Voigtlander 15mm heliar

[magnesi]

Does anyone have any experience with this lens? I've found a couple of posts saying the original ltm mount isnt great on mirrorless. Anyone tried it on a Fuji x with success? I really like the size and look.

[dannat]

some of those unhappy are trying it on Sony FF chips -it wasn't designed to cover this. on aps-c it should be alright 

[magnesi]

Thanks dannat. Anyone have any experience using it on Fuji x cropped sensor? If heard about colour fringing and corner fall off. I'm wondering if this is a hugely noticeable and frequent thing or an occasional issue.

[Hans K Aspenberg]

I have tried it on X-Pro1, and it is rather OK, but the XF14 is significantly better. It is a bit soft in the corners, and there is some vignetting, but it is a cute little thing though. I have tried the 12/5.6 too, which is also OK, and the 21/4 which is horribly soft in the corners. Most of these old, symmetrical designs made for film are soft in the corners due to a too steep angle of the light rays hitting the sensor in the corners.

[magnesi]

Thanks for the informative responses folks. Does that mean that apart from the corners it's good? Or do you really feel it's merely ok? I've currently got the xf35, xf27 and xf18-55. I want something wider but can't afford the xf14. Also I'm finding I use the xf27mm more often, even though it's the weaker performer, because of its compact size.

[Hans K Aspenberg]

Thanks for the informative responses folks. Does that mean that apart from the corners it's good? Or do you really feel it's merely ok? I've currently got the xf35, xf27 and xf18-55. I want something wider but can't afford the xf14. Also I'm finding I use the xf27mm more often, even though it's the weaker performer, because of its compact size.

From my observations when I tried this lens about a year ago it is as sharp as the XF14 (or a tad better) in the inner half of the image circle, but then it deteriorates towards the corners which never become 100% sharp dependless of the aperture. As I wrote above, and in several others online-fora, this is a limitation caused by the steep angle of the light rays when they hit the sensor in the corners. Actually not the sensor itself, but the 1mm thick filter stack situated about 2.5 mm in front of the sensor. If you look at a digital Leica you will see that it has a extremely thin filter stack to be able to use these older symmetric lens designs. (The original M8 didn't even have a IR-blocking filter at all which caused a lot of havoc back then.) The new SONYs are even worse off than the Fuji-X due to an even thicker filter stack.

 

Look up: http://www.fujirumors.com/the-performance-of-carl-zeiss-leica-m-lenses-on-the-fujifilm-x-pro-1-by-jan-vogelaar/

 

Newer, retrofocus designs for the M-mount will usually work very well, but then these will be as large as the corresponding XF-lenses.

 

;-D Hans

[magnesi]

Hans, your explanation and the information on the link are very helpful. I'm still swaying towards the 15mm, especially if the centre is still good. Thanks again.

[Hans K Aspenberg]

@magnesi I'll see if I can dig some pics out of LR - if I tagged them right...

 

;-D Hans

[magnesi]

That would be great if you can. Thanks.

[magnesi]

So...I went ahead and bought the Voigtlander 15mm and thought I'd upload some shots taken on my first outing. They are all shot at f8 with focus set at around 1-1.5 metres. Also, the images are jpegs straight out of the camera.

 

My first impressions are very positive (with the quality rather than my photographic ability). I can see that there is some corner fall off but I'm hoping that I can fix this in Capture One. With regards to the corner softness, again I can see that it exists, but I'm not sure I'm worried about it at this stage. Anyway I guess time will tell.

 

 

 

[Enzio]

here you can see pictures of my  VL 15/4.5 (M39) ... https://www.flickr.com/photos/101630104@N02/sets/72157642704248993

 

[magnesi]

Nice pictures Enzio. Are they shot on a Fuji? How are you getting on with the lens?

[Enzio]

- Nice pictures Enzio.

- Are they shot on a Fuji?

- How are you getting on with the lens?

 

- thanks

- yes ... X-E1

- Adapter ... M39 to M and FUJIFILM M MOUNT ADAPTER ... 

[magnesi]

Enzio, is there an advantage of using the two adapters as you have done, as opposed to just using a m39 to Fuji x adapter? Thanks

[Enzio]

 ... no advantage  ...  I have no M39-Adapter ...