Just picked up a Heliar Classic 50mm/f2...

mr_phillip said:
I was comparing it with the 50mm/f1.5 Nokton. The Helair Classic supplanted my 50mm Nokton to such an extent that I recently sold it - I'd stopped using it altogether. The Nokton was a lovely lens, but the Heliar's better in every regard bar the maximum aperture.
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And you say the Heliar is actually sharper than the Nokton? Sorry for being dense, but it seemed like all the reports I was reading about the Heliar indicated that it was a nice lens, especially WRT boken, but that it wasn't especially sharp. So I was getting the impression that the Nokton still might be a tad bit sharper....

What aperture range do you tend to use? How did the two seem to compare at F2?
 
goo0h said:
And you say the Heliar is actually sharper than the Nokton? Sorry for being dense, but it seemed like all the reports I was reading about the Heliar indicated that it was a nice lens, especially WRT boken, but that it wasn't especially sharp. So I was getting the impression that the Nokton still might be a tad bit sharper....

What aperture range do you tend to use? How did the two seem to compare at F2?
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The Heliar is a very sharp lens. In his Pop Photo November 2006 column, Herbert Keppler is rather eulogistic: "The Heliar turned out to be incredibly good, comparable at all apertures to the 50mm f/2 Leica Summicron-M we'd tested in 1996."

In its January 2007 column, Mr. Keppler compares the Classic Heliar with the Zeiss Ikon Planar 50mm f/2 and the Summicron 50mm f/2. The Summicron is a tad better than the 2 other ones, but these 3 lenses definitely play in the same league.

Cheers,

Abbazz
 
Thanks for being patient with my questions and providing info. I also revisited mr_phillip's pictures, and in the end decided: "what the hey!" So now I've got both this lens and the 75/2.5 on order. 😀
 
Hello,

I'm new here...first post, actually, but I've been lurking. I've been wondering about this lens, and it's nice to hear such good things. I've been trying to decide between the Heliar and one of the numerous $499 "BGN" Summicrons at KEH. Is the Heliar just as good?

Thanks,
Paul
 
Here is a couple shots I took with the Heliar lens. It does not have half stops past f8 though. It is a very sharp lens and I like using it besides thats all that matters.
 

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The last I checked, Photo Village had lowered the price to $399. I'm a bit peeved since I paid $550. It's a sweet lens though and worth every penny.
 
goo0h said:
Wow, what a beauty this little lens is. The one I bought from Stephen just arrived today. 🙂
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Amos, I am sure you'll love this lens even more when you see the results.

I don't know why people are not more enthusiastic about this lens. Maybe it is because it is a "Limited Edition" normally sold only as a kit with the R2M/R3M. That's a shame, because it has superb resolution, nice bokeh, great color rendition and the best built quality of the whole Cosina/Voiglander range (comparable to the lenses built for Zeiss). Being collapsible makes it a perfect pocketable lens for everyday use.

Cheers,

Abbazz
 
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BigSteveG said:
The last I checked, Photo Village had lowered the price to $399. I'm a bit peeved since I paid $550. It's a sweet lens though and worth every penny.
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Yup, that's ($399) what I paid Stephen for it. He's now got it on sale too. In fact there's currently a free shipping deal if you indicate your RFF ID.

Even the lens hood is impressive. Looks to be wonderfully made.

I was worried at first if it might be difficult for me to handle because I've got large hands. However, it's certainly no worse than the 40mm/1.4, and perhaps even slightly easier to handle.
 
Just found one. Looking forward to using it on my NEX.

It´s a bit odd that the only Voigtlander 50mm lens left is the "cyclops" 50/1.1. And no, I dont count the ZMs as "Voigtländer".
 
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Heliar 50mm f2.0 Nickel plated version. "Tokyo Sea" (a kind of "wet" Disneyworld outside Tokyo.
Neopan 400, HC 110 1:60 for 12 min.
 
I guess I'm missing something the only one I see is the Nickle version for $799. on CQ. And, Photo Village doesn't answer the phone nor is the web site running?
 
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