Wide Angle CV Lenses on the M9

raid

raid

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I see warnings, such as "WARNING: Although wonderful on film, this lens is awful on the LEICA M9 because its rear nodal point is too close to the sensor." Is this true for the CV 15 and 21?

My widest lens for the M9 is a CV 25/4. I have a CV 21/4 in S mount, and it will not mount on the M9 with the Amedeo adapter. I am interested in buying a wider lens. Can you make some recommendations for me that do not cost more than $1000?

Thanks.
 
The superwide CVs will display some color fringing. fortunately there seems to be no significant edge performance penalty with both the 12 and 15.

The color can be fixed using Cornerfix, Adobe Flat Field or thr built in corner correction tool in Capture One. So not really an issue, as long as you're okay with an extra step in the workflow.

Edit: The 12mm CV is a better lens than the current 15mm in many ways. But having owned the 12mm it really is too wide unless I want to do something very, very special. A 15mm is much more practical as an everyday superwide. Maybe wait for the CV 15mm F4.5 II (later this year I've heard)? The redesign should help with digital performance.
 
Thanks for the tip to wait for the CV 15 this year. I am planning ahead for our next trip to France and Italy.
 
My 25 has poor edge performance on the M9. More on left than right. I never noticed it on film.

12 and 15 are better than the 25 on the M9, but both have nasty color fringing. They are both 10/12 years old.

Corner fix will correct the fringing , as it is well beyond what what correction the camera can provide. Sharpness is not to bad in the corners, just do not expect it to be like a Zeiss 15.

I suspect the new CV 15 in bayonet is better as it is redesigned with more elements. I would wait for it to become available.
 
Well, I have the 21f4 Skopar and do not notice any problems on my M9. And neither does Reid. The new 21f1.8 is said to be great with the M9. Again, have not seen any problems with the 21. Have not tried my 15 as it gets used so seldom.
 
I have the 12, 15 and 21/4 lenses, all LTM. I used them on M8, M9 and now M240 with no apparent issues. I never bothered with coding the 12 as I use it so seldom. When I had an M8 the 15 was originally coded as a WATE, and the 21/4 as a 21/2.8 ASPH, per online recommendations. When I got the M9 I had to re-code them both as the 21/2.8 pre-ASPH to get the best correction. Those codes have continued to give the same good performance with the M240. I have 2 copies of the 21, one in M mount. I had any interest in upgrading to the M version of the 12 and 15 due to the significant size increase, as these lenses are seldom used. The 15 LTM is especially tiny, and as such always gets taken along, whereas the larger M version would probably stay home a lot more.
 
Yep. I have the CV 15 and 21 (both LTM) in my kit. I use them on the M8 with very pleasing results. I really don't need to code them because I prefer B+W, but I haven't noticed much color shift with either lens. Perhaps because the M8 sensor is smaller than FF? Vignetting is barely noticeable if at all; again this is an M8 and that might be a factor.

I do love the size of my CV wides. I nearly grabbed a super angulon 21/3.4 instead of the CV, but I have yet to regret going cheap and getting the CV 21/4 instead. And then the 15/4.5 is tiny and lightweight. Guess focusing and/or hyperfocal setting seems to work just fine with it. I seem to get an equivalent 19+mm focal length on the M8 with it. That makes me happy as I have been using the 20 - 21mm focal length on my film gear for many years and its become second nature to think compositionally in that FL.
 
Hi Raid,
I use both VM 15 and VM 21 with the M9. With both lenses, you will need to use Cornerfix to correct the magenta banding along the left side. This is a free program and is very easy to use. I have found the VM15 to be very sharp. The VM 21 is not as crisp (my copy anyway)... and a tad disappointing.

VM 15

M9: wide angle test by *monz*, on Flickr

VM21

Busker by *monz*, on Flickr
 
I have the 12mm, 21mm, and 25mm. The 21/25 are in S-mount that I use on an Amedeo adapter after modifying.

The 12mm has some egregious color shifts in the corner and vignetting. I use a center filter from a 47mm XL 4x5 lens on it when I can. It works well to fix the vignetting (still have to fix the color fringing in software obviously). The sharpness also seems to take a hit in the corners. I haven't shot enough with it though to really determine if it's because of the digital sensor issue.

The 21mm is very nice but does have some slight color shift, just enough to bother me. It's very sharp though.

The 25mm Skopar is even sharper and probably one of the sharpest lenses I have used on the M9 (or film). Someone above said there's wasn't sharp on one side...sounds like maybe there's inconsistencies in manufacture or an element has gotten decentered? The 25mm is usually in my bag. I like a combination of 25/35/50 for general shooting.

If you already have some CV S-mount glass, I highly recommend modifying the rear element retainer to mount on your Amedeo adapter. They can still work on the S-mount cameras, of course.
 
Thanks for the tip, Corran. I have an unused CV 21/4 in S mount. I need to figure out how to modify the rear element retainer.
 
I just took a rasp to the rear retainer and worked at it for a few hours. I don't have a lathe, but most likely you could do it in much less time with one. The retainer comes right off - just unscrew a small retaining screw and the ring unscrews right off. But the rear element will come out too so be careful.

The metal has to be removed almost down to the inner threads. It's a somewhat delicate operation but if I can do it with a rasp I'm sure anyone can do it, especially with a lathe.
 
The 21mm Skopar in LTM mount is fine on the M9 with an appropriate coded adapter. The initial problems were overcome with an M9 Firmware update.

V
 
raid said:
I see warnings, such as "WARNING: Although wonderful on film, this lens is awful on the LEICA M9 because its rear nodal point is too close to the sensor." Is this true for the CV 15 and 21? My widest lens for the M9 is a CV 25/4. I have a CV 21/4 in S mount, and it will not mount on the M9 with the Amedeo adapter. I am interested in buying a wider lens. Can you make some recommendations for me that do not cost more than $1000? Thanks.
Click to expand...
What about Armedeo's wide adapter? Not RF linked but that shouldn't matter with a 21mm.
 
Jus FYI RAID, both ZM18 and ZM21/2.8 can be found used under 1k fairly often. Both outstanding on M9.


L1022538 by unoh7, zm18 f/8

The zm18 is really off the chart on M9 when properly coded, as good as any leica UWA and better than all but 1 or 2.
(I have SEM 21)

I also have the CV 21/4 but it cannot compete with the zm lenses.
 
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