Discoveries I: Discovering 15mm

[rxmd]

Hi,

Recently at the RFF EuroMeet Berlin 2008, when we went shooting for a day, Michiel was so kind to lend me his 15/f4.5 CV ultrawideangle, so I strapped it on a FED-2 and shot a roll of film with it. I liked the lens a lot.


For cityscapes the lens is interesting. You get a lot on the frame and you get unusual perspectives, especially with verticals. The rendition is actually quite nice, too, even though the perspective tends to distract a little bit. I guess you can get quite dramatic skies as well, this one isn't particularly dramatic yet.

Framing can be a little difficult with the external finder. This is partly the fault of my FED-2, which has a recessed accessory shoe so that the finder doesn't sit 100% horizontal. Either way framing remains guesswork, though.


This was shot from a tower block looking downwards. If you look at the buildings to the left and to the right, you see that it can be difficult to get straight lines with the lens. But then that is fine with me, since I'm usually not aiming for straight lines anyway!

 

[rxmd]

The lens works quite well in portrait and street photography too, once you get a little used to it:



You need something in the foreground, otherwise the frame will be completely empty. So for portrait work you have to go in very close, and that forces you to interact with people a lot more. Of course things look a little mashed at the edge of the frame, but that seems to be the price you have to pay (apart from ditching the idea of straight horizontals & verticals).



The lens works well in unobtrusive photography. (Whether that's your cup of tea or not is another question.) If they're not in the center, people won't notice that they're being photographed because the camera is clearly not pointed at them. Also, you can shoot from the hip and still hope to have people's heads on the frame. As always it's a bit hit and miss. Vignetting is a problem, of course, but then it only adds to the dramatizing effect of the extreme perspective.

All in all it's still a special effect lens, but a nice one. It's a substantial step upwards from the 21mm that I've been using, and that was quite extreme already. I wouldn't be using it very often, but certainly more often than a fisheye (or a >75mm tele lens for that matter). I'm still not getting one in the near future probably, but I've come to like it.

Philipp

 

[kully]

As Michiel said - you seem to have gotten the hang of 15mm straight away... I especially like the 2nd shot in your first post.

 

[lZr]

I remember the bad side of my SLR and 17 mm Sigma, my wife and Viena. She stood far to the left and got 5 kg more at once. Don't shhot me again with this lens, or .....s***t.
I learned much from this trip. To use properly 15 mm RF, it is better to work in parallel with pano camera.
Cameraquest have double hot shoe for your VF and level tool. Try it. I have one built in in my Horizon pano camera. Also there are double level tools for those who are more insistive

 

[Bill58]

I'm glad you noted that the VF was somewhat tilted on the camera--otherwise we would have thought that you had a few too many of Munich's fine beer before you took some of those shots.

I want a 15mm too, but wonder if I have the skill to use it effectively.

Bill

 

[Bill58]

I'm glad you noted that the VF was somewhat tilted on the camera--otherwise we would have thought that you had a few too many of Berlin's fine beer before you took those shots.

I want a 15mm too, but wonder if I have the skill to use it effectively.

Bill

 

[Keith]

I drag my 15mm out when I feel stale and need a new perspective ... the challenge of using it and getting a good result is very satisfying. If you don't mind the distorted proportions it makes an interesting portrait lens!