CV 21/4 vs. 25/4

K

Kyle

Guest
I'm debating my next lens purchase, and its between the CV 25/4 and the CV 21/4. My main concern with the 21 is it will be too wide for practical purposes, and become a 'special use only' lens for me (if that makes sense). What I want is a lens that I can use when 35 isn't wide enough, or if I just want a wider perspective, to use for candids, etc. I'm just looking for some experiences from people. From what I've read, most people who own either of these lenses are very happy with them, so I'm not worried about them not performing well. I guess what I'm asking is, those that own only the 25, do you ever wish it were wider? Those that own the 21, do you ever think its too wide? For those that might own both, which do you use more often? I'm not really stressing over this next lens choice, I'd just like to hear some experiences to help tip my decision one way or the other.
 
Having bought the 25mm (never having owned anything wider than a 28mm for my SLRs) I got hooked on the effects of wider lenses - and got a 15mm as well. And very happy I am with them both. Not sure what I would have done if I'd bought a 21mm instead -I may have saved myself the expense of buying the 12mm! The gap between a 35mm and a 21mm just seemed too much at the time.
 
on thing to keep in mind is that the 21 is RF-coupled.. the 25 is not.. any comments from owners of the 25 about how this affects the way you shoot?
 
Once you go wide and like it you will go wider. The 25 VC is not RF coupled but that should not bet a problem with a very wide. I loved my 24mm Nikkor for my SLR and went with the 21VC for my RF kit, just to be different. along with a 35 and 90. You are right, you can't go wrong with either. Tough choice lots of luck.

Bob
 
I bought the CV25 and it fits perfectly in my lens line-up: 25, 35, 50 (a few), 85 (fast), 90 (light), 100 (small), 135 (cheap). I kind of like the zone focus method and don't miss the RF coupling. This is just my personal experience/preference though an would never suggest this is the only right way.
 
Re: the 25mm not being RF coupled - it makes me stop and thing properly about the effect I want with the depth of field. Do I want hyperfocal or not? With the soft 'clickstops' in the focusing you can still focus quickly once you get to know the lens.
 
I've never used an uncoupled WA lens but the RF coupling on the 21/4 elminates the guess work as for whether it's too wide, you can always get close - .7M minimum RF coupled focusing distance [.5M uncoupled]. Before acquiring this lens the widest I've used was a 28 and learning how to use the 21 was pretty much intuitive for my skill level. I like this lens very much!

Good luck with your search!
 
I'm among those who considers 21mm to be "too wide." I shot with a 24mm Nikon SLR lens for years and really prefer that focal length. When I used a 20mm SLR lens, it seemed too wide. When I put together a Nikon RF kit 16 years ago, Cosina wasn't making RF lenses, so I ended up getting a 28mm and 21mm lens (an excellent Zeiss Biogon). I always carry the 28mm and wish it were a little wider. I use the 21mm sometimes, but it seems too wide for everyday use, and not wide enough when I want to pull out all the stops.

My current lineup is: 21, 28, 35, 50, 85, 135 (I prefer the 28 but the 35 is two stops faster, so I always carry both).
If I were doing it all over today, my lenses would be 15, 25, 35, 50, 85, 135.

For what it's worth, my SLR lineup was: 17, 24, 50, 85, 180. I sometimes regret that I've got a larger assortment of wides with my rangefinders than SLR. But it's appropriate in view of the close-focusing limitations -- the different lenses give you a variety of trade-offs getting in close to your subject at minimum focus distance.
 
I think I'm going for the 25. That will put my lens setup at 25, a couple 35s, and a few 50s. I'll add a 75 or 90 later on. If I ever want to go wider, I can always get a 15.

Thanks for the help everyone! 🙂
 
Hi Kyle,

I've had both lenses and settled on the 25. I found the 21mm too dramatic - it looked very wide in my shots. It's a great lens but just wasn't for me. I love the 25mm, particularly for street shooting. It is distortion-free, and many people have commented, when looking at my pictures, that they really don't look like they were taken with a wide angle at all. With the 25, you get the benefits of wide angle shooting without the liabilities.

Some samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sockeyed/tags/254/

I should note that I find the scale focusing very easy to use and have yet to mis-focus a shot with it. When street shooting, I set it to f/8 and get everything from about 1m to infinity in focus. Even wide open at f/4 I find it very easy to use.

Enjoy making your choice and using whatever you decide to get.
 
sockeyed said:
Hi Kyle,

I've had both lenses and settled on the 25. I found the 21mm too dramatic - it looked very wide in my shots. It's a great lens but just wasn't for me. I love the 25mm, particularly for street shooting. It is distortion-free, and many people have commented, when looking at my pictures, that they really don't look like they were taken with a wide angle at all. With the 25, you get the benefits of wide angle shooting without the liabilities.

