Is the 12mm Heliar sharp ?

A

angeloks

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Hi !

I've been considering buying this lens for over a year. I always used WA on my SLR. I got the Sigma 12-24 for Canon. It was soft, soft and soft. I sold it as fast as I could. But I'm now missing the 12mm...

So, I'm using the 50mm f2.5 Color Skopar. How does the 12mm compare in terms of sharpness ? Center and corner ?

Thanks,
Julien
 
As always, go to Flickr and tag in "Voigtlander Heliar 12mm f5.6" and there should be plenty of examples. I have two of them, one is a LTM version and the other is the Nikon F version.
It is a very sharp lens. It does have a distinct fall off - but it is after all a 12mm!!!! Very well corrected for flare and distorsion (not distorsion free - but considering that it is a 126 degree wide angle, very good). You quickly find out how level you can hold a camera with this lens - ANY tilt or horizontal level mistake shows up. A form a spirit level is a good thing to add as an accessory.
 
I have the 18f4 Distagon too. It is a different animal than the 12f5.6 or even the 15f4.5. The Distagon can be used as a 18 mm or almost pass for a 21 too. Optically it is very good - remarkably vignett free - sharp acros the board, even at f4.
I like the 12/18/25 kit for wide angle work - they are all very good lenses - but the 12 is more of a "special case" lens - not a "walk about" wide. Takes a bit to get used too and I also find that metering with the 12 is tricky as you often find light sources scrambling the meter input way out there in the edges! Hand held meter works best.
 
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Star Ferry terminal Hong Kong 2000. Bessa L, Heliar 12mm f5.6 and Neopan 400 in D76 !:1 and hand held at 1 sec. I braced myself against a lamp-post - ultra wides are easier to shoot at ragged edge low light, particularly as there is no mirror "slap".
 
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Havana, Cuba 2000. I had just gotten this lens prior to going to Havana. I stuck it on the Bessa L and also took along some Neopan F (40asa - now sadly out of production). This is a narrow laneway - about 8-10 feet wide. It takes on a 'boulevard" feel with the 12mm!
This is handheld 5.6 and 1/4 sec (40 asa is slow).
When I went back to Havana in 2002, i was surprised to find this lane again - it is very narrow!
 
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Tom that last shot is cracking
the texture of the ground and walls is great and the blurred figure makes the frame
really nice...makes me want the lens haha
 
That 1st shot is a stunner! The 12 is not an easy lens, but when you get it right - there is nothing like it!
Have you found too, that it does promote vertical shooting! I find that I tend to flip to verticals using it, more than I do with other wide angles.
 
I once had this lens.

My biggest problem was with smearing my sweaty arm over the protruding front element while the camera was over my shoulder. And when I discovered it, I found that it was a bitch to clean for some reason.

Sometimes I wish that I hadn't sold it off a year or so ago.
 
I tried a friend's 12 but decided that the 15 was a a focal length that I seemed to have an instinctual feel for seeing. The 12 just didn't fit my vision. To me though, it's very much a horizontal lens. I enjoy working with the distortion, and all the crazy things it does to angles and perspective.
 
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