Voigtlander 50 2.0 Heliar Collapsible

[madNbad]

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I've owned this lens for a few years but really haven't used it much being more inclined to pick up the 35 but curious if anyone knows more about it. I know it was part of a Voigtlander 250 Anniversary RM-2 kit and not very many were made, even fewer in silver. It's chrome over brass and both the focus throw and aperture setting are smooth. It collapses easily and locks with a slight twist. It seems to more of an oddity than a true collectable but I would still like to learn more about it.

 

 

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[TomB_tx]

I have the rigid version of the lens, which can give some very smooth images. The f2.0 aperture is a bit of a stretch for the optical design and it has quite a lot of focus plane shift as it stops down, noticed most from f2 to 4. However, many users don't notice the shift, so just ignore that comment and enjoy the lens. Mine is the nickle plated version, and is one of the prettiest lenses made.

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[rpsawin]

madNbad..Per Camerquest website:

 

Black 50/2 M mount Heliar with standard round lens hood (included with lens) and optional LH-4 Vented Lens hood

The M mount 50/2 Collapsible Heliar was produced exclusively for the 2006 Voigtlander Bessa R2M and R3M 250th Voigtlander Anniversary sets INFO HERE.  

Only 800 were produced in chrome, 1700 in black paint as part of the for the Voigtlander 250th Anniversary R2M or R3M sets.  They are beautifully crafted lens, down to the bayonet on lens hood and red mounting dot.  The standard lens hood is a small tubular hood, although the LH-4 produced for the 35/2.5 PII also mounts perfectly.   I believe this to be the fastest Heliar lens design ever produced by any lens manufacturer.  Leica's current 50 collapsible is the 50/2.8 Elmar.  Filter size 39mm,  close focus 1 meter.  Both the standard lens hood and the optional vented LH-4 or LH-4N lens hood have bayonet mounts.   To remove the standard hood, push in towards the camera and rotate off.   This is one of the few CV lenses whose silver version is chrome, not silver anodized.   In 2009 the same optics were used for the limited edition Rigid Nickel Leica Screw Mount 50/2 Heliars.

COLLAPSIBLE NOTE for Leica M8/8.2, M5, CL, Minolta CLE, Konica RF:   On my five sample cameras, the Voigtlander 50/2 Heliar collapsed safely into the Leica M8/8.2, M5, CL, Minolta CLE and Konica RF!  Note that there are most likely unknown production variations in both the lenses and cameras.  so proceed with caution before you inadvertently jam or damage your camera.  

For the Leica M8/8.2 use the M8's 50mm frameline, bought up automatically with the traditional 50/75 screw mount to M adapter.    For the Epson RD1 use the Epson's 50mm frameline.

https://cameraquest.com/voigtlen.htm

Edited June 20, 2022 by rpsawin

[madNbad]

Thanks. I agree with TomB, it is a beautifully made lens. The aperture ring is a little odd with half stops up to f8 then 11am 16 right next to each other. It’s always in my bag, maybe it should be used more often.

[lct]

Any pic with this lens?

[madNbad]

14 minutes ago, lct said:

Any pic with this lens?

Let me look around and I post some in a bit.

[madNbad]

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These are with my M4, Voigtlander 50 2.0 Heliar Collapsible, 022 filter, Kodak Double X 5222, HC-110 Dilution B.They were metered with a Reveni meter and scanned with my previous set up which was a Sony A7II, Micro-Nikkor 55 2,8 Ai-S and a Skier Copybox II. The images actually have very little manipulation in post.

If I remember my exposure, ISO 125 @ 1/250 between 5.6-11.

 

 

 

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https://flic.kr/p/2ntjawD

 

Edited June 20, 2022 by madNbad

[robbie3]

I have a copy of this lens in black and I like it.

It's quite heavy but feels balanced on the camera.

Here are some example photos taken on an M10,  lens wide open at f/2.

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[wizard]

I have a black copy, too, and from using it on color slide film (Fuji Provia 100F) I remember that this lens for some reason provides more saturated colors than, say, a Leica Elmar-M 50 or a Summicron-M v5 on the same film. Whether that is to like or dislike is subject to personal preferences.

[Huss]

On 6/23/2022 at 2:34 AM, robbie3 said:

I have a copy of this lens in black and I like it.

It's quite heavy but feels balanced on the camera.

Here are some example photos taken on an M10,  lens wide open at f/2.

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Does it vignette that heavily or did you add that?

[robbie3]

3 hours ago, Huss said:

Does it vignette that heavily or did you add that?

Hmm, I didn't add vignetting but it may have been accentuated by my lowering the black level during LR processing.

I've read the lens is noted for vignetting at f/2. There's a 2007 comment on photo.net that "The vignetting is probably at least partly due to the small rear exit pupil forced by the collapsible design."

Anyway, on the basis that a picture's worth a thousand words here's the processed and unprocessed image.

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[afrat]

I have been trying to find some information on this lens but it's hard to come by. 

 

Anyone who owns this lens still, do you know the length when collapsed? 

 

Thanks.

[Ouroboros]

I remember reading a fairly detailed  test report in print of this lens when it was released but can’t remember where it was.  Possibly in the Master Photographers Association magazine.  If so it would have been assessed by David Kilpatrick, the Editor,  whose technical knowledge  I respect enormously and is on a far higher level than most of the current crop of YouTube Spoofers.

I recall it performed very well.  I once saw the nickel version for sale several years ago in Aperture, it was a very nice looking lens.  

The only reason I passed on buying it is because I have a 50mm Elmar-m f2.8.  If I saw the same lens again in similar unused condition, I’d snap it up!

[lct]

Tempting lens indeed (link) but the bokeh balls it produces are not my cup of tea.

[Ouroboros]

Ah, but this lens comes from a time before recreational drugs like 'bokeh balls' had been invented and people who owned cameras were photographers. 

 

[lct]

Photographers liking sharp round things in their backgrounds then. It was fashionable at one time perhaps but bokeh is a subjective matter anyway. Just not my cup of tea sorry.

[nitroplait]

5 hours ago, Ouroboros said:

Ah, but this lens comes from a time before recreational drugs like 'bokeh balls' had been invented and people who owned cameras were photographers. 

 

I think this lens is newer than 1997 where "Bokeh" was coined in Photo Techniques magazine (for an english speaking audience).

The term was used about the quality of OOF areas for years prior to that in the originating country, Japan. So the designers at Cosina were definitely not strangers to the concept.

[Ouroboros]

The lens is from around 2004, I think, as part of a 'limited edition' set.

'Bokeh', as a concept, wasn't that much of a consideration in mainstream photography at the time outside of Japan.