New Classic Collection Nickel 50/3.5 and 50/2 Heliars

[raid]

I have the non-Nickel version of the two Heliar 50mm lenses. I like them both.
The "problem" is that there are many excellent 50mm lenses available.

 

[kshapero]

I have the non-Nickel version of the two Heliar 50mm lenses. I like them both.
The "problem" is that there are many excellent 50mm lenses available.

Yes and I'd like to have them all. LOL.😀

 

[Archiver]

I totally agree about the unique rendering, and about the situations in which the Heliar 3.5 will display its characteristics. I have to be shooting at close range in daylight or near a window to take advantage of how it renders. Indoors it makes the M9 jump to ISO 1600 or worse. Otherwise it is too slow and I ought to be using a faster 50. But the rendering is lovely and very organic, even on digital sensors like the M9 and GXR.

 

[philosomatographer]

For the connoisseur of out of focus rendering, the Heliar 50/3.5 remains completely unsurpassed in my opinion, even with the harshest of out-of-focus highlights:

(Leica M3, Heliar 50/3.5, Kodak TMY400-2)​

 

[Chrisrw]

I am due to get mine in the mail Monday afternoon. These pics are getting me real excited. The only problem is that now I also want the 50/2 🙂

 

[philosomatographer]

My two Nickel Heliars. Great lenses and they look good too. Performance is top notch

Tom, does the f/2.0 version have any of the magic of the 3.5? Or do you feel the Heliar design was over-stretched to f/2.0? The f/3.5 has the most incredibly "solid", composed rendering - optically perfect, but with a tonal smoothness usually found in softer lenses.

How do you feel about the f/2.0 version?

 

[larmarv916]

Tom....I did not know there was a BLACK F2 Heliar...as on Camera Quest site there is no mention that there is one ?? Would be nice to know, and ask Steven about that possibility.

The f2 is collapsible - just as the m-mount one. We talked about this in Japan last March and Mr Kobayashi likes collapsibles. I had suggested that he make it as a rigid - but it would involve a redesign of the whole mount and subsequent higher price.
With my black one, I just leave it out and if I get one of Nickel ones - it would be left out too. I have the negfiles to prove that you can forget to pull it out and you get lot's of "bokeh" and not much else.

 

[jsrockit]

There are black and chrome heliars that came with a body:

http://dacnard.wordpress.com/2011/0...-classic-50mm-f2-250-jahre-edition-1756-2006/

 

[philosomatographer]

Grand Central

(Heliar 50mm f/3.5 wide open, Leica M3, Kodak TMY400-2)​

 

[rjschell]

Lens cap for the 50/3.5 without hood.
The top of a Tri-x film cannister works pretty well.

 

[jarski]

Lens cap for the 50/3.5 without hood.
The top of a Tri-x film cannister works pretty well.

am still using my lens. correct size cap was easy find from wonderland of eBay. I think it was for small video camera or such.

 

[rjschell]

P.S. If you want to be snobby about it, you can slip a Leica lens cap over the Tri-X cannister top.

 

[kshapero]

I have the original CV Heliar Classic 50/2. Love it.

 

[Out to Lunch]

My CV Heliar Classic 50/2 came with the R3M body. I am using it a lot...both on 35mm rangefinders and on my Epsons. It gives a bit of a 'classic' black and white feel.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 Heliar Classic VM lens, Sony A7II
Yokohama, Japan - April 2018

 

[Erik van Straten]

Grand Central

(Heliar 50mm f/3.5 wide open, Leica M3, Kodak TMY400-2)​

I do not want to spoil the party, but this picture shows a lot of distortion.

A lens with distortion that is sharp I can get anywhere.

Erik.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Voigtlander 50mm f2.0 Heliar Classic VM lens, Sony A7II
Yokohama, Japan - April 2018

Just a few more.

 

[CameraQuest]

I do not want to spoil the party, but this picture shows a lot of distortion.

A lens with distortion that is sharp I can get anywhere.

Erik.

where is the distortion?

if the camera back is not exactly at right angles to the tiles...

 

[Huss]

where is the distortion?

if the camera back is not exactly at right angles to the tiles...

I agree. It's also why the photo does not work for me. It needs to either be lined up perfectly (hard to do if grabbing a shot), or be deliberately askew.
When the composition is in-between with all those horizontal and vertical lines, it just looks off.

 

[Erik van Straten]

where is the distortion?

if the camera back is not exactly at right angles to the tiles...

No, when a line is straight, a lens should draw it straight, regardless the angle to it.

The line between the tiles at the bottom of the picture is curved on the picture. I presume that the line in reality is straight, so the lens must draw it straight, but it draws it curved. That is wrong in my eyes.

Erik.