Voigtlander HELIAR 50mm F3.5 101th model

Review and Photo example of the Heliar 50mm F3.5 101th <limited>

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the Zeiss Ikon +KONICA SINBI100 and scanned with NIKON LS-50

The sample photo were taken with the LEICA M8 and EPSON R-D1

Review

The Heliar 50mm F3.5 is a Leica L39 screw mount lens released by Cosina Voigtlander as a set with the Bessa T rangefinder camera. It was sold as a set with Bessa T in four colors, but I get the impression that new products were always available and there was a lot left in stock.

As mentioned above, this lens was sold together with the rangefinder film camera Bessa T, but I bought just the lens used. I used it with three cameras: the Hexar RF film camera, the Epson R-D1 digital camera, and the Leica M8.

Perhaps because it uses modern glass with an old-fashioned lens configuration of 5 elements in 3 groups, the results are very clear and the result is a very ordinary lens. As long as you shoot with film, there is no noticeable disturbance in the peripheral areas. When I moved the lens forward, the screw at the base of the lens was exposed, and I could see the grease on the surface of the screw, so I felt like it would become thinner over time.
The lens came with a special screw-in hood and a lens cap, but in the second-hand market you often only get the lens itself.

A limited edition of 600 pieces of this lens with the same lens configuration was released in 2009, and in 2016 it was made into a fixed lens barrel + M mount and became a regular lens. Since regular lenses are cheap, I don’t think there is any need to buy old lenses at premium prices.
Old Heliar type lenses are rare and expensive, so I think this is a good option for photographers who want to use Heliar type lenses easily.

The lens configuration diagram taken from Cosina distributed PDF

Specification

Items	Heliar 50mm F2	Heliar 50mm F3.5	Heliar 50mm F1.5
Focal length(mm)	50	50	50
Max aperture	2	3.5	1.5
Min aperture	16	22	16
Leaf blade	11	10	10
Lens Construction	5elements in 3groups	←	6elements in 3groups
Min distance(m)	1.0	1.0	0.7
Lens length(mm)	38.5(When Using)	42.2	41.9
Max diameter(mm)	50.8	47	56.8
Filter Size(mm)	39	28	49
Weight(g)	260	150	255
Release date	2007.6 or 7(1st) 2009.11(2md)	2001.11(1st) 2009.11.1(2nd) 2016.11.25(3rd)	2021.9
Price(Yen/No-tax)	144,900-(with body) 73,000(2nd)	1st price is unknown 68,000-(2nd) 65,000-(3rd)	90,000-
その他	The second generation is a fixed optical tube	The third generation has a fixed lens barrel with a new barrel design