p.8 #2 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
highdesertmesa wrote:
I like it. Not a fan of the Loxia-style sunstars? All the M lenses I’ve had to date have had crappy split-beams or micro-sized sunstars.
Not a fan of any kind of sunstars. Apart from that I do like this Heliar’s rendering a lot and even the styling, which reminds me of OM lenses. I’ll have to be content with one or other of my vintage LTM 50s.
p.8 #3 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
They may become an artistic crutch to lean on. They tend to steal attention from image content or worse, the meaning and intent of the image. Like sunstars on the Mona Lisa's shoulder or in the dark void above the Girl with a Pearl Earring's head.
You could probably write a decent essay on the appeal of sunstars using historic and religious symbolism, and usage in movies and works of art. Some say there are trade-offs in aperture blade shape etc. to get the sunstars.
p.8 #4 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
highdesertmesa wrote:
I like it. Not a fan of the Loxia-style sunstars? All the M lenses I’ve had to date have had crappy split-beams or micro-sized sunstars.
genji wrote:
Not a fan of any kind of sunstars. Apart from that I do like this Heliar’s rendering a lot and even the styling, which reminds me of OM lenses. I’ll have to be content with one or other of my vintage LTM 50s.
Just use it wide open! You know, for maximum rendering effect.
Maybe wait for someone here, like Juha, to do a quickie sunstar test to determine when the obnoxious effect really kicks in. Sometimes it's gradual. But if it's already that pronounced at f/4, then likely there will be some effect at f/2.8. Maybe f/2 won't be too bad...
As much as I don't like the 50 Lux ASPH's ninja star aperture shape for killing specular OOF bokeh ball quality, the flip side is it's one of the least obnoxious 50s I've used in respect to sunstar intensity. I guess the VM 50 APO is the king with its perfectly round aperture at select settings.
p.8 #5 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
rscheffler wrote:
As much as I don't like the 50 Lux ASPH's ninja star aperture shape for killing specular OOF bokeh ball quality, the flip side is it's one of the least obnoxious 50s I've used in respect to sunstar intensity. I guess the VM 50 APO is the king with its perfectly round aperture at select settings.
Which is why the Lux 50 ASPH and VM 50 APO are, along with the Summicron Rigid, my favourite 50s.
I thought I was choking.
IMHO the new VM Heliar Classic did not even stand next to the first VM Heliar Classic.
This is definitely not Heliar's bokeh.
I note that this is the only bokeh test.
Please do not take this as a sharpness test as the photos were taken by hand from the minimum distance.
The focus was placed on the front pumpkin, right in the center, which is very hard to see in the photo, but it gave me the ability to control depth of field.
I thought I was choking.
IMHO the new VM Heliar Classic did not even stand next to the first VM Heliar Classic.
This is definitely not Heliar's bokeh.
I note that this is the only bokeh test.
Please do not take this as a sharpness test as the photos were taken by hand from the minimum distance.
The focus was placed on the front pumpkin, right in the center, which is very hard to see in the photo, but it gave me the ability to control depth of field.
My attitude to the Heliar 50/1.5 is flip-flopping like crazy. I loved the monochrome samples on the Cosina website. Then I was about to cancel my pre-order because of the sUnStAr sample image that highdesertmesa linked to on the previous page until I realised this was crazy. I have other 50mm lenses with straight aperture blades that I’m perfectly happy to use. All I need to do is to avoid point light sources.
Now you’ve provided me with another reason to go ahead with a Heliar 50/1.5 purchase since I much prefer the “choke-inducing” bokeh in the CV sample image to the bokeh in your pumpkin pictures.
I thought I was choking.
IMHO the new VM Heliar Classic did not even stand next to the first VM Heliar Classic.
This is definitely not Heliar's bokeh.
I note that this is the only bokeh test.
Please do not take this as a sharpness test as the photos were taken by hand from the minimum distance.
The focus was placed on the front pumpkin, right in the center, which is very hard to see in the photo, but it gave me the ability to control depth of field.
I thought I was choking.
IMHO the new VM Heliar Classic did not even stand next to the first VM Heliar Classic.
This is definitely not Heliar's bokeh.
I note that this is the only bokeh test.
Please do not take this as a sharpness test as the photos were taken by hand from the minimum distance.
The focus was placed on the front pumpkin, right in the center, which is very hard to see in the photo, but it gave me the ability to control depth of field.
