Sydney Harbour with the Voigtländer Heliar Classic 50mm/1:1.5 and Leica M10

This is part of a series of articles showcasing pictures taken on the Voigtländer Heliar Classic 50mm/1:1.5. These pictures were taken around Sydney Harbour at Campbell Cove and Dawes Point.

The Voigtländer Heliar Classic 50mm F1.5 VM is a unique lens that is designed to show a shaping-classic image at open aperture by intentionally leaving aberration. In particular, at the F1.5 aperture, a bokeh effect is apparent, creating spherical and chromatic aberrations at the edges of the image that would be difficult to create through digital processing.

The second photo, taken at f4, shows the Sydney Opera House in focus along with the buoy in the foreground.

The first photo, taken at f1.5 (maximum aperture), slightly defocuses the Opera House and makes it slightly "glowy".

Please click on any photo to view in a lightbox. Use arrow keys or swipe to navigate.

Opera House (Leica Camera AG LEICA M10 Summicron-M 1:2/28 ASPH. [28mm,f2,1/4000s,ISO200])

Opera House (Leica Camera AG LEICA M10 Summicron-M 1:2/28 ASPH. [28mm,f2,1/4000s,ISO200])

Here are additional photos showing the aberration and "look" at wide open aperture. At the end of the day, whether this is pleasing or jarring will depend on your personal perspective. I find some of the photos have a dreamy look that I like, others I can live without.

For more information on the Heliar Classic 50mm lens, check out my initial impressions article and other articles in the series.