Any comment or photo taken with this Voigtlander's 12mm/5.6 lens to share? Thanks.

-- kenny chiu (amchiu@worldnet.att.net), October 16, 2001

Answers

Here is a site with a review:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/12mm.htm

Cheers,

-- John Collier (jbcollier@powersurfr.com), October 16, 2001.

I have one, I love it. You can do amazing things with it but you must be careful - its not good for every situation.

There are the tricks of perspective but I avoid these. I try to get normal looking shots where an extreme wide angle can include lots of interesting material. I used mine in a slot canyon, it was great. However, in other parts of the canyon the lens caught too much sky and the dynamic range was too much for the film. I've gotten some great shots of buildings along a narrow brick road but other shots of buildings look odd due to the perspective.

Light fall-off in the corners is enormous - at least four full stops but with the right subject its OK. It's not the sharpest lens I own. It's definately sharp but put side by side with a leica image they're obviously not the same.

If I were you, I would get one.

-- mark (mramra@qwest.net), October 16, 2001.

Falloff is pretty severe with the 12mm until f16 - perhaps the 15mm is a better choice, especially at half the price?

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), October 16, 2001.

I bought the 12mm some months ago and I'm delighted with this lens. OK the colour and sharpness is different from the Leica lenses but the overall performance is extremely good. The 12mm lens was tested in Germany and compared to the 15mm and proved to be much better in all respects especially the viewer. The 15mm was tested at only 2 tenths of a point less than the US$ 3200,00 Zeiss 15mm lens! The finish of the 12mm is absolutely beautiful. The vignetting was tested at slightly over 2 stops. Voigtlaender will introduce a filter which will correct this vignetting but also will slow down your lens of course. In practice this vignetting doesn't prove to be a problem and the lens can be used at full 5.6 aperture. I absolutely can recommend this lens which is very popular amongst Leica owners in Holland and Germany.

-- Willem P. van Beers (vanbeers@meissner-winches.com), October 18, 2001.

My first impressions are that this is a fascinating lens to use and is capable of very impressive results, but should perhaps be used sparingly and carefully. I also think it may be at its best with black & white.

I hesitated for far longer than usual before getting it, but am delighted with it and have no regrets at all. Stopping down to f8 seems to produce a meaningful improvement in image quality. The viewfinder is superb. I use mine with my M6, and wonder what Leica would charge for a 12mm?!

-- Paul Hart (paulhart@blueyonder.co.uk), December 20, 2001.