[Leica] widest lens used?

[richard at imagecraft.com (Richard Man)]

I thoguth you have the SA? Why bother with the CV then?


On Sat, Apr 3, 2010 at 12:22 PM, slobodan Dimitrov
<s.dimitrov at charter.net>wrote:

> The main thing that makes my 21mm C/V loiter in the camera bag, is that it
> has a look reminiscent of 60-70's Nikon glass. It's a bit brittle in the 
> mid
> range.
> Can the lens be re-centered aftermarket?
> S.d.
>
>
> On Apr 3, 2010, at 10:52 AM, Henning Wulff wrote:
>
> > Some years ago I did a comparison for the LHSA Viewfinder of four 21mm
> lenses: the CV 21/4, Ricoh 21/3.5, SA f/3.4 and Elmarit ASPH f/2.8. I used
> to have the older Elmarit, and had compared that lens to the ASPH and SA
> separately, indicating that that lens would have ended up in last place.
> Some other 21's such as the Kobalux lenses also would not have touched the
> ASPH, but some samples were quite good.
> >
> > The Ricoh was the poorest in most respects, but not by a large margin,
> and the ASPH was definitely the best in most respects. The SA and CV lenses
> each had strong points and weak points, but both were very useable. Since
> then I've tried a number of newer lenses like the Zeiss 21's, both of which
> can compete very well with the Elmarit ASPH and are definitely better than
> the CV 21. But again, they're larger, and the Biogon is even slower.
> >
> > The main problem I've seen with the CV is decentering, which
> unfortunately affects many other CV products. A lot of samples need some
> stopping down to bring some corners into good performance. That's were a 
> lot
> of the money goes with Leica lenses.
> >
> > In comparison to the 15 and 12mm lenses, I find that the 21 a) has a lot
> of competition, which the others don't, and b) there's not a lot of
> difference in performance, and certainly the 21 and 15 have a quite similar
> character.
> >
> > As for Ken Rockwell's 'tests' and 'opinions', the less said the better.
> >
> >
> >
> > At 1:42 AM -0400 4/3/10, Mark Rabiner wrote:
> >>> Rabs, I said "BY ALL REPORTS" competitive since I have no idea whether
> it's
> >>> competitive or not; just telling you about the *reviews* out there.
> Gandy
> >>> for one but ok he has an interest in the matter. But -- since you've
> already
> >>> mentioned the technically knowledgeable though aesthetically wanting,
> often
> >>> goofy, and I suspect on other fronts dumbass closet right wing, Ken
> Rockwell
> >>> , I offer first this:
> >>>
> >>> *<<This Voigtl?nder 21mm lens is the best 21mm lens ever made for Leica
> >>> cameras, regardless of price....This lens is tiny, and works at least
> as
> >>> well optically as anything ever sold by Leica.....It is as sharp, and
> >>> sometimes sharper, than the $4,300 Leica 21mm f/2.8
> >>> ASPH<http://www.kenrockwell.com/leica/21mm-f28-asph.htm>to which I
> >>> compared it directly.
> >>> *
> >>>
> >>> *How can this be? Probably because this Voigtl?nder lens is only f/4,
> which
> >>> is far easier to design and manufacture than trying to push things with
> the
> >>> modern f/2.8 ASPH lens from Leica, which has to be much bigger and much
> more
> >>> expensive just to retain the same optical quality. It costs a lot in
> many
> >>> ways to add just one stop of lens speed. *
> >>
> >>
> >> I've been harping on this for years on the lug what you just said. The
> >> wonders of slow glass to the effect...
> >> Every once in a while Leica gets smart and gives us a slow option.
> Instead
> >> of listening to the marketing people and making us pay 8 grand for a
> huge
> >> thing you'd not want to carry around all day and have a filter size
> which is
> >> the same size as the platters at the Yankee pot roast family restaurant.
> >> Traditionally  in the Leica catalog you got a slow medium and fast
> option
> >> for about very focal length.
> >> The slow lenes are slow.
> >> But will have less flare and result at least as well as not better than
> the
> >> high priced spread. Compact.
> >> So there is a gap which Cosina has filled with the help of the typefaces
> &
> >> fonts from  Voigtl?nder and Zeiss family heirlooms. And the power of
> mind
> >> over matter on the part of their customers who want with all their might
> to
> >> think they are buying a Zeiss lens for a few hundred dollars.
> >> I do wish I had some of these options when I was getting my glass in the
> >> 90's
> >> We keep forgetting that  we don't need 1.4 to see thought the darned
> thing.
> >> It can be a 5.6 our viewfinder rangefinder is just as bright and sharp.
> >> For many photographers they don't know it but that is their real speed
> >> issue. They just want a bright groundglass.
> >> Well we don't need no stinkin groundglass. We can get sharp as  tack
> >> focusing with an f 11 lens. If anyone ever made one. If the did I'd buy
> it.
> >> But I'm been using my twinkie light.
> >>
> >> [Rabs]
> >> Mark William Rabiner
> >>
> > --
> >
> >   *            Henning J. Wulff
> >  /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
> > /###\   mailto:henningw at archiphoto.com
> > |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com
> >
> > _______________________________________________
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>
>
> _______________________________________________
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>



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