Voigtländer Heliar 15mm lens-vers.1

[MaxMont]

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I recently bought a Voigtländer 15 mm Heliar lens used on eBay. I was advertized as a lens "for Leica". I mistakenly thought that this meant it was an M-mount lens. On receiving the lens I was surprised to find that it is a screw mount l39 mount for Leica film cameras made before 1954. This lens has received excellent reviews but the protrusion of the screw-version lens seems to cause some problems on digital cameras, according to users. The lens works well on film Leicas. I have an M6 and an 8.2 as well as a TL2, the latter of which I use with an adapter for my M-mount lenses. I am wondering if anyone can advise me which adapter to get for the Voigtländer lens, 39mm screw-mount to M-mount? I don't know much about this and would appreciate it if anyone can help me.

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[giannis]

4 hours ago, MaxMont said:

39mm screw-mount to M-mount?

Yes, exactly.

4 hours ago, MaxMont said:

the screw-version lens seems to cause some problems on digital cameras

All non-retrofocus superwides cause issues on digital cameras, the filter stack on the sensor cannot deal with the very oblique rays projected onto it by a symmetrical-ish superwide. The mount doesn't make a difference.

[Ecar]

An LTM (Leica Thread Mount) to M adapter will allow you to mount the lens on any M camera.

If it is indeed a v1, however, the lens is not rangefinder coupled. This is by design and will have nothing to do with the adapter. It will be fine on the TL2, but you will have to use zone focusing on your M6 and M8. No big deal with a bit of practice, given the huge depth of field provided by this lens.

Also, using an UV/IR filter (or any filter) for colour work on the M8 can be tricky - run a search on this forum in the M8 section and plenty of information should come up.

Otherwise, as you have noted, the first version of this otherwise great little lens is pretty much useless on full-frame digital M bodies, due to colour shift (unless you are converting to B&W and/or are happy to do some work in post-processing). 

[otto.f]

7 hours ago, MaxMont said:

seems to cause some problems on digital cameras

You are referring to the Italian flag phenomenon: at the left edge a greenish cast and at the right magenta. The version iii has this corrected to a great extent. If you set lens detection on manual and put it on the old Elmarit 21mm it will help a bit. And there’s software to be found to correct it. You should be able to find it on the forum here under italian flag. The screw mount is the least of your problem, the adapters are easy to find, from Voigtlander herself but even from Leica at ebay

[Ecar]

3 minutes ago, otto.f said:

The screw mount is the least of your problem, the adapters are easy to find, from Voigtlander herself but even from Leica at ebay

I'd say that due to the lack of RF coupling and huge DoF, even a cheaper no-name adapter should be OK.

[AndreasG]

Careful, not any adapter M39-M on a digital Leica (in my case: M10-D) will work well with this lens - the sensor window on the camera flange needs to be covered, otherwise you get the message "no lens detected".

The adapter shown left is not suitable for digital Leicas due to the cut out in the lower part, but will work fine with film Leicas. Buy an adapter as shown right (Fotofox, ebay, approx. 15$), no need to care for the focal length mentioned on the adapter or product description.

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Edited April 29, 2020 by AndreasG
addendum

[Ecar]

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12 minutes ago, AndreasG said:

Careful, not any adapter M39-M on a digital Leica will work well with this lens - the sensor window on the camera flange needs to be covered, otherwise you get the message "no lens detected".

Actually, this is only a problem with the M10. On previous digital M bodies, it can be overridden manually through the menu.

[AndreasG]

Thank you for this clarification!

[AceVentura1986]

I have that lens and have used it often. If you work in BW then there really is no issue with false colors at all. Great little lens. 

[otto.f]

I have that lens too and my son has the iii. I must say that the iii is handy with the rangefinder coupling, but in B&W the IQ is for both very sympathetic, so if you can find your way with estimating the distance, which is not too critical with 15mm, there is no need to seriously crave for a newer version. I even use 39mm filters on the first version with a little handicraft with rubber bands. 

[tommonego@gmail.com]

I use a Retina Schneider 28mm with my M3, zone focus all the time, with that lens f4 hard, f5.6 easier, f8 no problem. A 15mm should be no problem at all.

I bought a Fotodiox LTM to M for a screw mount lens, the lens didn't sit right on the camera focus and F stops were skewed to the left, I had an extra Leica adapter on an old C mount to M adapter took that off and everything was vertical as it should be. Cosina/Voigtlander also has adapters I would check with them first. The Fotodiox also has the notch as shown with the Leica adapter. Not sure how you would specify not to have that notch cut out on the adapter.