Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/03/12

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Subject: Re: [Leica] ?Voigtlander 12
From: Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 18:08:00 -0800
References: <000801c1ca0d$02ad9340$2fe00d50@steveuns> <p05100305b8b42e7a4cc3@[203.208.69.141]>

At 9:16 AM +1100 3/13/02, Alastair Firkin wrote:
>>I have the Voigtlander lens.
>>
>>If f3:5 is fast enough and you don't want to pay Leica prices buy it. I have
>>an image of some kebab that I took in Greece at...
>>
>>http://www.steveunsworth.co.uk/Misc_html/misc_image.htm
>>
>>taken at f3:5 it doesn't really prove anything I guess as it's quite a small
>>image. I don't use 90mm that much so I'll probably buy a 28mm Summicron
>>before I buy a 90mm Summicron.
>>
>>The real bargains for me in the Voigtlander range are the 15mm - no
>>alternative, and the 21mm - an absolute cracker of a lens.
>
>Anyone want to comment on the 12mm. This is an extreme lens I would 
>like to try out.
>--
>Alastair Firkin

I've had one since it came out. I like wide; fisheye, panoramic in 
various flavours and especially rectilinear wide.

The 12 is excellent, and I've used it in a lot of different 
situations. I have some interior shots that don't look that wide 
unless you know the space, I have some close-ups of birds taken from 
about 20" that show the bird and the whole tree he/she is sitting in, 
and some scenics that define 'expansive'. Closeups and street scenes 
can be impressive and/or frightening. It's a very high performance 
lens, easily up to the quality that we've come to expect from C-V 
recently and mechanically the best of theirs that I've seen. 
Performance falls off after f/8, so that is the aperture you want to 
try to use, as it's slightly better than 5.6. There is light falloff, 
which you might be able to live with all the time, but it can get a 
bit tiresome with transparency film. Cosina makes a 77mm filter 
adapter, and I've been able to attach one of my LF center filters to 
even things out quite effectively, but now you have a t/11 to 16 lens.

If you have not shot extensively with a 15, I think you might have a 
hard time getting used to the 12. I've been shooting with 15's 
regularly for nearly 30 years, and I was still amazed at how 
different the 12 was. Shooting with a fisheye is a lot easier 
transition.

- -- 
    *            Henning J. Wulff
   /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
  /###\   mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
  |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com
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Replies: Reply from Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> (Re: [Leica] ?Voigtlander 12)
In reply to: Message from "Steve Unsworth" <mail@steveunsworth.co.uk> (RE: [Leica] Thinking about a Voigtlander 90)
Message from Alastair Firkin <firkin@ncable.net.au> ([Leica] ?Voigtlander 12)