New Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar

On Cosina Launches Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar Classic for VM-Mount they say that "The aperture is open at its widest at f/1.5 — which Cosina says is a larger aperture than the limit of helia type lenses —" as well as the repeated remarks about the intended imperfections may give you a hint of what to expect. Not a bad thing for me though. I've a digital camera along with software to get perfect pictures.
 
Less expensive than the Nokton-

Fastest 2-2-2, 6 elements in 3 group lens as far as I know.

Will be interesting to see it compared with a vintage Sonnar.
 
i simply love this! its one of rare lenses that excited me when i saw announcement... i always wantd f2 heliar before and now this one appeared too... tooo bad i have no money for either :( but that optical formula - it is so lovely classical - im in love!
 
I’ve got nothing but admiration for a company that can do the 50 and 35 APO lenses, and then be adventurous enough to turn around and do this. Sample images are very appealing to me personally.
Some have been excited about a future where computer aided lens designs used by every manufacturer will all inevitably converge on their circumscribed definition of “optical perfection”, and every photo of the same object then will look exactly the same. That’s always seemed like an homogenized hellscape to me, so glad to see Voigtländer bucking the trend while also providing other lenses with maximum sharpness and freedom from aberrations to those who want or need that. Interesting company. Live long and prosper! :)
 
Larry Cloetta said:
I’ve got nothing but admiration for a company that can do the 50 and 35 APO lenses, and then be adventurous enough to turn around and do this. Sample images are very appealing to me personally.
Some have been excited about a future where computer aided lens designs used by every manufacturer will all inevitably converge on their circumscribed definition of “optical perfection”, and every photo of the same object then will look exactly the same. That’s always seemed like an homogenized hellscape to me, so glad to see Voigtländer bucking the trend while also providing other lenses with maximum sharpness and freedom from aberrations to those who want or need that. Interesting company. Live long and prosper! :)
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+1. I fully agree. but...I do not need another lens, I do not need another..., I do not need...., i do not....hmmm perhaps one day :)
 
keytarjunkie said:
And now this very cool Heliar lens. My only complaint is very biased, I wish they would release a small batch of lenses for Nikon S-mount again. Just do another 250 copies of one lens like this Heliar. It would definitely sell out, there are enough collectors and users. It's been 13 years since the last S-mount lens was produced (C-Sonnar 50mm). Throw us a bone, LOL!
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AND DITTO FOR LTM! Dammit!
 
Yet another one in the "more LTM please" crowd.

Incidentally, I had a conversation a few weeks back with one of the guys from Skyllaney (who are making brass M-mount lenses under the Omnar name in Scotland) and asked them why they're not working on LTM. The explanation they gave was quite long, and might be of interest to folks in here:

The issue is the LTM thread itself. Its both metric being M39, and Imperial being 24 TPI (0.977mm) in pitch.

Most manual lathes are either Imperial, or Metric. Very rarely on manual lathes is their a dual geared measurement system which can drive the lead screws properly.

I invested in a dedicated Myford ML7, which was Imperial as stock, with a Metric DRO system. This allowed us to cut the pitch of the threads correctly.

The issue then became, getting the thread to start in the correct location, so the lens, when installed on the camera, sits with the DOF arrow facing 12’oclock/ North. The customized dual measurement system Myford ML7 couldn’t do this.

So we then needed a CNC lathe which has its chuck situationally aware (the rotating axis can be tracked and controlled down to individual degrees), which would allow us to cut the LTM properly and have it start in the correct area. Believe it or not, the cost of such a machine was about £20K+!

The last issue, and possibly the most complex is, certain versions of the Omnar will have a gradual sloped RF cam. While this is not an issue for M mount, for LTM, it is a potential issue if the lens does not sit exactly at 12’oclock/ North.
Even from different Leica LTM cameras (IIIf, IIIg...etc.) there is some degree of tolerances where the thread physically starts.
The combination of Metric/ Imperial mount, with many after-market manufacturers often cheating and simply machining a 1mm pitch (instead of 24 TPI), along with this tolerances of where the thread actually starts... is often why various lenses struggle to sit on the LTM cameras properly.
This non-perfect seating, can cause calibration issues, especially if the RF cam has a gradual slope to it.

It's possibly why Voigtlander and others moved to M mount when they could, as it solves quite a few engineering/ manufacturing issues. Certainly for us, making the M mount version is much easier then making the LTM iteration. The Omnar started as a purely LTM lens, but got changed to a chrome plated brass M mount when the above ‘challenges’ began to first rear their head.
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Yes, make it in LTM

Yes, make it in LTM

As a buyer of the new 50/1.5 Noktion (Classic) last year, which overall looks very similar and is probably much sharper, I probably pass this one -- EXCEPT if it's LTM...

Cosina/Voigtländer has proved more than one decade that they can manufacture LTM lenses 100% correctly, opposite to some garage workshops.
 
VC said (last paragraph) that they "secured a generous image circle". Maybe interesting for Fujifilm GFX (for instance) users.
 
Dguebey said:
VC said (last paragraph) that they "secured a generous image circle". Maybe interesting for Fujifilm GFX (for instance) users.
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Given the moderate size of the lens, I’d guess it’s not nearly that generous. More likely generous enough to cut down on vignetting wide open for the 135 format it’s designed for, would be my guess. Or maybe something was lost in translation.
 
I have a Heliar 50/3.5 and 50/2, plus a CV 50/1.5 and Canon 50/1.5. Do I need this lens too?

Maybe.
 
Dguebey said:
VC said (last paragraph) that they "secured a generous image circle". Maybe interesting for Fujifilm GFX (for instance) users.
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That would be awesome if it was the case. It is surprising how some 35mm lenses do on the GFX. The 50mm Elmars (nickle through Elmar-M) basically all cover the sensor, the Canon 50 1.5 *almost* does and the Nokton 1.5 does too. Depending upon the lens some will hard vignette when stopped down beyond a certain point.

Shawn
 
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