Voigtlander f4/21 lens

john341

john341

camera user
Local time
8:07 AM
Joined
Jul 11, 2008
Messages
387
I have received my new lens for my ltm and wonder if anyone has had any experience with this lens? I'm thinking flare (I do have a hood with it but its a complicated way of attaching it on the UV filter) and I wonder what the optics are like.. I think I am going to like the 21mm length..
 
I had the CV 24mm and somehow couldnt get used to the focal length. Then I got the CV 21 and really liked it! its very sharp, its as wide as i ever need it, I never felt that I needed 18 or 15mm. and it gives you a different aproach to street shooting.
 

Attachments

  • cv21.jpg
    cv21.jpg
    18.7 KB · Views: 0
  • cv21b.jpg
    cv21b.jpg
    31.1 KB · Views: 0
It likely depends on your style of photography, and also whether flare adds or detracts from your photos.

Maybe it's time for a 'with and without' test in your light and with your real world locations?

Can you tell Pepsi from Coke sort of thing.
 
I've shot some film this afternoon, I like the field of view..for me its similar to how I see the world. I just don't want too much distortion
 
lubitel said:
I had the CV 24mm and somehow couldnt get used to the focal length. Then I got the CV 21 and really liked it! its very sharp, its as wide as i ever need it, I never felt that I needed 18 or 15mm. and it gives you a different aproach to street shooting.
Click to expand...

Never heard of any CV24 ???
 
I have the LTM CV21, not that much distortion from what I've seen but that this would depend somewhat on the subject matter and viewpoint. Filter attachement isn't that bad as long as you don't often swap filters as the screw on hood has to be removed first.
 
Last edited:
After years of trying to find a 21/4 at bargain price I finally succeeded. I just tested it on my Tanack IV-S, expired Kodak Gold 100, Pasadena, CA. The raw images are a lot sharper than is apparent here since the RFF software degrades them quite a bit when displayed on the thread.

_16_00215.jpg

_22_00209.jpg

_25_00207.jpg
 
I've used a fellow RFFer's VC 21 during the last devmeet in barcelona. it's a great and sharp lens and its viewfinder is superb (although I shot most of my photos without it, just used the 0.72 finder with a little bit of imagination), but I remember having some little flare here and there in more or less "extreme" light situations. anyways, here's some shots:

3485085823_c6a816aae0.jpg
3504592979_6a87f47ee6.jpg


3494279843_eea2beaa02.jpg
3495096452_73b42025c2.jpg


3496971555_e17a7aeb24.jpg
3510270622_8d956a0df8.jpg


3509459025_23b4ff597f.jpg
3511243028_28e5129172.jpg


3511244498_f49516d86f.jpg
3510435557_4da05efd1b.jpg


3511243306_5b7d41024e.jpg
3510434039_6b604c6f5d.jpg


3505402984_a2df6a7e38.jpg
3510271096_93f16c28d7.jpg


3510434221_71d7b3c14f.jpg
 
Last edited:
Voigtlander f4/21 lens

Love the 21mm lens but the viewfinder - or actually it's plastic foot - is much too fragile and doesn't have a lock. So I broke the foot one day when it dropped. Grrr...
 
Yeah, my plastic 21MM Voigtlander broke its foot too. I'm debating if it's worth another $128 or just wing it. How much extra could it really cost to use some kind of fiber reinforcing molded into the plastic?
 
David Murphy said:
After years of trying to find a 21/4 at bargain price I finally succeeded. I just tested it on my Tanack IV-S, expired Kodak Gold 100, Pasadena, CA. The raw images are a lot sharper than is apparent here since the RFF software degrades them quite a bit when displayed on the thread.
Click to expand...

Try resizing the images on your computer without resampling before you upload them here. I notice less softening of images (due to compression) on RFF than I do on flickr and some other sites. Elements 'Save for Web' function can be kind of brutal sometimes.
 
There is a reason for the plastic "foot" on the VC finder. Just as with the old Vivitar 283 flash - it is designed to break, before you put too much stress on the top-plate!
Someone in the 70's made a replacement "foot" in metal and it quickly resulted in a whole bunch of bent tops on various SLR's.
This said, the foot on the VC finders is a bit fragile, though I have only broken one (stumbled and fell on a Nikon SP with the VC 21/4 and VC finder). The foot snapped off, but a bit of "Crazy glue" took care of it. The cost of fixing the finder was zero - the cost of replacing the lens in my eye-glasses cost me $700. Neither the SP, nor the lens suffered any major damage - some more scratches on the SP and the little round hood on the 21 was less round after it.
 
I'm awaiting mine to arrive any day.

I was on the look out for an R2A, then for some reason started looking at the R4A, then was curious as to what sort of results people were getting with the 21mm. After seeing what people were posting on Flickr with this lens, I had a sudden GAS attack and by the luck of it, there was one available for quite a reasonable price. There was a timespan of about 10 minutes from the time I had the urge to get one before finding one for a good price!

I need to stay off the computer during lunch...
 
Heh, quite a lot of this lens going around lately it seems. I just received mine last week and it looks very nice (tiny). I like 21mm angle, quite wide, even considering that my wide end was covered by the ungodly 12mm till now. f4 is not too fast, but I found it sufficient, at least in this season. Gotta develop the film and I expect nice surprises from it :)
 
Joe Brugger said:
Try resizing the images on your computer without resampling before you upload them here. I notice less softening of images (due to compression) on RFF than I do on flickr and some other sites. Elements 'Save for Web' function can be kind of brutal sometimes.
Click to expand...
OK thanks for the tip -- I'll experiment. Right now I'm viewing this thread on an iMac with digital LCD video and all the images look a lot crisper than on my cheesy old Windows PC at home with analog video.
 
Those are great shots simon. And i mean really great. Congrats. I got the VC 21 too, nice little lens, seems just a bit soft at f4. Didn't have time yet to do much shots but I hope to take some snaps in New York soon with it.
 
reuno said:
Those are great shots simon. And i mean really great. Congrats. I got the VC 21 too, nice little lens, seems just a bit soft at f4. Didn't have time yet to do much shots but I hope to take some snaps in New York soon with it.
Click to expand...

thank you so much!
I didn't find it very soft at f4 though, then again my crappy scanner is maybe not the best reference :bang:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom