NEX Lens Perspective - 15mm vs 135mm

Here’s two separate subjects showing the difference in perspective between using a wide angle and a telephoto lens.  I used the NEX with two Leica LTM lenses to illustrate the difference, a Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 Super Wide Heliar and a Leica 135mm f4.5 Hektor.  In 35mm terms, this is approximately 22.5mm and 200mm for these two lenses respectively.  As both have a maximum aperture of f4.5, it will make an interesting comparison, despite an age difference of more than 50 years.

For the first shots of the leaf on our back deck, I used maximum aperture (f4.5 for both) and minimum focus distance (30cm on the Voigtlander and about 1.5m on the Leica).   As can be seen, the dominant difference is that the telephoto lens has the effect of creating a shallow depth of field, while the wide angle creates a dramatic landscape.

NEX with Leica 135mm f4.5 Hektor

NEX with Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 Super Wide Heliar

For the two second shots of the tree and the garage, I was about 15m away from the subject with the tele lens and about 3m away with the wide angle.  With these two shots it can be clearly seen that the Leica telephoto has the effect of compressing subjects together, while the wide angle makes subjects look further apart. Depending on the look you want will depend on the lens you choose.

NEX with Leica 135mm f4.5 Hektor

NEX with Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 Super Wide Heliar