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Into the sun

Shot during a photo walk...

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... mainly to test a new lens purchase: a 'new old stock' Voigtlander Color-Heliar 75mm f/2.5. This lens has been discontinued by Voigtlander for years, but it caught my eye during my search for a suitable replacement for my Leica Tele-Elmarit 90mm f/2.8. My copy is slowly breaking down, producing more and more aberrations, especially when used in bright sunny conditions. Balsam separation I believe (where two pieces of glass that are glued together start to separate, because the glue is letting go). The front element shows a huge fuzzy blob surrounded by smaller patches with rainbow edges, when I shine a light through the lens. It's not a recent problem, seeing some of my older photos shot with the Tele-Elmarit, that have a weird brownish flare in the middle of the image, with a distinct lack of contrast on that patch. But only recently I found out how bad it actually is.

So... time for a replacement.

But another Tele-Elmarit? Big chance of haze, fungus or the same problem mine has. These lenses are getting long in the teeth, discontinued for decades. Not willing to run the risk of a second copy with problems, and also a bit done with 90mm (really not very practical on a Leica M without live view) I opted for a 75mm. But it had to be as light and compact as my 90mm, since I'm dragging this stuff all over the world... every gram counts! And with that requirement one has few options. The Leica 75mm's are all quite heavy (not to mention expensive) and the newer Voigtlanders are also not the lightest. Apart from a Japanese 73mm (the MS-Optics 73mm f/1.5 Sonnetar), I stumbled upon the Color-Heliar. Readily available second hand and even lighter than my 90mm (by some 20 grams). Perfect. Then I got lucky and found what seemed to be a brand new one, boxed and all. Old stock I presume. And this weekend we finally had some sun in The Netherlands, where I'm currently residing, without rain, wind or temperatures near freezing: time to take the new old lens out for a spin.

It performed great. It's again one of those lenses that make you wonder why they stopped producing it: light, affordable, good build quality, excellent results. Why stop? I even shot it straight into the sun - as you can see - and it didn't budge.

Of course 75mm is not 90mm, but seeing the focussing problems with the 90mm and the problem of finding a copy without any optical problems, I think I'll be quite happy with my new old Color-Heliar 75mm.

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Leica M-D with Voigtlander Color-Heliar 75mm f/2.5

The Netherlands - 25 January 2025

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