need help to buy a wideangle lens

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torchiam

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hi everyone

i am thinking of buying a wideangle lens for my leica.the really wide one.so the options are zeiss 15/2.8.voigtlaend 15/4 and 12/5.6.i am not a serious shooter,only do this for fun.so price is one of the factors.i do not know if zeiss is remarkably better than voigtlaender?dose it worth the money?or voigtlaender is good enough?and since i really want to some dramatic fisheye picture,is the 12/5.6 a better choice?

thank you for any comment!
 
torchiam said:
hi everyone

i am thinking of buying a wideangle lens for my leica.the really wide one.so the options are zeiss 15/2.8.voigtlaend 15/4 and 12/5.6.i am not a serious shooter,only do this for fun.so price is one of the factors.i do not know if zeiss is remarkably better than voigtlaender?dose it worth the money?or voigtlaender is good enough?and since i really want to some dramatic fisheye picture,is the 12/5.6 a better choice?

thank you for any comment!
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The VC 12mm and 15mm lenses are available in two versions - an older screw-mount version that is scale-focus only, and a new M-mount version that is rangefinder coupled (and, incidently, is also far easier to use with filters). Optically the old and new versions in each focal length are the same, and all versions are beautifully small and light. The 12mm f/5.6 is a superb lens, the only caveat being that it is *wide*. I love my screw-mount example enough that it earned itself its own Leica MDa; but you may find that it is simply too wide for your tastes.

Note that none of these is a fish-eye lens. They are simply some of the best ultra-wide rectilinear lenses one can buy.
 
thanks for the help.so if i read it right,you think there is no need to spend times of more money on zeiss for that a little larger aperture?
 
torchiam said:
thanks for the help.so if i read it right,you think there is no need to spend times of more money on zeiss for that a little larger aperture?
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I'm afraid I can't give you an objective answer to that. Ultimately it's all about the image quality, and only you can decide if it's worth your hard-earned pennies.

I personally wouldn't buy one, simply because I have the 12mm and prefer the crazy-wide field of view; on the other hand I couldn't promise not to hump the leg of anyone who gave me a Zeiss 15mm f/2.8.
 
The 12/5.6 is a great lens nd more fun than 15mm, I would exclude Zeiss for reason of cost and size.

15mm
1651845547_de15859969_b.jpg


12mm

3936390084_ba265e5085_b.jpg
 
I have the 12 and the 15; I haven't seen much use for the 15 since the 12 arrived. I would like to try the Zeiss someday - but I don't think I am as anxious to do so as Ruby...

Here is the M3 and 12mm:

4658154456_731dff1d70_o.jpg



and on the M9 in Color:
4670085381_6f6559f97d_o.jpg


and the 15 on an M3:


3730943928_d54a5f706b_o.jpg
 
sepiareverb said:
Nobody using the Zeiss 15?? I'm curious about how much it fills the aux VF in use. I'm considering cashing in all my G2 gear and going for the 15/2.8.
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unless you plan on doing night time external or indoors shots handheld, the heliar 15/4.5 does the job. it's so wide that you can take 1 second shots and not have them too blurred, if you have steady hands.

i could justify buying a 21/2.8, but a 15/2.8 feels not very necessary
 
torchiam said:
thanks for the help.so if i read it right,you think there is no need to spend times of more money on zeiss for that a little larger aperture?
Click to expand...

Zeiss 15/2.8 is a sharp and superb lens. Very well made in Germany. It is not rangefinder coupled. However, being so wide, scale focusing is relatively simple. You just have to be aware of the size and weight of the lens. You will not be disappointed. 😀
 
I've tried all three -- and the 16-18-21 Tri-Elmar.

The 15/2.8 is superb, but huge, heavy and expensive. If you need this lens you will KNOW that you need it: it's not an impulse buy. With a centre grad it gives optimum evenness of illumination with reasonable speed.

The 12/5.6 was too wide for me. I never though that could be the case (my widest lens on 35 is a 14; and I shoot interiors on 8x10 with a 110; and my wife's favourite lens on her Alpa is 35mm on 6x9cm), but it was.

The 15 gets a lot of use but the Tri-Elmar would get even more.

Cheers,

R.
 
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