New Heliar Vintage Line 50/3.5

"The goodness of the missing." I like that translation. For lenses I'll stick with what I've got for the moment. For making coffee I'll stick with the Bialetti. It is interesting. And it worked well for that shot of the E Type (XKE).
 
I picked up the new Voigtlander 50mm f3.5 Heliar Vintage Line lens at "Camera Onuki" a camera shop in Yokohama. Here are a few shots taken with the lens mounted on a Sony A7II.

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It's a nice lens. The finish is beautiful, it's like a piece of jewlery.
 
Hi!

I have this lens since a few weeks and I love it absolutely.
Colors are great, natural and with lots of nuances.

Depth rendering is absolutely stunning with this lens, regardless of the aperture used. There is a 3- dimensionality in it, which is very pleasing, at least to my eyes.

Sharpness is not everything, but if you want to go sharp, use it open at f/3.5.
if you want to go super- sharp, use it at f/5.6 or f/8.

Saturation and colors are the result of the Capture One Filmstyle Presets, which I purchased recently and just playing around a bit with them. The ´80s look (if you want) is therefore intended:)

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100% view from above:
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100% view from above:
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I rather like it!
but does anybody even make 27mm filters???
Looking at the B&H web site, several companies make UV filters in this size at reasonable prices. If you want colored filters of any sort, then you have the choice of Heliopan or Helipoan. At the appropriate Helipan price, which is about 1/4 the price of the lens itself.
 
Thanks for posting the pics Mike and Chev. If anyone is looking at them , make sure to click twice on them to see them in their proper glory.
 
Some great shots Mike.

I'll be headed out to photograph at a high school basketball game tonight. I think I'll pack mine with some Fuji 1600 and see how it turns out. Not the fastest lens but it is so capable wide open it might just work. :)
 
Some great shots Mike.

I'll be headed out to photograph at a high school basketball game tonight. I think I'll pack mine with some Fuji 1600 and see how it turns out. Not the fastest lens but it is so capable wide open it might just work. :)

3.5 is not bad. It´s depth of field is way more forgiving than f/2.0 or 1.5. Otoh it´s sharp! No distortion. Affordable. Light. I want one.
 
The Heliar is super-sharp, although it should be said that there are plenty of 50's that are sharp by f:3.5. Here is a head-to-head comparison I have posted before. Various M and LTM lenses mounted on an Olympus EP-3 several years ago.

Here's the scene:

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Here's the crop with a 50 Summilux Asph wide open:

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Here's the Heliar wide open (it's the Nikon mount with an Amadeo-to-Leica and Leica-to-Oly adapter):

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To my eye, it's pretty equal both on sharpness, contrast, and flare suppression (look at the specular highlight on the cup's rim). Just a Saturday morning exercise for a guy with too many lenses. But useful in this case. And in case you think that all lenses are created equal, here's a Summitar at f:2:

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and here's an Opton wide open (yikes):

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I should say that when you stop down any of these lenses to f:3.5-4, it gets very hard to tell them apart. Even the older lenses pick up some contrast and resolution stopped down a couple of stops.

For instance, here's the Opton (the worst of the bunch, needs a cleaning etc.) at f:4:

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My own conclusion: If I am choosing among these lenses for a walkabout town during the day, it doesn't matter too much which one I choose. Take one into a dimly lit bar, though, or shoot against the light in a dark space and the differences start to become worth choosing between/among.
 
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