what is your widest lens and why?

[Nachkebia]

My widest in use is 25mm because I don`t need external viewfinder to compose, I hate to use 21mm with external viewfinder, waiting for R4 to use 21mm, also waiting for 18 biogon 😀

 

[thafred]

Joe...I agree with doug (excellent rendition of your G-lens btw!!)...I think 15 basicaly is too wide for Street in general but could lead to some very interesting compositions for particular subjects.
It takes a totaly different approach to do street when shooting 21mm or shorter but can be a rewarding experience (when I do this I leave the 40 at home so I´m not tempted to use it) and it can even look "not Ultrawide" with the 21 at least...with the 15 i´m not sure if you can mask the UW factor but work with it instead wich will be chalenging at least.

one of my recent shots were I think the 21 behaves very humane:

 

[oscroft]

My widest is a CV 15, and the reason that's my widest is because I don't have the money for a 12 😉

But seriously, I also have a CV 21, and that gets far more use than the 15. The 15 is fun, and I really like it, but the occasions when it's useful are quite rare. For walking around and general street shooting, I think a 21 would be far more useful than a 15. I also think the difference between a 25 and a 21 is significant (I don't have a CV 25 - one is on it's way - but I have Zuiko 24 and 21 lenses for OM SLRs and to me there is an appreciable difference between them).

 

[rover]

Mine is the CV21, plenty wide for me. It captures what I see, peripheral vision included, so it is especially intimate in my eyes. You need to compose with a foreground element, and you have to be CLOSE to your subject. And watch your fingers, I have lots of shots with them in the frame. That is the only think I dislike about the little CV 21. I now have the rectangular hood for it, it will keep my fingers out of view.

IF, CV introduces a faster coupled 25 I would consider it, but only for the speed, I don't know though, we will have to see.

 

[Pherdinand]

A seventeen, but it's an SLR. But that should not matter. No, it's a full frame film slr🙂 so it's wicked wide. But i use the 24mm much more often. Let's face it...With a 17mm you have to be careful with people in your frame.

What do you mean "why"?

 

[Keith]

The widest lens I own is a 28mm Ultron ... if I need anything wider I'll step backwards ... space allowing of course! 😀

 

[Pherdinand]

By the way I don;'t know how close the ultrawide RF lenses can focus, but if it's the same limitation like for wide and normal lenses, it would make no sense *to me* to have a really wide in rf mount. With the slr 17mm i can focus to 15 cm wide open, and if i stop it down a lot, basically i can get sharp images of stuff at the distance of the fixed hood.
I use the superwide mostly for the perspeective, the strong foreground-background expansion, so it is crucial that i can focus CLOSE. I rarely need a 17mm to "fit the subject in" where i could not take a few steps back, as Keith wrote.

 

[Nachkebia]

that is the only thing I hate in rangefinders, close focus....

 

[Sparrow]

12mm, always attracted to extremes……. And I picked it up and it just stuck to my hand whispering resistance is useless; as usual

 

[Sparrow]

that is the only thing I hate in rangefinders, close focus....

Are you sure that’s all?????
:angel:

 

[Nachkebia]

Price? well yeah 😀

 

[Sonnar2]

My widest is the 15mm, my first LTM lens, but I use the 21mm more often. 21mm is excellent combined with a 35mm. I also had the 25, but it's too close to the 35 and to far away from 15mm.

 

[markinlondon]

Although I own two 24mm lenses for SLR's I haven't used them for about three years. My widest lens is a 35mm.

 

[nemjo]

My widest is a 15 CV bought for a Bessa R.
I liked it very much. Prefocus and then can use the external viewfinder alone...
As I changed to RD1, it's not so wide - but still very convenient to use with the 21mm finder.

Very compact, well built - and nice...

nemjo

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=5128
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showgallery.php?cat=6495

 

[ferider]

Couple of 15 "street shots" .... highly addictive focal length - but when you look at the photos after a while they feel not so special, in particular when people are in the photos; they get highly distorted.

 

[oscroft]

And watch your fingers, I have lots of shots with them in the frame. That is the only think I dislike about the little CV 21

Ha, that's nothing - with the CV 15 I've managed to get my nose in the frame!
😀

 

[santino]

15mm Heliar, just love weird angles.

 

[Jeroen]

A 20/3.8 Cosina in Nikon F-mount. I got it for free when I bought my 55/2.8 micro but have grown quite fond of its huge field of view. I'm definitely a wide angle shooter, I rarely go beyond 100 mm. I'm saving up for a Nikkor 20/2.8 AFD or even a Tokina 17/3.5 right now - the latter would be a great companion for my D70S.

 

[Kin Lau]

Ferider, great shot of Sienna. That really is a great use of the 15mm.

I only had a 28mm when visiting Italy last time, and it definitely wasn't wide enough.

 

[RayPA]

Roland, that second image gives me vertigo! It's a cool shot, but wow it makes me dizzy to look at it!

🙂