who has a 15 mm lens...

[back alley]

...and who uses it often?

i have a cv 15 that i thought i would play with a bit. but lately i seem to have less time than normal for shooting and when it comes time to pick a lens or 2 for an outing the 15 stays home.

lately i have been using the zm 50/1.5 or the cv 25 most of the time.

anyone else have the 15 and just use it occasionally?

joe

 

[Keith]

They are a fun lens when you feel like taking a few chances! I put mine on my Hexar recently and just aimed and pulled the trigger ... I don't have a 15mm finder so it was a little like using a digicam with no LCD screen.

The results were satisfying and having that much depth of field and not having to think about focusing all the time is suprisingly liberating!

 

[Bryce]

For a very long time I kept the 15mm and Fuji GS645s as my go everywhere kit. It was great, and I'd say I used the 15mm for about 1/3 of the shots taken. Lately I've been in school and carrying a huge bookbag nearly all the time and had to shrink the kit and get more lens speed for indoor handheld shots, so the kit has been largely replaced with a Pentax and 35mm lens.
Come summertime that will change!

 

[jmilkins]

Hi Joe

I have one and use it much more than my 25mm which I didn't expect to do.

Shots in my gallery which you have probably seen. Lens is best from f5.6 to f11.

I really like it and find that it can make an enormous difference to your everyday point of view. I don't find the distortion unmanageable - I just try to factor it into the composition.

I use it most often with my Bessa L and slide film. With a lot of sky you have to be careful of under exposure, but the little L helps you out there with it's simple but effective meter. Horizon lines can be an issue, but once again- I allow a tilted horizon sometimes to add dynamism and to break the rules.

 

[jan normandale]

Joe, it's a good lens. I don't know if it's a street shooting lens tho which I think is where you're coming from.

Regarding the lens, it's DoF is it's big feature. You can shoot almost anything outdoors at f8.0 - 11.0 or higher and be in focus from about 10' - 3 metres. It's contrasty and gives images a certain 'pop' factor. See the link below

http://flickr.com/photos/jann/296118882/

 

[ferider]

I used to Joe, and I think I took a few OK photos with it. These days,
super wides are boring for some reason, to make something that looks
to me later much different than a lens test; the wider I go, the more
foreground or big spaces I need. So I avoid them, also my 21 ... and
usually stop at 28.

Personal choice, I guess, and depends on what you shoot, of course.

Technically, the Heliar is a great lens though.

Roland.

 

[maddoc]

I had it but sold it. It is a nice lens, easy to handle and give nice effects but as ferider mentioned ... After some time it gets boring and for some wide stuff I prefer my 21mm (but also only occasionally)

 

[bobkonos]

Hi Joe,

I keep mine on a Bessa L that I keep at work for noontime and after work strolls to document architecture downtown. I also intend to use it as a landscape camera. Loaded with ASA 400 film, color or B&W, and stopped down, there is plenty of depth of field and I like getting weird perspectives.

 

[back alley]

i like the view from the few rolls i have shot with it, and it is fun to use as a point & shoot but i doubt that it will be used all that much. nice to have though and i will be holding on to it.
my preferred focal length of late is the 25. i carry the r4a and cv 25 much of the tiime.

 

[drewbarb]

I bought a CV 15mm several years ago, when it had been on the market for a year or two. After the WOW factor wore off, I found the lens to be so wide that it was of limited use, so I sold it. Fast forward a few years, and I found myself missing it. Not that I'd want it often, but very occasionally I find myself in situations where even the 21mm isn't wide enough. So when I found a good deal, I bought another.

