p.7 #1 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Fred Miranda wrote:
Unrelated to this thread, have you tried the 75/2 APO cron? I've read it's basically the 50/1.4 lux in 75mm but opinions on its performance are not unanimous.
rscheffler wrote:
I haven't. Just based on images I've seen, it reminds me a lot of the 50 Lux ASPH's rendering. Yes, my understanding is the two have a shared optical design/philosophy.
If you dig back through the Leica image thread maybe to around 2012 or 2013, member 'denoir' had one and had strong negative feelings about it. He was able to provoke some pretty strong bokeh from it, but I think some of that was also due to his post processing preferences. IIRC, at nearer distances it lost some image contrast.
freaklikeme wrote:
That wasn't my experience with it. Wide open at or near MFD to general portrait distances, the contrast was high (a little too high for my liking- I much preferred the 75/1.8 and Cron 90 for those purposes). It's a fantastic landscape lens, though, stopped down to f/4 or greater. Perfect size and weight, too.
Sorry to continue OT about the 75 Cron... Got lucky and found some posts in which denoir expressed his feelings about it:
Quickly re-reading these, and I think his complaint was the 75 Cron was too neutral. Quote: "I find the 75 Cron ASPH to be an optically superb but essentially soulless piece of metal with no distinguishing characteristics."
p.7 #2 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Fred Miranda wrote:
It is tricky writing reviews on "character" lenses, especially new ones.
We usually test lenses for color error, spherical aberration, flare, resolution, contrast, distortion, coma, etc.. The better the merrier!
However, with lenses intentionally uncorrected, it's a different story. These lenses may not perform well on our benchmarks or when compared to other highly corrected modern designs but the ultimate goal is to achieve an unique look, reminiscent of the past, evoking emotion in real world images.
I am expecting the new CV 50/1.5 Heliar to perform below average in review tests but still be able to capture distinctive and interesting images....Show more →
I agree that’s the theory. And often that’s how I feel about it too. But I keep changing my emotional or artistic response. One day I see an image I made with a deliberately under-corrected lens, and I see emotion history and beauty. The next day it feels like a cheap special effect. Then the next day beauty again….
Quickly re-reading these, and I think his complaint was the 75 Cron was too neutral. Quote: "I find the 75 Cron ASPH to be an optically superb but essentially soulless piece of metal with no distinguishing characteristics."
p.7 #4 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Agreed. Thanks, Ron.
"Soulless." So melodramatic. I'm not seeing any drastic reduction in contrast in his close-focused shots, but he does make a good point about the level of correction. It's not perfect, but it is better corrected than the average short tele. It earns the APO label in as much as any Leica M or R lens has.
p.7 #5 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Fred Miranda wrote:
Unrelated to this thread, have you tried the 75/2 APO cron? I've read it's basically the 50/1.4 lux in 75mm but opinions on its performance are not unanimous.
Finally looks like Leica has made some more new ones. They've been MIA as new production for a while. I don't see any at Leica Miami, so maybe theirs went straight to someone on a wait list.
p.7 #6 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
freaklikeme wrote:
Agreed. Thanks, Ron.
"Soulless." So melodramatic. I'm not seeing any drastic reduction in contrast in his close-focused shots, but he does make a good point about the level of correction. It's not perfect, but it is better corrected than the average short tele. It earns the APO label in as much as any Leica M or R lens has.
Thank you. Guaranteed that Luka's photos have a healthy amount of post production/tweaking.
p.7 #7 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
The M9 has almost exactly two stops less dynamic range than the M10-R. This may account for much of what may appear to be post-processing effects, and you can see near-irrecoverable dramatic shadows in many linked images as they struggle against broad subject brightness range.
The high contrast of early sensors levelled the lens playing field, some may agree, you just see less of what a lens can do so it 'trims' the better lenses. Several Sonys have three extra stops over the M9. Early Leica APOs delivered extremely vibrant colour, not helped at all by the restricted range. Colour tonal subtlety was a noteworthy victim.
Luka used ISO 160 mostly, it's the point on the M9 which is just before the brutal fall-off in DR that was ushered in by higher ISO levels. Better software improved shadow recovery greatly from around 2012, better profiling too.
p.7 #8 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
I am very familiar with the M9, having used one for many years concurrent with the timing of those posts from the archive. I also own/owned some of the same lenses. Luka's images are not SOOC. Perhaps some were processed less than others. Yes, limited dynamic range will be a factor in increasing contrast but the M9's DNGs at base ISO were surprisingly pliable for extracting shadow information. Not quite like a modern Sony sensor, but it was definitely possible to stretch out tonality and moderate contrast, if desired. Us M9 users eventually figured out there was no real benefit to using higher ISO settings because the loss of dynamic range was virtually linear - one stop per stop increase in ISO (also generally confirmed by Jim Kasson's testing). So yes, using it at base ISO provided the best dynamic range if you could fill it and pushing in post was essentially the same as setting higher ISOs in-camera.
p.7 #9 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
The new Heliar classic got a specific release date announced today: 9/10. It's coming out a bit earlier than I was expecting. Anyway, I should receive it on release date as I pre-ordered early on.
p.7 #10 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Juha Kannisto wrote:
The new Heliar classic got a specific release date announced today: 9/10. It's coming out a bit earlier than I was expecting. Anyway, I should receive it on release date as I pre-ordered early on.
p.7 #11 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Fred Miranda wrote:
Are you getting one? Rendering seems reminiscent of the 35/1.4 Nokton.
Yeah, I preordered from Map Camera's online store as soon as the lens was announced. It should get here on the morning of the release date based on my previous experiences with their online store.
I do like the 35/1.4 Nokton (E-mount version) and the Heliar classic 50mm f2 VM that I already have and I'm curious about how this new one will compare. I like the minimum focus distance (0.5m) with this one and I'm looking forward to the classic rendering traits. I plan to use it with my A7C and Sigma fp both.
p.7 #12 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Yeah, I preordered from Map Camera's online store as soon as the lens was announced. It should get here on the morning of the release date based on my previous experiences with their online store.
I do like the 35/1.4 Nokton (E-mount version) and the Heliar classic 50mm f2 VM that I already have and I'm curious about how this new one will compare. I like the minimum focus distance (0.5m) with this one and I'm looking forward to the classic rendering traits. I plan to use it with my A7C and Sigma fp both.
Please post some sample shots ASAP. Very interesting lens.
p.7 #17 · Official: Voigtlander Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM
Update:
Stephen at CameraQuest just confirmed to me that the actual price for the CV 50/1.5 Heliar is $850. Not sure what happened to the B&H Photo's pricing.
In Map Camera it's 10% cheaper (79920 yen including 10% tax) whereas Sofmap, Bic Camera, Yodobashi Camera etc. have a 10% higher price but they give you 10% of the value in store points when you purchase (if you have their points card) so it works out to be rather equivalent. I prefer buying from Map Camera though.
Official price of the lens in Japan is 90000 yen excluding tax and with tax it would be 99000 yen. Almost all stores usually sell below official price though with 79920 yen being the best price available currently.
Anyway, $850 as correct U.S. price seems more reasonable than $999 for sure. Some CV lenses are initially priced higher in U.S. vs. Japan and some are priced the other way around.
