Back to the Future with the Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C
Origin of the Heliar Classic and why captures that vintage look! Part 2
Though it’s called a Heliar, the Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C does not employ the classic 5-element 3-group Heliar formula used in, say, the still current 50mm f/3.5 Voigtlander Heliar from Cosina, a compact lens renowned for its exceptional sharpness. Instead, it’s based on an unusual, 6-element 3-group optical formula. What is the origin of this somewhat idiosyncratic design? While I can’t get into the heads of Hirofumi Kobayashi and his crack optical design team at Cosina, the optical design of the 50mm f/1.5 Heliar Classic bears a striking resemblance to the 50mm f/2.5 Leitz Hektor designed by the legendary Max Berek, the first great camera lens designer at Leitz, who also created the iconic 50mm f/3.5 Elmar.
Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C optical diagram: its idiosyncratic 6-element, 3-group design is not the same as the classic Heliar (see text).
Leitz Hektor 50mm f/2.5 optical diagram: The great Max Berek designed this lens in 1931 and its 6-element, 3-group design bears a striking resemblance to the new Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C though the curvature in the elements in first group is slightly different and of course it was uncoated.
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When Hektor was a pup
The 50mm f/2.5 Hektor, the first “high speed” lens for the Leica, debuted in 1931, and it was one stop faster than the 50mm f/3.5 Elmar in the old Continental f/stop sequence. It’s generally accepted that Berek named the lens after his dog, and ironically many Leicaphiles considered it a dog of a lens because it wasn’t as sharp as the Elmar, especially it its widest apertures and off axis. However, the once vilified 50mm f/2.5 Hektor is now the darling of art photographers, and it commands fancy prices on the used market. That’s because it takes pictures that are simply gorgeous with that “luminous, rounded” rendition and “vintage look” that’s in such demand. The clincher: When shot wide open at f/1.5, or one stop down at f/2, the Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C captures images that have a distinct resemblance to those taken with the 50mm f/2.5 Hektor, and like the Hektor, the Heliar Classic is quite sharp (but not excriciatingly sharp!) when you stop it down to moderate apertures in the f/4 to f/8 range.
Portrait of the artist: Tech data: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f.1.5 on a Leica M9. Exposure 1/90 sec at f/1.5, ISO 640.
The images posted here were all shot with the 50mm f/2 Heliar Classic at f/1.5 and f/2, the apertures most users will select to achieve maximal vintage effects. But this is a great general purpose normal lens, and I can heartily commend it to anyone who likes the perspective of the 50mm focal length and simply wants to capture beautiful looking images.
Origin of the Heliar Classic and why captures that vintage look! Part 2
Though it’s called a Heliar, the Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C does not employ the classic 5-element 3-group Heliar formula used in, say, the still current 50mm f/3.5 Voigtlander Heliar from Cosina, a compact lens renowned for its exceptional sharpness. Instead, it’s based on an unusual, 6-element 3-group optical formula. What is the origin of this somewhat idiosyncratic design? While I can’t get into the heads of Hirofumi Kobayashi and his crack optical design team at Cosina, the optical design of the 50mm f/1.5 Heliar Classic bears a striking resemblance to the 50mm f/2.5 Leitz Hektor designed by the legendary Max Berek, the first great camera lens designer at Leitz, who also created the iconic 50mm f/3.5 Elmar.
Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C optical diagram: its idiosyncratic 6-element, 3-group design is not the same as the classic Heliar (see text).
Leitz Hektor 50mm f/2.5 optical diagram: The great Max Berek designed this lens in 1931 and its 6-element, 3-group design bears a striking resemblance to the new Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C though the curvature in the elements in first group is slightly different and of course it was uncoated.
.
When Hektor was a pup
The 50mm f/2.5 Hektor, the first “high speed” lens for the Leica, debuted in 1931, and it was one stop faster than the 50mm f/3.5 Elmar in the old Continental f/stop sequence. It’s generally accepted that Berek named the lens after his dog, and ironically many Leicaphiles considered it a dog of a lens because it wasn’t as sharp as the Elmar, especially it its widest apertures and off axis. However, the once vilified 50mm f/2.5 Hektor is now the darling of art photographers, and it commands fancy prices on the used market. That’s because it takes pictures that are simply gorgeous with that “luminous, rounded” rendition and “vintage look” that’s in such demand. The clincher: When shot wide open at f/1.5, or one stop down at f/2, the Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 S.C captures images that have a distinct resemblance to those taken with the 50mm f/2.5 Hektor, and like the Hektor, the Heliar Classic is quite sharp (but not excriciatingly sharp!) when you stop it down to moderate apertures in the f/4 to f/8 range.
Portrait of the artist: Tech data: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm f.1.5 on a Leica M9. Exposure 1/90 sec at f/1.5, ISO 640.
The images posted here were all shot with the 50mm f/2 Heliar Classic at f/1.5 and f/2, the apertures most users will select to achieve maximal vintage effects. But this is a great general purpose normal lens, and I can heartily commend it to anyone who likes the perspective of the 50mm focal length and simply wants to capture beautiful looking images.
