Re: [Leica] 15 mm M lens

["Mike Durling" <durling@widomaker.com>]

I'm trying to come up with cheap filter adapters for the Heliar-15 too.  I
want to shoot some High Speed Infrared with it.  I'm thinking along the
lines of dixie cups and cardboard frames (all blackened) for gelatin
filters.  Something that slides over the whole lens and cones out enough to
not vignette when extended enough to get something in front of the lens.

The viewfinder is so bright that the M4 seems dark by comparison.  It
doesn't give you a true rendition of what the final picture will look like
since the vf is of the fish-eye type (curvey).  It's more of an aiming
guide.

After a few rolls though I pretty much learned not to put people too close
to the edge anyway.  The best pix are those that don't look like they were
taken with a superwide.

Mike D

- ----- Original Message -----
From: "Christer Almqvist" <christer@almqvist.net>
To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
Sent: Friday, November 03, 2000 10:06 AM
Subject: [Leica] 15 mm M lens


Some observations relating to the 15mm SW Voigtländer Super Heliar:

- - feet (photographers): I had been warned. There were no feet in any
picture.

- - knuckels (ditto): I had not been warned. Several pictures showed
part of my left index in the right hand corner. This lens has an
amazing depth of field.

- - filters: It is possible to hand-hold a 60mm filter (the one that
screws on to the pre-ASPH 21 mm) in front of the 15 mm and get good
results, but you are unlikely to be able to center it properly unless
the camera is on a tripod. Martin said this lens was not meant for
filters, a statement which has inspired me to construct a cheap
filter holder. All ideas welcome.

- - water level: Not really needed for an amateur like me. I look
through the M6 viewfinder and line up one of the outer frame lines
with something I know is absolutely vertical like a building wall. Or
I  place the horizon in the middle of the small rangefinder window
(unless I am at the top if World Trade Center, I guess, but it was a
long time ago that I was there). I have a small water level (bought
as a replacement part at a DIY shop) that I use when I have the
camera on a tripod in a tight corner where it is difficult to use one
of the other tricks. Often I want falling lines anyway, or I realize
that I really like them when I see the print.

- - viewfinder: I think the one that comes with the lens is good enough
for me. I lined up a number of  spades and other garden tools against
a wall, took a couple of pictures and noted how many of the tools
could be (a) seen without moving the eye, (b) seen sharp with moving
the eye, and (c) seen unsharp with moving the eye. The result was
that what I could see without moving the eye would be in the picture
with a good safety margin. How large was the margin? All that I could
see sharply when moving the eye was not in the picture. Result: I
will not worry too much, I will look straight and what I see I am
sure  I'll get. In doubt I will bracket.

- - Voiglander viewfinder-waterlevel combo: This is not for me. I try
to avoid accumulating too much gear. It gets in the way of picture
taking. There are simpler solutions that meet my requirements. And I
do not like the look of the Voigtlander water level. Why on earth did
they give it  a different surface structure from the smooth surface
of the viewfinder. After all the two things sit side by side on that
special Voigtlander holder. The water level surface is what they call
'krymplack' in Swedish, it looks like reticulated paint and has an
uneaven surface.

- - pocketability: with this  lens on a M6, the M6 is easier to put in
the jacket pocket than with any other lens. Perhaps because I have a
sunshade on the other lenses, and there is none for the 15mm. I have
to put on the lens cover every time which is a pain in the neck.
Taking it off even more

- - other: I'll have to get some Locktite so I can fix the lens to the
Leica adapter ring in such a position that the dot (against which you
line up the distance set) is at 12 o`clock. My dealer did not have
any Voigtlander adapters

I'll tell you about sharpness and micro contrast some other time....

Chris
- --
Christer Almqvist
D-20255 Hamburg, Germany and/or
F-50590 Regnéville-sur-Mer, France