Voigtlander Collinear (Kollinear) lenses user experience

[kilimanjaro1996]

Hi, I cannot seem to find too much info about Voigtlander Collinear lenses after searching LFF and other forums. And it especially lacks user reviews and sample images made by the Collinear. Is it because it was produced in smaller quantity over shorter period of time, and superseded by other designs by Voigtlander (Dynar, Heliar, etc)? Or is it because the Dagor is much more prolific and popular, and widely produced for a very long period of time? I'm a big fan of Voigtlander lenses, and am considering a longer Collinear for 8x10 use.

[Myriophyllum]

Hi,

sorry, no Collinear at hands... fascinating lenses indeed.
Maybe some of our friends here have some image to show.

I guess you already found literature like this (page 12ff for the several Collinear versions):
https://www.pacificrimcamera.com/rl/02645/02645.pdf

Best
Jens

[arri]

Collinear 250mm f/6.3 @f/22; 9x12cm; Fuji UM-MA in Kodak HC 110

[arri]

Kollinear (in Germany, Austria and Switzerland the lens were named with "K", but the lenses are identic) 132mm f/6.3 @f/22; Fomapan 100; 4x5", Adox FX-30 II

[arri]

Again the 132mm Kollinear @f/22 and Fomapan 100
Collinear lenses are excellent, real sharp with a beautifull rendering. Much more rare than a Goerz Dagor.
The angle of view is 80° up to 200mm, longer lenses have 70° but I realise that Voigtländer mentioned a smaller angle of view because of a better image quality in this given angle.
I guess you can use it up to nearly 90° like the Dagor as well.
The 132mm Collinear is one of the lenses you can find more often, longer lenses, like the 250mm or the 300mm are quiet rare, even here in Germany.
Voigtländer lenses were very expensive and the Heliar were the favorite of the most Voigtlander customers.

I have some Goerz Dagor lenses and all of it have a focus shift when stoped down, it is absolutly necessary to check the sharpness after this again. My 300mm has a really large shift but my 250mm Collinear do not show it or it is too small that it will have a negative effect.
It were not possible to correct the spherical aberration of 100% with a fully cemented lens in this days. But there are differencies between the lenses from different makers. This aberration is the reason for the focus shift when stopping down the lenses.

[kilimanjaro1996]

Hi Arri, thanks for the detailed info and example photos. It is an interesting lens and I will be patient in looking for one that is suitable for 8x10.

[arri]

Hi Arri, thanks for the detailed info and example photos. It is an interesting lens and I will be patient in looking for one that is suitable for 8x10.

The 250mm is a good choice, the 300mm as well and with a larger image circle.
The Steinheil Orthostigmat lenses having the same formular, maybe you find one of it in the wanted focus length. I have only a wide angle type of it and only the 12.5/90mm.
The Steinheil lenses were made in France under license as well.

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. All this fuss about a competitor to the Dagor. Many makers brought 6/3 anastigmats to market before WWI. After the war, they were slowly replaced by other, possibly better (optical performance, cost to manufacture, ...) design types. After WWII, only Berthiot and Boyer persisted with the types in volume. Schneider too, with dagor type Symmars and G-Clarons, and a few later trade names that I can't be bothered to search for.

Many focal lengths, a surprising range of maximum apertures. The makers published extravagant claims for all of them.

OP, don't fixate on one trade name. Educate yourself about all of them. That the 6/3 layout was abandoned means that it wasn't overwhelmingly superior (optical performance, cost to manufacture).

When you seek information about them keep in mind that people who report on their examples of these lenses tell you about their lenses, not the ones you'll be offered. And don't forget that these are all old lenses whose performance now may not be as good as it had been when they were new.

That said, I have a small heap of Boyer Beryls, also a few Berthiot Perigraphes (VIa and VIb). They're all, except for an f/10 prototype process lens badged Beryl, good enough for my purposes. The f/14 Perigraphe VIas aren't as sharp as tessar types, but given their coverage they're marvels.

[kilimanjaro1996]

Hi Dan, much appreciate your encyclopedic knowledge on these lenses. I do have a Kingslake book to study all the various lens formulas, as well as their many trade names. I enjoy using my Dagors, and was curious about the Collinear. Although I'm not a collector by any means, I do tend to keep a few more Voigtlander lenses than other manufacturers.

I'll also keep an eye on the Boyer Beryls and Steinheil Orthostigmat.