CV 15mm Super-Wide f4.5

[Nick De Marco]

New gallery up:

http://www.pbase.com/nickdemarco/15mm_ultrawide

Recently got my CV 15mm f4.5 lens for my R3A. Run the first film through it.

I like the fact the 15mm is small and light, and that you don't need to focus. i was impressed that nearly all (infact I think all) 36 exposures were correctly exposed - something I was worried about given the angle of field of the lens compared to the meter in the R3A. Generaly the sharpness/quality was very good. However, the viggnetting was about the worst I have ever seen. I have had to cut big portions out fo the frames to get rid of ugly black corners. Is this a common feature or do i have a bad copy?

 

[Bryce]

Light falloff is part of life with the 15mm. I'd guess about 1 1/2 stops at the extreme corners of the frame is what I get.
If you're bothered you can overexpose the center by a half stop, it will help bring the corners up a little; also, avoid shooting wide open.
I've grown accustomed to the darkened corners and don't complain any more... B+W's often have their corners burned for effect anyway, right?
If you insist on even lighting, photoshop or careful edge dodging could even things out. A center filter, if you can find an appropriate one, will cost as much as the lens and require a filter mount.

 

[Finder]

You will need to stop down to f/11 to eliminate mechanical vignetting. A center filter will help reduce the natural vignetting.