[Leica] Re:Not Leica quality

[rshuntl@netscape.net (Steve Huntley)]

Ted,
   After all the good reviews I heard on the LUG and elsewhere about the 15mm Heliar, I was very disappointed with the results. I shot film in a variety of conditions: Inside my home, outside for photos of buildings and for a big construction project in Evanston, Ill., shooting with the sun to my back, to the side and even shooting into the sun. I took it back to Central Camera/Chicago, which I have always found to be an excellent place to do business, showed them the prints and the salesman (who appeared knowledge about Leica as well as the Heliar) did not even bring up the issue of perhaps it was a bum lens. I had expected that Central might bring that up and offer me another one but they did not. The salesman said only that vignetting was to be expected in a 15mm. I said I was prepared for some vignetting but not to the point that the corners and especially the left edge were so underexposed as to require a lot of Photoshop work which still could not produce detail that was!
 not there. If I run across someone with one perhaps I'll try to get him let me use it on the chance that I did get a lemon. I was very excited about this lens, but I don't think my expectations were out of line. Thanks.--Steve

 Ted Grant wrote:

Date: Sat, 31 Mar 2001 21:14:36 -0800
> From: "Ted Grant" <tedgrant@home.com>
> Subject: Re: [Leica] Not Leica quality
> Message-ID: <00a101c0ba6a$a60acfc0$511a4d18@gv.shawcable.net>
> References: <200103312218.OAA19326@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us> <0B684C41.1714BACE.0021EE48@netscape.net>
> 
> Steve Huntley wrote:
> 
> >>>>> On Thursday I bought a 15mm Heliar. On Friday, I shot photos with it,
> developed the film and printed (via Photoshop) the results. On Saturday, I
> returned the lens and got a refund. ......snip.....
> 
> but the the overexposure was so great that there was little detail there and
> what there was, was very fuzzy. In my opinion, this is an overrated
> lens.<<<<<<
> 
> gee Steve,
> 
> That's a surprise to many of us 15MM lens users. And in my case the 15mm
> triggered a book project that's now on the way to being printed October
> 2001! And the publisher is going with it due to the quality of the printed
> images he saw from the 15.
> 
> Maybe you jumped a little fast lad, I wonder how many rolls you shot and
> under what conditions. And by any chance did you compare the results to
> using the R 15mm lens side by each?
> 
> Yours is probably the most negative sounding comments of a great number of
> LUGNUTS who purchased and use this lens.  Is there a wild possibility you
> got a bummer lens? I mean the results from mine when I've screened slides
> for other professional photographers to pick out Leica images from the non
> Lieca images has fooled many of them into picking the Voigtlander 15mm lens
> slides as being the Leica slides.  And that's no BS!
> 
> Sorry to hear your reaction as it's a cracker jack fun and professional lens
> to use.
> ted
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ted Grant Photography Limited
> www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant
> - ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Steve Huntley" <rshuntl@netscape.net>
> To: <leica-users@mejac.palo-alto.ca.us>
> Sent: Saturday, March 31, 2001 6:18 PM
> Subject: [Leica] Not Leica quality
> 
> 
> >     Sharpness/resolution was pretty good in the center, contrast was
> OK--but vignetting was worse than I thought possible. Photoshop managed to
> lighten the corners and edges (the left edge exhibited very bad vignetting)
> >     Steve

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