Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
I voted the Q, if it's not available at that price it's pretty close. I think that would be the best bang for the buck. Plus I've been lusting for one since they came out.
You have $3000, what would you buy?
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raid
Dad Photographer
Since I am expecting to get back my Leica M9 soon with a new sensor, I decided it is best to focus on using this camera and not get another camera at this time. I was drawn to the Zeiss Hologon 16/8 since a while as it will open up a new type of photography for me. I am used to 50mm and 35mm lenses most of the time, and I want to get into wide angle photography with a specialized lens that has challenges and issues that must be dealt with. I found a "new old stock never used" boxed set in Canada, and I placed the order. Before placing the order, I had a quick email exchange with Don Goldberg about having him change the mount from Zeiss G to Leica M. It will hopefully become my "digital SWC", so to speak.
The Hologon has no real issues when used for B&W images, but with color, it may/will display a purple band on the edges. A special ND filter is used to balance the exposure across the lens coverage. Don G asked me to also send him the filter for some reason. If I want less coverage, I can use the Hologon with my M8. Thank you for following this thread and for the useful discussions, including suggestions to bypass any purchases of equipment and to invest instead into some stock.
The Hologon has no real issues when used for B&W images, but with color, it may/will display a purple band on the edges. A special ND filter is used to balance the exposure across the lens coverage. Don G asked me to also send him the filter for some reason. If I want less coverage, I can use the Hologon with my M8. Thank you for following this thread and for the useful discussions, including suggestions to bypass any purchases of equipment and to invest instead into some stock.
Darthfeeble
But you can call me Steve
Raid, you might give the latest CV15 a look. It performs extremely well on the M9.
raid
Dad Photographer
I am sure that the CV15mm is a wonderful lens based on what I have seen posted on it and the images that were taken with it. I am a "mini-collector" or maybe I am a photographer who also appreciates some fine lenses and cameras that I can afford to get and use. The CV is better suited for the M9 than the Hologon, but it is not a Hologon. I could use with an adapter my Canon FD 17/4 as it is a near rectilinear lens, but I want the challenge of using a Hologon. This is part of the joy of having such a hobby.
Emile de Leon
Well-known
That Hologon is one sweet lookin lens!
webOSUser
Well-known
Training. I have plenty of gear, I think at times, too much. What I need is training on how to best use it.
Godfrey
somewhat colored
Lovely lens, Raid.
Long before the era of digital photography came to my world, I owned a Contax G2 kit for a while in-between various different Leica M cameras. I bought myself the Zeiss Hologon 16mm f/8 T*, new, with a bonus I received about then.
It is a lovely performer, and quite a bit better performer than the CV15 first generation which was also available at that time. I did extensive testing and comparison of the two lenses because, yes, I had both. No question that the Hologon was a far better ultra 16mm thing than the original CV15. (Later revisions of the CV15 are quite different, particularly the CV15 III.)
But, and this is key, it is a ferociously demanding lens to work with, particularly on a rangefinder camera.
- The finder is WAY off giving you even a suggestion of its real coverage and the first few dozen rolls of film were pretty much totally wasted due to arms, hands, feet, legs, head tripod bits, and other crap that cluttered up the part of the frame I couldn't see. Much worse than the SWC finder to tell the truth.
- You only have ONE aperture to work with: f/8, which is an effective f/16 with the (necessary) central gradient ND filter in place. The reason DAG probably wants the filter is that its alignment on the lens with a new lens mount is absolutely critical or it will miss and give you infuriatingly bad results.
- Focusing with it proves critical as well, and you have no easy guide to focusing other than the approximation of DoF lines on the focusing mount. You'd think that an ultrawide gives you lots of DoF to work with, and it does, but with a super-high-resolving lens like this you'll SEE any minor mis-focus in the near field immediately.
- I have no idea how well it will work with any digital sensor. It wasn't designed for a digital sensor at all ... the design goes back to the 1950s with the dedicated Zeiss Ikon Hologon camera. The Contax version is a slightly different design but has all the same character ... very close to the film plane rear element, lots of way-off-perpendicular ray traces.
If you're thinking it will give you an effective mini-SWC on your M9, well, honestly if that's what you're after ... Note that this has been a personal "Holy Grail" for me for many years. You're better off with the Leica WATE, which is known to actually perform brilliantly with the digital sensor and for which Leica provides lens profiles to do the appropriate corrections. That's where I went, along with the Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5 as well for the SL. The WATE at 16mm cropped square nets just a hair wider FoV than the SWC does and is almost perfectly corrected throughout the focusing range.
The Hologon 16 dream is something that I and several other people have shared over the past 28 years. I don't want to deflate your balloon, but honestly it's a tough game to play...
Good luck with it if you follow through. I'll look forward to seeing your work. 😀
G
raid
Dad Photographer
Thank you for the words of caution, Godfrey. I will go through the stages of learning how to use and to enjoy this lens. I have both film and digital M cameras, so if one doesn't work out, I still have the other. I will practice with the lens until I either learn using it correctly, or I will give up and then sell it. I hope it will be the former and not the latter outcome.
