I just got my "SHUTTERBUG" magazine, (December issue), in the mail. There is a review of the new Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 lens.

The lens looks pretty interesting. It was tested by Roger W. Hicks, a Leica using photojournalist that relies more on the image than test graphs when testing lenses. There was for me an initial shock when he had a side by side comparison of images made with this lens and a 21mm model. It is almost 2 to 1, the math is easy, but I never thought about it. As wide as a 21mm is, it looks like a normal or short tele against the 12mm lens.

He shot lights at the edge of the frame... no coma. He did shoot some test charts and reports 100 line pairs per millimeter (LP/MM) centrally and 65 LP /MM at the edge wide open. He tested it on a number of Leica and other brand screw mount as well as Leica M with adapter... no problems. Fit and finish for the lens, hood and finder were rated very high. There is no rangefinder coupling, but when focused at 1 meter, the DOF is from half a meter to past infinity... wide open! Best of all, compared to say, "POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY", there are actual photo made with the lens, black and whites made in a small church. Even with the high contrast of light streaming in from many angles with-in the frame, they look pretty good. There is nothing to compare this to, so it is the best 12mm lens out there. I don't think it would match the way I see things, but for wide-angle nuts, it could be the coolest thing.

If you see this issue on the news stand, give it a look.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), November 06, 2000

Answers

I haven't read the SHUTTERBUG article mentioned. Tom Abrahamsson, a Leica guru, wrote a very positive review of the lens in the current issue (Volume 33 No. 3, 2000) of Viewfinder Magazine of Leica Historical Society of America (LHSA).

BTW, the lens has been available for sometime on the market for around $900 US.

Cheers,

-- Cing-Dao Kan (cdkan@yahoo.com), November 06, 2000.

Since the into of the 12mm, The 15mm is now available from several sources for well under $400, and is a great deal. I thought the 15 was crazy wide already, with the 12mm you'll have to be careful not to get your own shoes in the picture.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), November 06, 2000.