Carl Zeiss Hologon - history, versions, knowledge, links, pictures

[Erik van Straten]

Contax G1, Hologon 16mm f/8, Tmax400.

1995. Smoking was still allowed in Mc Donalds in Amsterdam.

Erik.

 

[raid]

WOW! Thanks for this one, Erik. This lens "is" special.

 

[Erik van Straten]

Contax G1, Hologon 16mm f/8, Tmax400.

Erik.

 

[raid]

It seems that the Hologon can help the photographer create even more interesting images!

 

[menos]

Great shots Erik!

Here is two of some of the first shots I did with the Hologon when I had it new.
I loved that lens on the MM although it really shows very strongly darkened bands left and right in the frame (digital sensor restriction with these extreme optical designs) - you can hide them though or embrace them with certain subjects.

These are from a series in a rural Chinese scrapyard and were all shot handheld at very slow shutter speeds, so they do not represent the resolution and definition the Hologon is capable off, rather my caffeine induced handshake ;-)

scrap yard - hydraulic cutter by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

scrap yard - scrap metal hall by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

 

[Erik van Straten]

Great shots, Dirk. An advantage of the Hologon is that you can use relative long speeds before motion blur becomes evident. With normal lenses f/8 is not exactly fast.

Erik.

 

[raid]

These are beautiful images.

 

[menos]

Thanks Erik and Raid.
Yes, these extreme wide angle lenses indeed allow for very slow shutter speeds (and you need them when shooting this lens with a filter @ f16).

Those shots were at the very edge of what I consider for myself now doable if you are using film for nice results (1/8th, ISO 800 or 1600 and the Hologon in a dark place during daylight).

The slow speeds are ok if you are not pixel peeping, but if you do, you will find the amazingly high resolution of the Hologon … and any form of camera shake ;-)

Here are a few detail shots also done with the Hologon at the same place.
Yes, the dials of the regulator on the gas bottle are perfectly readable in high magnification.
I am sure that once we will have ~40MP digital Leica M bodies, the Hologon will be one of the few lenses making use of that resolution.

scrap yard - cutting torch by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

I always liked the way the Hologon handles bright lights in the frame - it always looks very natural and cinematic to me - no ugly flare, very gradual light spill - especially on digital sensors this is a lens quality one can make use of (the weak point of digital sensors being highlight transitions):

scrap yard - gas bottles by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

Here is a shot that to me perfectly describes the tonality of the Hologon + MM combination and why I loved it so much (don't have the camera any longer sadly). This combo pumps out this type of tones shot for shot without much editing necessary - something I never achieved with the 15/4.5 CV.

scrap yard - hydraulic cutter by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

Actually looking at these old shots makes me want to grab that lens and mount it on a film body to shoot some TriX (I never did until now).

 

[robert blu]

Great photos Erik and Dirk, for sure an interesting lens in the right hands.
Hmmm I have to remind myself I do not need another lens...this thread is so tempting...🙂
robert

 

[Erik van Straten]

Dirk, I am reading a book about the First World War at the moment. These pictures of you could be a splendid illustration.

Contax G1, Hologon 16mm f/8, Tmax400.

Erik.

 

[raid]

I am now even more excited to soon receive my M mount Hologon. I will try to use it well and often. Thanks for all of the combined input from several people here. This is Dirk's thread!

 

[menos]

Great photos Erik and Dirk, for sure an interesting lens in the right hands.
Hmmm I have to remind myself I do not need another lens...this thread is so tempting...🙂
robert

Robert, if you are a wide angle photographer (I am not) and if you like symmetrical lens designs for their specialties, the Hologon is one of the must haves.
If you enjoy architecture and like to shoot from a tripod (I almost never do) you will love the Hologon.

If you look from the side and find the Hologon interesting for it's exotic merits (I did) then the price one has to pay nowadays may not warrant owning one. Think hard before committing.
If you are in the first group of people though it is a lens that couldn't be more satisfactory.

Although I wrote the above comments, I urge people though that the Hologon can also be a lightheartedly used "snapshot lens". There is no rule that forces one to use it with perfect composition and carefully aligned angles.

Dirk, I am reading a book about the First World War at the moment. These pictures of you could be a splendid illustration.

Contax G1, Hologon 16mm f/8, Tmax400.

Erik.

