The 2.0 Heliar is a beautiful lens for use wide open with people. Both lenses did very well in the last 50mm lens comparison project.
 
I have been very tempted by this lens. Mechanically, it looks really lovely, and I'm impressed with the sharpness of the photos I have seen made with it. Some component of the pricing is related to CV's intent that the nickel lens, like the 101st anniversary Heliar, is a limited edition "collectible." Collector value holds no interest for me, but I recognize that this pricing justifies a small run of an otherwise interesting lens they don't expect to sell a lot of.

So instead I picked up a collapsible Elmar for a pittance - it has some haze and is admirably sharp in spite of it. It looks great on my IIIf, which becomes a coat pocket camera with the lens collapsed into the body. Compared to the fiddly little aperture tab on the front of the Elmar, the aperture ring on the Heliar looks like a breeze to use. The aperture tab works with the infinity lock to turn the IIIf into a daylight point-and-shoot: drop in a roll of film, set the shutter speed once, set the aperture once to f16, lock on infinity and shoot all day long with everything from 15' to infinity in focus. Piece of cake.
 
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Priced too high for me too.

As an owner of the f/2 Heliar, I don't see a point in buying the nickel version of that lens either.
 
I had the Classic Heliar 50mm f/2(I loved it), which I sold after pre-ordering the 50mm f/3.5. It was a lens I have wanted, but couldn't find an original. So I bought the re-issue. Despite the price, I have not been disappointed. I like the fact that it is usable an all my Leicas(IIICx2, M3, and M8). If I need a faster lens I can chose between my 50 Col. Crons(LTM and M mounts).
When shooting film, I have never been a 50mm person, the M8 opened up that FL for me. Now with the CV 3.5, I am using it on everything it fits.
Although supposedly a collectible, I am a user.
 
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