Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5

[litos]

Does any one have any experience with this lens on an RD-1s for medium to semi-low light street photography? I was told it was a good choice and if set to f/8, becomes a 'point and shoot in hyperfocus mode'.

Alternatively, I'm eyeing the Voigtlander 21/4 or 21/1.9. For daytime, I am using a 35mm Canon f/2 screw mount. But I'd like to move into something wider /sharper too.

Any other suggestions? Any key points to consider?

I am a newbie proud owner of an RD-1 - my first real RF. Any help would be much appreciated!

Thanks.

 

[kbg32]

The CV 15 roughly translates to a 21mm on the RD-1. I've used it on the RD-1 and it worked great.

 

[sevres_babylone]

I quite like the 15mm on the Epson, which is a bit of a surprise because I don't think of myself as a wide guy. It is exceptionally compact and non-intimidating. It's use in low light is somewhat limited because it is an F4.5 lens, but I have used it. You can hand hold it at short shutter speeds, if you don't mind some blur.
I use the viewfinder from the CV 25. But some people prefer using one designed for a 21 mm lens. The lens is also noted for its vignetting on the Epson; the Epson software allows you to make some adjustments on your raw images to reduce that.
Below are some examples from my use.
To see the potential of the R-D1 Heliar 15mm combo, look at some of the work of Tommy Oshima:
http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=heliar r-d1&w=84717426@N00

 

[nksyoon]

Remember it's not RF coupled so you estimate the distance. This means you have to rely on DOF to get reasonably sharp pictures in many cases. This becomes more of a problem if you're shooting at f4.5 instead of f8 or f11.

 

[jbrough]

My favourite lens - it is slow, but since it has such amazing DOF you can set it to hyperfocus wide open and it still performs well. Also very light and compact. Would highly recommend you get one teamed with the 21mm VF or the (pretty hard to find now) CV15mm 'D' finder.

Best of luck!

 

[georgef]

Love this combo. a bit slow for avail light especially at night; my fav there is the 28 1.9

 

[JoshRoot]

medium to semi-low light street photography?

This is going to be the crux of your problem. It's a pretty slow lend for existing light photography. It's a great lens in terms of quality, and a light little wide package when on the R-D1. But it drove me nuts for low light stuff.

 

[kanxz]

I have try some photos on low light street. It's in China, Hangzhou,beautiful city!

 

[helloharry]

Shangri-la by CV 15

Shangri-la by CV 15

These are shots I took from Shangri-la, Yunan China, all on CV15..

http://web.mac.com/helloharry/iWeb/shiny%20harry%20documentary%20blog/lost%20horizon.html

 

[aniMal]

I used that combination, but ended up selling the 15mm because of horrible vignetting...

It didn´t help much correcting from RAW either, and strangely enough it looked like I got more vignetting than in the pictures posted here?

 

[RML]

I used to shoot a CV 25/4 on my Bessa R. When I switched to my R-D1, I needed something that came close to the 25 FoV. It took me more than a year before I landed me a CV 15/4.5. I don't use it very often. With the Bessa, 25mm was easy. With the R-D1, the 15mm isn't quite so. Somehow it's not the same feeling. And I'm having trouble controlling the light fall-off. Yet, when the situation demands a "25" I'll use that CV 15/4.5 on my R-D1 and never give the fall-off much thought.

 

[akptc]

Zenitar 16/2.8

Zenitar 16/2.8

A faster, cheaper, bulkier super-wide is the Zenitar 16/2.8, also a scale-focus lens. There are several on ebay right now, around $200 each. Has anyone used it on the RD1?

 

[sunsworth]

Too slow for low light photography IMHO.

Not much help in this forum, but the M8 does a great job in reducing the vignetting if the Voigtlander is coded as a 16/18/21 Tri-Elmar.

 

[RML]

A faster, cheaper, bulkier super-wide is the Zenitar 16/2.8, also a scale-focus lens. There are several on ebay right now, around $200 each. Has enyone used it on the RD1?

I have.
I found it very hard to correctly focus it as close distance.
It does have about the same FoV as the CV 15 though it has a bit more barrel distortion, which is to be expected.
It's huge, though, compared to the CV 15. And with all that glass exposed on the front, I would want to carry it around as a daily shooter.

 

[bellyface]

the cv 21 f4 is a fine alternative to the 15 heliar, and is coupled, and I thought was waaaaaaaay sharper