L + 15

[RML]

Last week I ran into an ad for a Bessa L + 15/4.5 + VF for the teeny sum of 269 euro, second hand. I called and got the info I needed, paid and... today the camera arrived! :dance:

I'm pretty happy. This is a silver L, and I already had a black one. The 15 /4.5 will be a nice addition for the R-D1, though I noticed quite some vignetting already. No problem. PhotoRAW can handle that. The 25/4 VF as a whole matches the view of the 15/4.5 on the R-D1, though at close-up range parallax problems occur. No problem. I'll learn to deal with that.

In spite of the recent threads "complaining" (kidding guys and gals!) about too much gear-oriented threads, here is some camera pr0n. 😛

 

[oscroft]

Hi RML,

I have a CV 15 and I love it, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. (I haven't been here long, and my gallery only has a few 15mm test shots so far - I'm in Thailand right now, with Bessa-L plus 21 and 15, so hopefully I'll get a few shots worth sharing).

I actually found surprisingly little vignetting using it with a Bessa-L (see my test shots), but I believe vignetting is usually much worse with a digital CCD, so maybe that's the difference. Personally I'd think it was wasted on an R-D1, but then I'm a wideangle freak and I love every degree of coverage.

But anyway, that's a great price and hope you have fun with it - however you choose to use it, please do show us the results.

Best,
Alan

 

[RML]

I have no doubts the vignetting on the L will be less or nearly non-existent than on the R-D1. But Epson PhotoRaw has a nifty tool that removes the vignetting, and it does a more than decent job. I'll have to experiment with it to see what will work best. I needed the 15 to replace the 25 on the R-D1. I used to shoot much with the 25 on film because I needed the wide angle. On the R-D1 the result is cropped to a FoV of a 38mm lens. The 15 will give me a F0V of a 22mm lens. Perfect. 🙂

 

[rvaubel]

RML
The 15mm is great on the R-D1 . Like you figured, it has a 22mm equivalancey. For a viewfinder, I did something really extravagant and bought a 21mm Ziess Ikon finder from Stephen Gandy. Boy oh boy, what beautiful optics. Much less barrel distortion and much greater eye relief than the VC. But $$$$
The VC is fine for the money. The Zeiss is for where you spend your lottery winnings.

Rex

 

[RML]

Rex, the nice thing is that I already owned a 25mm vf. 🙂

I'm gonna keep my money in my pocket an duse it for trips, books, film (yes, film) and maybe some courses; after I've paid for everything else: mortgage, food, cloths, etc. 🙂

 

[rvaubel]

RML
You would waste your camera money on food?

Rex

 

[RML]

You would waste your camera money on food?

Uuuuuuh, I think I'm found out! 😛

As much as I would like to spend a year roaming the world like Koudelka does, I can't. My priorities are different and I take my (socially and self-imposed and culturally defined) responsibilities to wife and kid quite serious. But I'm planning to do a bit of roaming this summer. Not for days or weeks on end but just for a day at a time. Leaving home in the morning and just walk, camera in hand, the whole day (for instance from Amsterdam to Utrecht, for those familiar with Holland) and just shoot what I see wherever I end up. Nice thing is that I can take the train or bus back home when I'm spent. 😛

See, I don't need that much camera money. Anyone has some cookie crums left for me? 😀

 

[derekphan]

Hi, do you guys know how much the second hand 15mm CV usually costs? Thank a lot.

 

[derekphan]

What do you mean by patience? Is this lens very hard to find? Thank

 

[derekphan]

Hi, thank a lot. I've just bought a 15mm with M mount adapter and finder for $240. Funnily, the seller said that the lens is absolutely M mount because he used it on his Hexanon. And I thought maybe this one is a special edition or something. I'm newbie too. In the end, it turned out that the lens come with the LTM to M converter. 😀