Rumor: New Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 VM

[FrozenInTime]

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M10 all at f/1.5 

Nothing special, just a first tryout :

Dull and raining after sunset - no adjustments

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An hour later: no adjustments

Curves applied

Flare handling seems very good.

[Popee]

Hi all, I haven’t read the whole thread however, curious is this the same optical formula as the 50mm F1.5 Nokton ii? 

[Danner]

I'm starting to see the Heliar's f1.5 signature.  Brightest highlights bloom to a glow, and bright points in the bokeh are shaped like white blood cells. I would look for scenes jam-packed with specular highlights in the bokeh.  Nice.

I do not need another fifty, repeat, I do not need another fifty, repeat, ...

[Popee]

8 hours ago, Al Brown said:

Not at all. Nokton on the left, Heliar on the right.

 

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Al, thank-you. The two lenses couldn't be more different! 

[FrozenInTime]

Map camera has put up a samples review page  https://news.mapcamera.com/k4l/voigtlander-heliar-classic-50mm-f1-5-vm/

 

[Ouroboros]

Some scans from images I took on a walk down to the Village shortly after my lens was delivered, around 6-7pm in drizzle, mist and poor light.  TMax 100 in HC-110.  Scanned with a Nikon D810, 60mm micro and ES-2.

All images at f1.5

Despite the bad light, it's clear to me this lens is quite low contrast at full aperture (I expected it to be when I saw the spec and is one reason it piqued my interest), but it is not lacking in resolution in any way. The relatively short focus throw is certainly not an issue, to me it's far easier to focus and much better ergonomically than my late version 4 f1 noctilux was (didn't like it, sold it).  Highlights show a pleasing glow even in the poor light yesterday evening.

It's not a heavy lens ( I was surprised by how light it feels when I took it out of the box) and it feels well-balanced on my MP.  

 

 

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[Ouroboros]

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Couple more:

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[Ouroboros]

one more:

 

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[Ouroboros]

Another:

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[01maciel]

nice and moody photos 👏. Do you have some photos in colour at f1.5?

[adan]

So the wonky bokeh is available, but not omnipresent. Just depends on what you shoot, and how. (Which of course is generally true of most lenses ).

[Ouroboros]

11 minutes ago, adan said:

So the wonky bokeh is available, but not omnipresent. Just depends on what you shoot, and how. (Which of course is generally true of most lenses ).

I'm not particularly interested in soap bubble bokeh but no doubt it will happen if I want it to when the sun comes out again!  I think the 'official' pre launch images that were linked to earlier in this thread may have been a bit of a mistake on CV's part that could lead many to think that's all the new Classic Heliar lens is about.  I said earlier in this thread that I think there is likely to be more to this lens than froth.

CV seem to be on a mission to drown the opposition in relatively affordable multiple choices of nicely-made high quality 35mm & 50mm lenses with individual characteristics and they seem to be paying better attention to the aesthetic appeal of their more recent releases, which is a bonus. 

 

[Ouroboros]

1 hour ago, 01maciel said:

nice and moody photos 👏. Do you have some photos in colour at f1.5?

Thanks. Not yet, but I'll run through some Ektar or Portra later.

[Charles Morgan]

Lovely low contrast images with discernible character that I like a lot. Thanks!

[adan]

I look forward to a detailed imaging comparison of the Nokton and the Heliar classic at some point (I'm sure someone will do one).

Just to get a sense of their relative imaging strengths and weaknesses in pictures, in case one or the other turns up used at my local shop (which is how I've acquired my 75 f/1.5 and 35 f/1.4 II).

[Guest JMF]

I look forward to a comparison with the Nokton Prominent lens !

[JonPB]

From the description of the lens as having prominent coma and spherical aberration, I did not expect to like this lens. But, looking at the samples that are available... wow.

