Fred Miranda wrote:
I’ve compared the Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar, a very popular lens in Japan, to the Leica 50mm f/1.5 Summarit. While their rendering is quite similar, each lens has its own unique characteristics. The Summarit’s resolution, contrast and draw are almost identical to the 50/1.4 Summilux version 1, though the Summilux has better flare resistance. The Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar’s rendering seems to fall somewhere between Summilux versions 1 and 2, with improved flare performance over both Leica versions, despite being single-coated. The big advantage for the Voigtlander is the close-focus feature (0.5m).
I’ll post some side-by-side comparisons of the Summarit and Heliar here in the thread.
The Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Heliar is a great match for the M10-R Black Paint. Cosina designed it with weight in mind, using brass for some external parts and giving it a glossy black finish. I believe both the focusing and aperture rings are made from brass as well.
What’s the filter you have on the Heliar, is it brass that you peeled of the paint?
Now knowing that a good Summarit compares favorably to a V1 Summilux, I regret selling mine even more, it was banged up but the optics were great.
