Voigtlander Apo-Skopar

Voigtlander are one of the great lens makers, the brand still going strong with high quality modern rangefinder lenses, now made in Japan.  The company has roots in the 1700s and in 1839 were the first to make lenses to Petzval’s famous design.  They made superior quality lenses throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, which are now very collectable and highly priced.  The more surprising to be the only bidder on this post-war monster, a solid lump of brass and glass which landed with a thud on the doorstep!  The Skopar was supposedly inferior to Voigtlander’s Heliar design, but this one is a Heliar, in spite of being labelled Apo-Skopar.  Although described as a process lens Voigtlander also recommended it for landscapes, so it’s not limited to close-up use.  In any event it’s a very fine lens (coated, post-war) if you have a camera that can take the weight.  The Robin Hood can just about handle it, and has enough extension for a 60cm lens, but it’s really intended for a future development of El Gordo, when it acquires a bellows to allow it to extend to a meter or more.  Pete made a slip-on shutter for this one because it’s so big and heavy; a behind-the-lens shutter would not have been practical.