To "this is definitely not Heliar's bokeh" I point out that we have never seen bokeh produced by a Heliar at f/1.5 before now. At this time we can stay for certain that this definitely is Heliar bokeh when opened to f/1.5. I am not certain what is "choking" you, but I assume it is the bright outer ring (like bubles) bokeh. I do not recall that effect beginning to appear on my 50mm Heliar f/2 - so I may need to test that.
What struck me positively in the pumpkin series is the clarity of the "stems" and "basket". Giving realism to a smooth, uniform surface is a characteristic this lens seems to share with its smaller aperture siblings.
The Heliar Classic is my favorite lens. I've had it for 15 years. You can find similarities, but the differences are immediately apparent.
There is a very big difference between the New HELIAR classic 50mm f1.5 which can be seen from the examples and the Heliar Classic Voigtlander 50/2 Collapsible from the 250th anniversary.
IMHO The new heliar gives the exaggerated plasticity of the image from the famous old Sonnar 1.5 50mm while maintaining the characteristic features of Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses.
I treat the new project Voigtlander HELIAR classic 50mm f1.5 as a marketing step towards Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses, because I do not see such a lens in the Voigtlander stable.
They want to carve out a piece of cake.
I have several Heliar's lens, and they all share similar characteristics. Whenever I bought a Heliar lens, I knew what to expect and I love it for that. It always gives nice photos regardless of the aperture and focal length. It will never spoil my blur with cat eyes or hexagons, and here we see distracting glare with bright edges with a slightly detached background and stopped from spinning. The examples of the new Heliar do not meet my expectations. IMHO This is a completely different direction of the project.
This design has so many different features of different lenses that there is something for everyone and I think it will be the most controversial lens of its time. He can even beat the Sonnar 50mm 1.5 divided into those who love him and those who don't.
The Heliar Classic is my favorite lens. I've had it for 15 years. You can find similarities, but the differences are immediately apparent.
There is a very big difference between the New HELIAR classic 50mm f1.5 which can be seen from the examples and the Heliar Classic Voigtlander 50/2 Collapsible from the 250th anniversary.
IMHO The new heliar gives the exaggerated plasticity of the image from the famous old Sonnar 1.5 50mm while maintaining the characteristic features of Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses.
I treat the new project Voigtlander HELIAR classic 50mm f1.5 as a marketing step towards Meyer Optik Görlitz lenses, because I do not see such a lens in the Voigtlander stable.
They want to carve out a piece of cake.
I have several Heliar's lens, and they all share similar characteristics. Whenever I bought a Heliar lens, I knew what to expect and I love it for that. It always gives nice photos regardless of the aperture and focal length. It will never spoil my blur with cat eyes or hexagons, and here we see distracting glare with bright edges with a slightly detached background and stopped from spinning. The examples of the new Heliar do not meet my expectations. IMHO This is a completely different direction of the project.
This design has so many different features of different lenses that there is something for everyone and I think it will be the most controversial lens of its time. He can even beat the Sonnar 50mm 1.5 divided into those who love him and those who don't.
I shot this image today The specular highlights are from a holly bush about a meter behind the hibiscus . So it turns out that the old f/2.0 50mm Classic Heliar also presented bubble bokeh at max aperture. I never really paid it much attention before.
p.8 #19 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
4ALL wrote:
I have several Heliar's lens, and they all share similar characteristics. Whenever I bought a Heliar lens, I knew what to expect and I love it for that. It always gives nice photos regardless of the aperture and focal length. It will never spoil my blur with cat eyes or hexagons...
The 50/2 Heliar example directly above shows lots of cats eyes. I suspect lens to subject to background distance ratios are influential.
philip_pj wrote:
'I thought I was choking.'
Is there some sort of design direction power struggle going on inside Cosina? They are pushing both ends of the envelope at the same time.
I much prefer this to what Cosina had available 10+ years ago, which was generally good to very good but not overly impressive. Today they show they can compete head to head with Leica in technical quality, yet at affordable pricing. There's no point to producing 'average' lenses, at least Cosina is counterbalancing technically cutting-edge optics with options that evoke vintage optical imperfections and nostalgia beyond superficial hipster cosmetics.
p.8 #20 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Since it's not a "vintage," which could make it a contender for FE-dom, what do you think the chances are the M's cosmetics make it into that version? A lighter action than my 35/1.4 would be nice to pair with it.