I have practice with my SWC and I quickly learned using it. I realize that using the Hologon will be a larger challenge. Using a digital camera with the lens has its challenges, but it also assist in learning how to frame and avoid getting parts of your body into the images.
I have practice with my SWC and I quickly learned using it. I realize that using the Hologon will be a larger challenge. Using a digital camera with the lens has its challenges, but it also assist in learning how to frame and avoid getting parts of your body into the images.
Archiver
Veteran
My first reaction is to get a used Q, as I like the 28mm focal length and use a combination of 28, 35 and 50 with my M9 as a regular arrangement. In fact, I thought a Q would be a great single-camera solution for much of my everyday and travel shooting.
Then I thought about other gear. Nothing that I want right now can be bought for $3000. I'm very intrigued by the Sony A7r III, which retails for about $5000 in Australia, body only. Then I'd need a Canon adapter or Sony lenses.
Another possibility is another m43 camera, like a GH5, GH5s, or G9. Any leftover money could go to faster memory cards.
A second m43 option would be a few Olympus pro lenses, cost permitting. The 40-150/2.8 would be really handy, and I'd like to get the 25/1.2 and 45/1.2.
Then I thought about other gear. Nothing that I want right now can be bought for $3000. I'm very intrigued by the Sony A7r III, which retails for about $5000 in Australia, body only. Then I'd need a Canon adapter or Sony lenses.
Another possibility is another m43 camera, like a GH5, GH5s, or G9. Any leftover money could go to faster memory cards.
A second m43 option would be a few Olympus pro lenses, cost permitting. The 40-150/2.8 would be really handy, and I'd like to get the 25/1.2 and 45/1.2.
David Hughes
David Hughes
Godfrey; there are a lot of film cameras out there that I would like to try but they are incredibly expensive* from dealers and, by now, rather old. I can't afford them but I was surprised that others answering the original question didn't mention them much. That was all.
Regards, David
* There's all those posh P&S's and compact cameras like the Contax, Fuji, Hasselblad, Nikon etc and the Olympus OM-4Ti and so on. And some fisheye lenses and the bodies to go with them and so on...
Regards, David
* There's all those posh P&S's and compact cameras like the Contax, Fuji, Hasselblad, Nikon etc and the Olympus OM-4Ti and so on. And some fisheye lenses and the bodies to go with them and so on...
jsrockit
Moderator
Godfrey
somewhat colored
That's much more illuminating again, David. Thank you.
raid
Dad Photographer
Hi David,
I have tried before the OFF TOPIC thread. If you want to have your post buried and have nobody see it, submit your post to that thread. It will never show up unless you click on NEW POSTS. Else, it remains buried. 😀
raid
Dad Photographer
As for good film cameras, I highly recommend the Canon F1N. The FD lenses are first class, and they often sell for very low prices online. The Canon 50/1.4 is a great lens, for example.
The Bessa T is a film camera that I enjoyed using for many years.
The Yashica T with its Zeiss lens is a cheap but excellent film camera.
The Bessa T is a film camera that I enjoyed using for many years.
The Yashica T with its Zeiss lens is a cheap but excellent film camera.
mich rassena
Well-known
I'd buy a used Sony full-frame mirrorless, lots of adapters to use my existing lenses.
The almost $2000 remaining, I'd use to go on a trip, and take some pictures.
The almost $2000 remaining, I'd use to go on a trip, and take some pictures.
NaChase
Well-known
I'd finally get the 43mm for my Mamiya 7ii, some backpacking gear, then head off to the Wind River Range in Wyoming.
David Hughes
David Hughes
In reality, if I was given 30 Pounds, Dollars or Euros I'd know what to do with it and would be happy but if I was given 3 000 etc I'd worry so much about being sensible I'd end up miserable.
FWIW, that was based on bitter experience and a much larger sum of money; in the end it was given to my son towards his mortgage...
Regards, David
FWIW, that was based on bitter experience and a much larger sum of money; in the end it was given to my son towards his mortgage...
Regards, David
Axel
singleshooter
David, for us "still living guys": isn´t it much better to give our experiences and position to our childs than any amount
of stupid money or personal fears?
Today we are living in a world with photography possibilities that never had existed before.
We will be remembered as members of the world in 2018 and what we did with it.
That is what counts for me.
That´s what stays for my son.
Just thoughts.
Regards, Axel
(father and son)
David Hughes
David Hughes
Hi,
He gets both and so do the grandchildren but try telling them about a time when HD's were 128 KB and people could type faster than the letters appeared on the screen, and as for punched tape and card tickets...
Regards, David
ptpdprinter
Veteran
I was just having a lucid moment, thinking about cards and punch tape, and then it was time for bingo.
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