Voigtlander lenses

[michael_alpert1]

I have a Voigtlander Bessa II with a 105mm Heliar lens, and I am about

to receive a second camera with a 105mm Color Skopar lens. I have read

conflicting information about these lenses. Some people say that the

Heliar is the sharper of the two (with five elements, as compared the

Tessar-like four-element configuration of the Skopar), but others say

that the Heliar was meant for soft-focus portrait work, which I think

means that the Skopar is sharper, with more contrast. I realize that I

can compare the two cameras directly, but I'd be comparing cameras that

each have a fifty-year history of use. A better approach would compare

the actual optics as manufactured. Words of wisdom, or at least solid

information, would be welcome.

[ed b.]

Here is a link to a thread that might help:

 

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000dvz&msg_id=000dvz">http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=000dvz&msg_id=000dvz</a>

[david_goldfarb]

Heliars are nice for portraits at wide apertures, because they produce a kind of "stereoscope" effect (this also used to be referred to as the "plastic" appearance of out-of-focus areas, before anyone started talking about "bokeh" outside of Japan), with the focused subject sharply defined from the out-of-focus background, but they get very sharp when stopped down. There were also Heliars designed specifically for portraiture that had an extra ring that varied the position of the fifth element, thus changing the amount of spherical abberation, but these were large-format lenses, not the lens on the Bessa II.<p>

 

For some examples of the particular characteristics of Heliars, take a look at <a href="http://www.smu.edu/~rmonagha/mf/medalist/">this page</a> on Bob Monaghan's site, which contains some test shots I contributed to show the effects of the Kodak Medalist lens (a single-coated Heliar type), adapted for 35mm use.

[Troll]

I have owned Bessa II with both lenses. The Color-Skopar is probably sharper in the center of the field and seems "better" for B&W, while the Color-Heliar is sharper over the entire field, and seems better for color. They are both wonderful, and I wish I'd kept them. My current Zeiss Ikonta III isn't in the same class as the Bessa II.