Love those small C/V wides!

B

Benjamin Marks

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I was packing a bag for the weekend and I looked at a C/V 21/f:4 lens. It is tiny, light, sharp. Not the fastest offering, but DAMN. I think the RF community is pretty lucky that Mr. Kobiashi produced these lenses. This is a "why not pack it" lens. And suddenly there are all sorts of things you can do in the street that you couldn't do before.

So: here's to Mr. Kobiashi and these C/V wides. It's a good time to be an RF photographer.

Ben Marks
 
A great point Ben. Even some of his more recent faster glass is REALLY small. I got around the speed issue with a bit of thinking and creativity. Pres. K. is da' Man and has built a sold niche market in RFs.

Have a great weekend.

B2 (;->
 
and the semi-wides, too!

and the semi-wides, too!

For all its detractors, I think that 35/1.4 is a marvel for its size and speed, and its look on film.
 
LTM 28/3.5 bought last week off an RFF member on ebay. Incredible lens, extremely well made and I cant even see it through the VF even with the hood on. AFAIC it is lenses like that that make it worth getting into rangefinders.
 
I have the 21 in Nikon S mount..... if it weren't for cv no way would I be shooting that focal length on my Nikon S. Plus the finder that came with the lens is a killer!!
 
I have been a rangefinder user for 50+ years - and we have never had it so good! Just look at the selection of optics available in the last 10 years!
We can extol the virtues of the old Leica glass, and some of it is good, but with the selection out there now - we cant complain about the variety of lenses and "limitations" due to lack of choices.
Mt Kobayashi revitalized the optical field for Rf's - and in so doing forced Leica to try to catch up.
Life is good in the RF world!
 
Her's a picture from just a moment ago.

4586292961_e5f8c97c4e_o.jpg


C/V 21/f:4 lens @ f:11; M8 ISO 160; U/V IR filter; Auto WB/Auto Exp.

And a detail of the next frame:

4586917910_a83818b8ff_o.jpg


Same stats, next frame on the card, cropped at 100%.

I usually shoot these in RAW so the image on my screen is quite a bit richer in detail than what I can show here. Actually the down-res'ing necessary to post to a web site helps me understand why camera-phones are so popular. If you are going to discard the data in the first place, why bother creating it?

Anyway, off to the big city with this tiny gem on the camera. No apple blossoms in New York this time of year.

Ben Marks
 
I'm such a fan of the VC lenses that I only use a 28mm f/3.5 and the 35mm f/2.5 and no Leica lenses. It is amazing how two of the cheapest new lenses you can buy are enough to satisfy.
 
in agreement!

I bought them initially because they were small. But I find that I go to them more often because they produce nice images, are lovely to look at, and are a joy to use.
 
Three cheers for Mr. K! I love those lenses. My 15 lives on a Bessa L body. The rest (21/4, 28/3.5, 35/2.5) are part of my R4m kit. If I had to choose favorite it would be the super robust 28/3.5.
 
Since this thread has become more or less a lovefest for CV lenses and Mr. K, let me just say that small lenses are nice, but my favorite LTM/M mount CV lens is one of, if not the biggest, the CV 35/1.2.
 
they have the special lenses like widest lens in 35mm photography, 12mm and fastest 35mm lens 35mm f1.2
I have 15mm and I would like to have a 35mm f1.2
 
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