The coma in this lens looks more like specular highlight blooming/glare, except that it adds movement toward the image center, and it is eliminated by stopping down. Mostly I think of "coma" as drawing wing-like structures, a blurring of the tangential plane in the corners; here, though, the coma also has a strong sagittal aspect, so while there is still a wing-like appearance, it is more like the wings are raised and joined together, so the effect is more like a fan than a wing. Add in a bit of specular highlight glare from the single coating and the visual effect becomes quite smooth... more like negative clarity that I might add (and have added) to images to achieve a mildly Impressionistic rendering. I usually expect coma to be minimal until reaching the corners where it appears suddenly and distractingly, but this combination of effects covers the entire frame fairly evenly and harmoniously.

At high-contrast edges, it looks like a lens that has unusually low global contrast, the kind which cannot be resolved by stopping down before being overtaken by diffraction. Yet, as far as I can tell, not having been able to work with raw files, this lens retains quite a lot of global contrast even wide open and definitely by f/4. I expect fine details in shadows to remain present with this heliar even after setting the black point to compensate for glare -- to an extent that lenses which accomplish this look through glare alone cannot achieve.

The spherical aberration is absolutely lovely. My personal benchmark in this area is the later Summicron-R, not because it is the best but because I am most familiar with it; this heliar appears to do spherical aberration, aka "Leica glow," better than the Leica. This happens because while there is tons of spheric blooming (and nearly a stop faster, to boot), I have seen almost no chromaticity to it. Again, I haven't worked with raw files, so it might have been hidden in post. But the chroma that I do see, which I've never seen as a consequence of post-processing, is the orange/cyan type that I find far more acceptable (and, incidentally, which I associate with Leica Asph lenses) than the comic-book-radioactive-goo red/green.

The technical downside of all that spherical aberration is that this lens will be resolution limited. I don't know where that will become apparent -- it might already be obvious at 100% on an M9, or it might not become apparent unless at minimum focus distance on an 80 megapixel sensor, but it'll show up eventually. But that'll only possibly be an issue at wide apertures, and if you want perfect pixels wide open then you already know this lens is not what you're looking for due to the coma et al that require no magnification to see. 

The practical downside of spherical aberration is that there's possibly tons of focus shift. I haven't heard any user comment on this -- it usually takes intentional testing to discern rather than the first-impressions we've seen so far, which is to suggest that while it is a huge deal to some people it isn't very important to most. But this is an open question.

A personal-preference effect of spherical aberration is nissen/bubble bokeh. Yet... I am oddly nonplussed by what I see. Perhaps I have seen so much harsh outlining from modern lens designs that eliminate aberrations except at their extremes, creating thinner and brighter lines than this lens' thicker but milder outlining. Or, perhaps I am used to outlines that are stretched and cropped, so these outlines, which are simpler and rounder further into the corners, are relatively pleasing. I don't like it, but neither do I find it objectionable. I expect to see many images where it is objectionable due to over-sharpening to "correct" for this lens' main trait -- negative large-structure contrast -- but that would be the photographer's fault, not that of the lens.

There's also a mild back-focus field curvature at the far edges/corners. The bulk of the frame appears functionally flat, and this curvature doesn't begin until well within the vignetting-induced depth of field changes, so I don't expect it to be a practical issue. But, on close inspection, it lends a resolution characteristic typical of wide-angle lenses that I rather like, being primarily a wide-angle shooter.

I'll need to reserve judgment until I see more critical reviews and/or get to play with lots of raw files. So far, I've seen only the samples folks have shared -- some delightful images, both demonstrating the lens and as photos in their own right, but likely not rejects that would illustrate things this lens does poorly. If nothing else, this lens gives me a bit of remedial education: so much of what I expect to see from lenses was what I've grown accustomed to from double-Gauss designs and complex zoom designs, and this lens is neither and so shows different family traits.

Overall, my first impression is not only unexpectedly positive, but enthusiastically so. It is like someone collected a passel of aggressive lens designs from the 1950s, identified their appealing traits and rolled them into a new construction. If I had the money in my pocket, I'd soon have a tracking number instead.

[FrozenInTime]

The sun came out briefly.

A pair f/1.5 and f/5.6 with the lens with a 2 stop ND on a SL2-S.

Processing same on both  limited to contrast and shadows.

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[FrozenInTime]

Another f/1.5

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[FrozenInTime]

And f/5.6

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