Thanks for the kind word Erik, but WOW you comment so humbly and then knock out a photograph with such a pristine composition - simply beautiful!
For everyone who hasn't shot an extreme wide angle lens on a camera that doesn't allow a view through the lens - this is next level photography ;-)

I am now even more excited to soon receive my M mount Hologon. I will try to use it well and often. Thanks for all of the combined input from several people here. This is Dirk's thread!

Oh Raid it's not mine, it's The Hologon's Thread ;-)
I am very happy people find the topic interesting and share anything related to this lens, be it comments, historic facts, technical aspects, photographs (ESPECIALLY photographs) from and comparing to the Hologon.
I am sure people will find this interesting in years to come.

Raid, as long as you can make use of the loner M240 once you receive your Hologon, I urge you to get your hands on one of the EVF for the time you have the camera.
Although I am big fan of the Leica Universal Wide Angle Finder (aka Frankenfinder), the EVF on the M240 family of cameras really opens up new uses with the Hologon not only with much easier composition but also life view with TTL metering AND the ability to fold the finder upwards and use the lens in very low perspectives an eye level finder does hardly allow.

Here are a few shots I took with the Hologon and the current Leica MM M246 (I am not a fan of the camera as I consider this camera a step backwards from the original MM).
I am not certain how the Hologon performs on this sensor (closely related to the M240 color sensor). On the very few occasions I used the Hologon on this camera I had mixed results that didn't fully satisfy me.
The extreme darkening of the image sides was more pronounced on the few sample shots I did (I corrected that in edit on the shots I felt necessary). I also had a few shots that just did not show the extreme crisp detail across the frame the Hologon is known for (never had such an issue on the original MM). I do doubt though that it also had to do with accidental misfocussing on those shots.

At the racetrack:
Untitled by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

Untitled by Dirk Steffen, on Flickr

 

[Erik van Straten]

Thank you for the compliments.

Great shots again, Dirk, splendid composition, timing, subject matter and all that. Marvelous. No misfocusing.

The best you can do on shots like these is: focus on infinity.

This thread makes me wonder why there was on RFf never earlier a thread on the Hologon. I also wonder how many Hologons were made. Has anybody an idea? There must have been several batches.

Erik.

 

[retinax]

Wonderful photographs in this thread by all contributors! They all really stand out from the mass of tiring super wide shots. I expect prices for the Hologon to go up now as people will believe they could get shots like these if only they had that lens.

 

[robert blu]

I had some experience in the past with ultra wides on my film cameras (Bessa R and M7) when I tried first the CV 15/4,5 which I later changed for the CV 12/5,6 (both first version LTM).

I found the 12 too extreme compared to the 15 (in other words it had been better not to change!) . Using extreme wides is (was for me) more difficult than I had believed but with a certain practice, when you know it can be rewarding. Of course practicing on film becomes expensive 🙂

Never tried it on my M10 *

I understand the Hologon is in a different league therefore I'll follow this thread with attention. And waiting for Raid's photos.

robert

* I'll try it just for curiosity on day or the other...

 

[Emile de Leon]

I use my WATE quite happily..but the Hologon...hmmm....tasty...lol...

 

[rfaspen]

I don't need a Hologon. But I WANT a Hologon.

I will be curious to see how Raid gets along with the lens. From this thread, it clearly has a different look than my CV 15mm lens, and I quite like it. But, the lens is pretty quirky too.

I wonder what the going rate is for one of these? I'd need M-mount too, but I looked at the "kit" conversion online and it seems good for me.

But, I don't need another lens. I don't.

 

[raid]

Dirk: I already own an Olympus EVF that can be used with Leica cameras. It sits on the M240 these days.

 

[Rob-F]

I must say the shots in this thread are very well done, and speak well both for the Hologon and the photographers. Eric, Corran, et. al., nice work. All the shots show good contrast and tonality, and low distortion. There is of course vertical convergence in some shots, but that's only a consequence of tilting the camera. My eye does not detect any barrel or pincushion distortion, nor any center bulging in there shots.

 

[phofseth]

As I recall, the Zeiss made, Leica marketed Hologon that I bought new a long time ago was free of barrel\pillow distortion, had high contrast but not overwhelming sharpness. With the "verlauffilter", light loss, but no vignetting.

Years later, I exchanged it for a suitable wad of cash plus an ultra scarce half-frame Alpa.

p.