Here's another thing. Mr. K's release of his first Voigtlander gear- the Bessa L, the 15mm and the 25mm- basically marks the begining of the recent RF renaissance. This was the first LTM gear produced in a long while (not counting the limited edition Pentax lenses...) and at the time, the 15mm was the widest lens ever produced in the Leica thread mount. Add to this the fine performance and low price, and you have a compelling reason to own this stuff. I'm not a collector, but I find myself owning this kit even though I don't shoot with it nearly as much as I do with some other cameras. It's a nice little wide angle kit on it's own; and I like that they work seemlessly with my Leica gear. I shoot with this stuff mostly at weddings, where I want all the bodies I can get so I'll need fewer lens changes, and where folks seem to love wide angle church and big groups shots- but I'll keep the 15mm and the other Bessa gear for less than purely utilitarian reasons.

The 15mm isn't a lens I shoot with a lot. But for those rare shots where only a real super wide will do, I'll happily keep this one in my bag.

 

[projectbluebird]

I have one, I like it and I use it fairly often.
That said, it is easy to start shooting boring typical super-wide photos.
That gets old, fast.

On the other hand,

the distortion and super-super contrast can make for some rewarding challenges.
Which for me is all part of the fun of using a rangefinder in the first place!

 

[fuwen]

I have a ZM 15 but do not use it often. Ultra wide photography is not as easy as I expected. The most challenging part is that I am not able to visualise the perspective effect with the external finder. I find things are more predictable with SLR and the 18/4 Distagon.

http://www.fuwen.net/photos_gallerybylens/index.php?album=ZM_15_f28_Distagon_T

 

[sienarot]

I have the CV 15/4.5 and I'd say I use it pretty often, though it isn't exactly my regular lens. I *love* wide angle photography, so that's probably why I can use it as often as I do. I couldn't imagine it not being in my lens line up.

 

[leif e]

I had one (must be the most-used phrase around here - after "I want one") ;-) Sold it and regret that a bit. Got the CV 12 in a trade in the meantime - had loads of fun and a couple of good shots with that in the mountains this summer. Lately I ended up with the new M-mount version of the CV 4/21. That one´s a keeper!
Still, I am thinking of getting another 15. As someone said; from 5,6 and a couple of stops it´s really good and a feist for architecture.
leif e

 

[BillP]

I have one. It took on a new lease of life when I mounted it to my IIIc. I have to be in the mood to use it though.





What I would say is that it is so small and so cheap that there is no excuse for not having it in a corner of your bag.

Regards,

Bill

 

[Marsopa]

Hi:

I've got one, I like it very much but I didn't use it a lot, just somedays I feel something like: "Hey, why not shot a roll with the L and 15mm", after the shooting session I feel happy to have the Bessa L and the lens...

 

[jvr]

Yes, I have the CV 15/4.5 and I used it a lot, on the RD1s, where it behaves like almost like a 21 in 35mm. It vignettes a lot on the Epson, even more than the 12/5.6. It's very sharp and contrasty. For "documental" shots, you'll have to remove at least some of the vignetting (Photoshop works great but Lightroom is even better). For more "fun" and artistic shots, vignetting even helps (check some London pictures attached, definitly on the "artistic" camp).

On the M8, I'm still on the learning curve, I tend to prefer the CV 12/5.6 when going really wide. Vignetting is much more controlled on the M8 but the 15 becomes a 18, which is not too wide or too wide, depending... 🙂 So I catch myself favoring either the CV 12/5.6 (when going wide) or the 21/2,8 Biogon (when not so wide).

On the M3, I also prefer the 12, although I confess 99% of the shots are of the "fun" variety and it really wears quickly. A good friend of mine, who makes a lot of professional architectural interior shots likes the 12/5.6 very much.

 

[wallace]

I've purchased a Bessa L with the 15mm just one week ago.
Now I'm waiting for the sun to come out. Going to post some shots later.

 

[hofrench@mac.co]

I've loved mine, especially on my M8, where the focal length is increased a bit. Wonderful, fun glass. The CV viewfinder is terrific, too.

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1081/819887172_b4f474e09c.jpg

 

[tbarker13]

I've had a CV15 for around a year. I can't say that I shoot more than 5 percent of my shots with it. But I'd have a hard time parting with it, just because it does something my other lens simply can't do. My next widest lens is a 28 hexanon.