Re: [Leica] Voigtlander 21/f4

[S Dimitrov <sld@earthlink.net>]

Hi Christer:

I'm testing this 21mm for my style of photography. Most often handheld
and under obscene lighting conditions. For the tripod work, I reserve it
for shooting in 5x7, sometimes 4x5, and once in a great while 120.
If the the grain starts breaking up then I've gone beyond the limits of
the materials. That's when I step up in format. 

I had a Kobalux 28mm once, and while sharp, it had a disappointing
flatness in the midrange that made me sell it after a couple of months
of trial. The quality work from the Cosina products, however, has been
somewhat of a surprise. Matching and outperforming the Leitz lenses from
the early 70's and down. I don't come blindly to this conclusion, as
I've owned over 60 Leitz lenses in the past 30 years, with plenty of
negatives to justify my opinion.

For 35mm work I rarely go beyond 6x8 floated on a sheet of 8x10. With
120, my basic size is 6.5 square again floated on a sheet of 8x10. Every
now and then I get squeezed to do an "11x14" print, which to me is a 9x9
image floated on the 11x14 paper. With 4x5 negs I print full bleed on
8x10 and
11x14, as there is no perceptible distinction between the two sizes
quality wise.


Best,
 Slobodan



Christer Almqvist wrote:
> 
> If  you test with 400 film it will be difficult to say anything about
> the performance of  the lens used. With 1600 it will be almost
> impossible. What you need for testing is 100 film, top notch
> development ...