Voigtlaender Brilliant

[baachitraka]

Are there any VB owners with Heliar lens? I would like hear some words about Heliar lens...

 

[JPD]

The lenses on the Brillant are front cell focusing. The Heliar on the Superb TLR should be better as it focuses with the whole lens and not just the front element.

 

[pgomena]

I just picked up an old Brillant. Fun little camera, haven't tested it yet. I figure for a 1930s glorified box camera that lens performance will be unexceptional, but that's not why I bought it. It's wonderfully compact, and I have plans for it!

 

[paul_c5x4]

I've now got three and the intention is to get at least one of them cleaned and working. The mirrors are no more and the lenses have a healthy dose of fungus. But I do have the light meter with one of them.

 

[Jadedoto]

I inherited a Voigtlander Superb with the Heliar. It's my favorite camera I've ever used! The Heliar is surprisingly sharp, even compared to modern MF lenses. It's contrasty, and looks nice wide open.

 

[JPD]

I inherited a Voigtlander Superb with the Heliar. It's my favorite camera I've ever used! The Heliar is surprisingly sharp, even compared to modern MF lenses. It's contrasty, and looks nice wide open.

Lucky you! The Superb is a very unusual TLR. Franke & Heidecke held so many patents that Voigtländer had to come up with new ideas for the Superb. It's not as straight forward as the Rolleiflex so it lost the competition, but today a Superb can be more fun to use just because of how different it is. The aperture knob, the mirror for the shutter speeds, the tilting viewing lens parallax compensation and the unusal film wind lever. It's the best camera for 6x6 with Heliar!

 

[baachitraka]

Is Heliar close to Planar/Xenotar? I am still on the hunt for nice plate camera or 6x9 folder.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

I think the VB has many different lens designs over the years, still being referred to as a Heliar. To Voigtlander, "heliar" was a brand not a strict lens design. I would bet that there are some triplets(3 elements), tessar types (4 elements), and maybe even a five element ( heliar type) some uncoated some coated. The heliar design is not the same as a planar/Xenotar design, But that doesn't mean they are subpar lenses- just different. My advice is buy the cleanest copy you can find and use it. and see what the film looks like. Not all lenses have survived the same way they were built. and some were built differently. Angulon's is an example of a lens, that were not consistently manufactured with the same amount of quality control. not just me, but many have said similar things too. IDK about the VB and its Heliar. But it wouldn't surprise me if you bought 2 different one's, even from the same year and design, and they had different looks to the image on film. best of luck

 

[JPD]

To Voigtlander, "heliar" was a brand not a strict lens design. I would bet that there are some triplets(3 elements), tessar types (4 elements), and maybe even a five element ( heliar type) some uncoated some coated.

No, there are no three or four element Heliars. The Heliars have the five element three groups Heliar or Dynar design. It was Cosina in Japan that started to put the "Heliar" name on any kind of lens.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

yes you are correct.my mistake

 

[nanthor]

I have a voigtlander rangefinder folding 6x9 camera with the heliar lens and yellow filter built in. It is very sharp in the central portion and has a very unique rendering that you will not find with a planar lens, an old world look. I don't have pics of it right now but I did find this on the auction site, it is identical. You should find one of these cameras for a good price, it will give you the heliar with a large negative.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Voigtlander...330589?hash=item281e6fba9d:g:8dEAAOSwV0RXrGJw