Why everyone needs the 15mm Super Wide Heliar

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squirrel$$$bandit

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Taken yesterday in King Ferry, NY. M2, Neopan 400 in D-76. A normal lens wouldn't have given a sense of how FREAKING HUGE this pumpkin patch is. I nearly ran off the road when I saw it.

Color film would have been nice, but you can't have everything.

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I love the desolate feeling I get from that huge field, the dead vines, and the lonely pumkins scattered about. I know that it would be a daunting task but imagine that field at dusk filled with smiling jackolanterns ;-) Ain't that 15 Heliar a killer of a lens? I sure love mine.
 
I'm inclined to agree with the OP. It's silly-cheap; it's very good; it's tiny. Even if you don't need it very often, it's still a bargain and very easy to carry around.

Cheers,

R.
 
What Roger says sums it up nicely. I too have one and dont use it as often as I should, really. But I dont plan to sell it as those few pics that I use it for make me really enjoy it.
 
Oh - and I really like the OP's photo. I actually like it in B&W - gives it a whole different feel. I dont thik it would have it in colour.
 
stefan_dinu said:
I have it and never use it. So, why do I have it?
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Marketing? 😉

Wide-angle lenses are wonderful for embracing and emphasizing space -- space itself as the subject. The pumpkin photo is a brilliant example of that. Perhaps that simply isn't what currently attracts your photographic vision?
 
mabelsound said:
I was only like 2 feet from that pumpkin, and it looked large in the finder, but it came out looking a bit puny. I was initially disappointed, but after thinking about it, I'm glad to have those withered vines in the foreground.
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The finder is quite misleading in that regard - especially if you wear glasses like me. When I owned the lens I would slightly crop the foreground, knowing it would still be there, but I certainly wouldn't be disappointed with this sort of result! Great shot, contrast is maybe a bit high but that might just be my monitor, would make a great big grainy print I think!
 
It's not your monitor--I like the contrast! I might decrease it a bit if I make a print of that pic.

I agree, this isn't just an excellent lens--it's absurdly cheap. It still stuns me that it exists at all. 15mm on a Rangefinder! On a sunny day, on the M2, it's practically point and shoot.
 
I like the BW pumpkin patch. I suppose you could try hand coloring a print of it.
Pretty good job keeping your horizon level; much better than I usually do with the CV 21mm that is my widest lens. Thanks for sharing these!
Rob
 
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