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Voigtlander Nickel 50/3.5 Heliar Collapsible Screw-mount lens


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Below is a shot I took with my M10 and a Voigtlander 50mm Heliar f3.5. I got this not to replace my M-mount 50mm, but to use on a Leica IIIg. It came with a screw-mount - M adaptor, so I thought I would give it a try with the M10. I like the results, and I became curious about the lens. I know from the Cameraquest literature that this lens was created to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the merging of Cosina and Vogtlander. But what I could not discover is when the original Heliar was manufactured. I assume it is sometime in the 1930's, but I have been unable to find much information about it online. I am curious about whether the reproduced lens is in fact an exact reproduction of an original collapsible screw-mount 3.5 Heliar, or perhaps just a Heliar optical design in a collapsible mount.

 

 

heliar.thumb.jpg.df9f878d1496671f0117d8e3051378d5.jpg

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I don't think Voigtlander or anyone else made a lens exactly like this in the 30s. Voigtlander did not make 35mm cameras before the Vito of 1939, a folding camera with a Skopar on a bellows. The external design of the 50mm Heliar f/3.5 seems clearly inspired by the Leitz Elmar, updated with a more convenient aperture control. The internal arrangement of the lens elements looks like a vintage Heliar. Compare the lens diagram for the chrome finish Heliar on Cameraquest to the 1925 Heliar design (the one on the right) referenced on camera-wiki:

 

https://cameraquest.com/jpg6/VCH10150.jpg

Heliar

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