thoughts on wide angle

[msvadi]

Hi guys,

I have an R3A with Nokton 40/1.4, and I mostly like street photography (some examples here http://msvadi.photosight.ru ). Lately, I started to look for a wide angle lens. I have been thinking about adding the 21/4 lens, primary because it's rangefinder coupled. Then, I noticed that on camera quest they are selling a Bessa L with 25/4 for much less than the price of 21/4. I would also have to purchase an udapter to mount 21/4 on the Bessa R3A. Having two bodies is fun, no need to switch lenses. However, I like that 21/4 is rangefinder coupled and wider. I would appreciate any thoughts on 21/4 vs. 25/4 + Bessa L.

Thanks

 

[BrianPhotog]

I don't have the 21 (I do have the 15mm, but use it only rarely.).

I love the L & 25. They are permanently "married" 🙂

 

[Doug]

25 or 28 would be a very useful combination with your 40mm. Of course lens RF coupling is irrelevant for the Bessa-L since there's no RF to couple to... 🙂 But I embarked on a project of indoor wide-angle environmental portraits, starting with the 25 on an RF camera... and I DID have concerns about accurate focus wide open at close distance. Under those circumstances, RF coupling (and a stop more speed) would be useful and comforting. But I had already formed a fondness for the 25 on a 2-week trip to Europe where it was the ideal lens for older areas with narrow streets and other sight-seeing stuff. The 25 is optically excellent and a perfect match with the Bessa-L. You'll have to decide if it fits your picture-taking needs.

The 21 is a lot wider angle than the 25... 90 degree angle versus 82 degrees... doesn't seem like much but in practice it is. Think 75 deg for 28mm and 56 deg for 40mm.... I have the 15mm Heliar too, and also the 21 for my Contax G, and I find the 21 is the edge of the cliff for super-wide lenses, the borderline of relatively normal usability. Even with 25 it takes training your eye to see picture possibilities that fill the frame, and the wider you go the stranger it gets! With 21 and wider it is quite challenging to avoid making "WIDE" the subject of the photo.

With a 40mm, I find the 28mm is a fine companion, and have ended up with these two and their medium-format equivalents as favorites in my camera systems. This just seems to suit most of what I do, but I still like the 25 when not shooting close and wide open.

 

[jcline]

I've got the 21mm and rangefinder coupling isn't that nessicary really. Hyperfocus at f4 is already like 6ft to infinity. The one nice thing about the 21 is the close focus is 1/2 meter (un rangefinder coupled). Just a tip though, if you ever need just a little more close focus, especially if you've got the depth of field to spare, you can always unscrew a LTM lens a little to get it. I've got the 21mm and the 15mm both fun lenses when you're feeling A little odd.. However I'm tempted by the L + 25mm combo as well for when I'm feeling a little more normal.

 

[MicheldeG]

I use a Bessa R with cv's 50 and 35. I recently bought a Bessa l and i've put my cv 28 on it and I love this combination. It's fun to have two bodies ready to shoot with, and with a 28 lens or wider you don't have to focus very accurately. Even when using the rangefinder coupled cv 28 on my bessa r, I 'guestifocused' and I didn't bother to use te rangefinder.

 

[cbass]

I can't offer any advice on the 21/4, but I own and use the Bessa L and 25/4. I used my L and CV 25mm & 15mm lenses on a trip through Holland and France two weeks ago and was very happy with the results. The 25/4 shows very little distortion and has excellent contrast and color rendition. It works great with films like Kodak UC 400.

One would think that given the mere 4mm difference in focal length between the 21 and 25 lenses that the results from the two would be similar, but users report that the 21 has a more prominent wide-angle signature. The 25/4 is wide enough to capture sweeping scenes but not so wide that you have to concentrate heavily on your foreground composition. It's a bit easier to isolate a subject with the 25/4 than with the CV 15/4.5, for example. I'd probably choose the 25 for street shooting.

Since you can buy an L body for not much more money than an M mount adapter, I'd go that way. You can leave the 25 mounted on the L and have a two-body kit (changing LTM lenses and VFs is a royal pain).

Good luck with your decision.

 

[RML]

I personally went for the L + 25/4. With such a wide angled lens I've never felt the need for rangefinder coupling. The DoF, even at f4, is already huge so I must completely forget to pre-set any distance to get out of focus images. At f8 I just set distance at 2 meters and get nearly the entire world in focus. Why would you need rangefinder coupling?! 🙂

Save yourself some money and get the L + 25/4.

If you need convincing, check _my photo portfolio. Especially in the PAW before 2005 there are tons of photos taken with the 25/4.

 

[msvadi]

Guys, thanks for all the replies. I really did not expect such a support in favor of 25+L combo.