Some samples:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sockeyed/tags/254/

I should note that I find the scale focusing very easy to use and have yet to mis-focus a shot with it. When street shooting, I set it to f/8 and get everything from about 1m to infinity in focus. Even wide open at f/4 I find it very easy to use.

Enjoy making your choice and using whatever you decide to get.
Click to expand...
Thanks Ben! Thats exactly what I needed to hear, I'm going with the 25 for sure!
 
kyle said:
I'm debating my next lens purchase, and its between the CV 25/4 and the CV 21/4. My main concern with the 21 is it will be too wide for practical purposes, and become a 'special use only' lens for me (if that makes sense). What I want is a lens that I can use when 35 isn't wide enough, or if I just want a wider perspective, to use for candids, etc. I'm just looking for some experiences from people. From what I've read, most people who own either of these lenses are very happy with them, so I'm not worried about them not performing well. I guess what I'm asking is, those that own only the 25, do you ever wish it were wider? Those that own the 21, do you ever think its too wide? For those that might own both, which do you use more often? I'm not really stressing over this next lens choice, I'd just like to hear some experiences to help tip my decision one way or the other.
Click to expand...


If you want to meet up sometime, you could try my 25/4. If you can keep it near F11 the DOF is pretty much 3ft to infinity so you do not need to worry about the fact that it is not a coupled lens, I liked the lens when shooting the Pilgrim in Dana Point Harbor, the dock I was shooting from was too close for the 35 but the 25 was just fine. some day I plan on getting the 21 and the 90
 
Heads Up on CV 25/4 @ Photo Village

Heads Up on CV 25/4 @ Photo Village

kyle said:
Thanks Ben! Thats exactly what I needed to hear, I'm going with the 25 for sure!
Click to expand...

Kyle, if you are set on the CV 25/4 you might want to know that RFF sponsor Photo Village currently has NOS 25/4 Snapshot Skopars on sale for only $189. These particular lenses come with the old style non-brightline finders. Still, that's a screaming good deal if you ask me. They've also got chrome Bessa L bodies for $69 with the purchase of a lens and CV half-cases for only $1 with a body purchase. Follow the Photo Village link from the RFF home page.

For $259 you could own the 25/4, an L body to thread it onto, and a half case to carry the kit. The price of the current 25/4 (with brightline finder) alone is about $240-$265, depending on where you look.

I lurked in your thread because I wanted to buy a wide angle lens for my R body before I travel to Paris & Amsterdam in April. Like you, I have also decided on the 25/4.
 
cbass said:
Kyle, if you are set on the CV 25/4 you might want to know that RFF sponsor Photo Village currently has NOS 25/4 Snapshot Skopars on sale for only $189. These particular lenses come with the old style non-brightline finders. Still, that's a screaming good deal if you ask me. They've also got chrome Bessa L bodies for $69 with the purchase of a lens and CV half-cases for only $1 with a body purchase. Follow the Photo Village link from the RFF home page.

For $259 you could own the 25/4, an L body to thread it onto, and a half case to carry the kit. The price of the current 25/4 (with brightline finder) alone is about $240-$265, depending on where you look.

I lurked in your thread because I wanted to buy a wide angle lens for my R body before I travel to Paris & Amsterdam in April. Like you, I have also decided on the 25/4.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the heads up! I was planning on ordering the 25/4 and L from Mr. Gandy at CameraQuest, but now I'll have to look into this...
 
The 21/4 (being a typical 21mm lens) suffers from 'fat man' distortion. i.e. Objects near the edge of the frame get stretched out making them appear short and fat. The effect is much less with the 25/4

I have considered changing my 25/4 for the 21/4 but the super-wide distortion puts me off. Whilst it is possible to compose a photo in such a way as to hide the distortion, it really annoys me when the distortion is visible.

I probably will get a super-wide eventually but won't sacrifice the 25mm lens in order to get it. Can't make up my mind whether I should get the 21mm or the 15mm though. I've used super-wides in the past (down to 17mm corrected and 16mm fisheye) and know that I only used them seriously about twice a year. It's very difficult to get good a shot with a super-wide lens unless visit somewhere dramatic landscape like New York or the Scottish Highlands. I must admit though, I have seen some superb images in this forum using these lenses. I've also seen a few with wide-angle distortion that makes my teeth grate!!! That'll rattle a few cages!

My only gripe about the 25mm lens is the lack on rangefinder coupling. I've owned the lens for two years now and still forget when I switch from one of my other lenses to the 25mm.
 
After being reassured by the first rolls (I thought I would have a lot of out of focus pictures), I really enjoy the CV 25mm. The lens quality is awesome and scale focusing with it is totally easy and makes you feel like you are a master at guessing distances!
I shoot a lot with it and love it.

raoul
 
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