Cosina Voiglander 15 f4.5 on M6

[tiep]

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I am about to buy this len. have anyone used it on leica M6 ? please help to advice /comments( quanlity of len). if possible, give me some photo taken from it.

many thanks

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[lars_bergquist]

Works very well indeed on any film Leica M. I had no problems with it on a M6TTL. But no digital pix, because the lens is optically incompatible with the M8 or M9.

 

The old man from the Age of the Hologon

[Xmas]

Hi Lars

 

Did you try coding an adapter ring for a Leiica wide angle?

 

Noel

[menos I M6]

15 Heliar | M6 classic | TriX:

 

 

"faster"

 

 

 

"wheels"

 

 

 

"stormbringer" - this is an overhead shot into a small ceiling mounted ventilator in a 1.2m wide staircase in Hong Kong - I love these places ;-) The wooden name board on the right side is actually bend from humidity - this is NO distortion!

 

I use the 15 Heliar not very often (not much of a wide angle guy).

I bought it with a Cosina 15mm finder, which I find terrible (huuuge barrel distortion, no parallax correction, bad eye point, extremely sensitive on eye position for framing, … ).

I consider the 100,- EUR spent on the finder as a waste.

 

Some months later, I got a good deal on a Leica Frankenfinder. If you are at least a tiny bit serious about wide angle photography and shy away from spending a fortune on a Leica super wide lens, do yourself a treat and buy the CV 15 Heliar + Leica Frankenfinder package deal for under 1.000,- EUR and have the most wonderful super wide angle experience, 1.000 EUR can buy.

[menos I M6]

Works very well indeed on any film Leica M. I had no problems with it on a M6TTL. But no digital pix, because the lens is optically incompatible with the M8 or M9.

 

The old man from the Age of the Hologon

 

Lars, I understand, there might be issues with this lens giving corner problems/ false colors etc on the M8/ M9, but calling it "optically incompatible" is far fetched (besides - there is an app for that):

 

"taylor"

 

"the set"

 

"ice cream"

 

All zone focussed and shot on a M8.2 with Frankenfinder.

I really like the 15 Heliar (when I come around, to shoot it).

 

This might as well be THE prototype for a bang for the buck lens!

What really gets me is, how little distortion it has, compared to some horrible shots, I have seen from the Leica 18mm !!!

 

Everybody ought to have one of these.

[tobey bilek]

It works fine on any film Leica. Screw to bayonet adapter for the original to fit to M camera is required.

 

Later ones are bayonet from the factory therefore making them incompatable with screw mount cameras.

[bocaburger]

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the lens is optically incompatible with the M8 or M9.

 

I've been using the 15 on an M8 for 3 years with great results. Judging by the # of threads I can find, so have tons of other people. I use an e39 Leica UV-IR filter in homemade adapter; 9cm Leitz adapter milled/coded as a WATE, used at 16mm. I didn't try the 15 on an M9 so I can't contradict you on that.

[Nikkor AIS]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the Voiglander 15 4.5 ASAPH .On the Leica film body's it's just great. The 15 4.5 is so small and light and the viewfinder is bright. I use it along side my Nikkor 14-24 2.8 AFS on my D3 and unlike the Nikkor the the Voiglander has zero barrel distortion.

It's a very sharp lens and has could controll over flare.

[frank_dernie]

The 15mm CV was one of my most used lenses on my M6. Some of my favourite pictures have been taken with it. It is astonishingly good value for money.

I don't use it on my M9, so can not comment from practical example, but the exit pupil of the lens means it will be well from optimum on the M9 microlenses, though maybe people will be getting results they are happy enough with.

cheers,

Frank

[stunsworth]

Frank, I always felt that optically it was one of the weaker Voigtlander lenses I've used - on film and digital Ms - though the novelty value of such a wide lens made up for that. Personally I thought their 21mm lens was quite a bit better. The 15mm was the first LTM lens that they introduced along with the 25mm, I'm not sure if the latest one is identical optically.

 

The price is now over 400 GBP, so it's not quite the impulsive buy it once was.

[farnz]

...

If you are at least a tiny bit serious about wide angle photography and shy away from spending a fortune on a Leica super wide lens, do yourself a treat and buy the CV 15 Heliar + Leica Frankenfinder package deal for under 1.000,- EUR and have the most wonderful super wide angle experience, 1.000 EUR can buy.

Alternatively the 15mm Zeiss T* viewfinder is astonishingly good, half the price ($435 for Z at Popflash v $938 for FF at Adorama), generally easier to locate and tiny compared to the Frankenfinder.

 

Of course the Frankenfinder offers a selection of 16, 21, 24 and 25 mm viewfinders so it may find use as a multi-purpose finder.

 

Pete.

[gverdon]

Works very well indeed on any film Leica M. I had no problems with it on a M6TTL. But no digital pix, because the lens is optically incompatible with the M8 or M9.

 

What exactly do you mean by optically incompatible ?

 

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

Cheers,

Gérald

[menos I M6]

Alternatively the 15mm Zeiss T* viewfinder is astonishingly good, half the price ($435 for Z at Popflash v $938 for FF at Adorama), generally easier to locate and tiny compared to the Frankenfinder.

 

Of course the Frankenfinder offers a selection of 16, 21, 24 and 25 mm viewfinders so it may find use as a multi-purpose finder.

 

Pete.

 

Pete, sometimes, there can be had good deals on the Frankenfinder, which makes it much more tempting - I bought mine new with full warranty for 75% of the usual retail price.

 

I got it mainly, to have the multi purpose finder for:

- 15 Heliar on M8.2

- 15 Heliar on M6/M7

- 28 Cron on M7 x0.85

 

, to have a brilliant view, much better than any other finder I tried (including the Zeiss and Leica finders, which go for half the price minimum of the FF) - and, to benefit from the perfectly working parallax correction, which is the best about this finder!

 

You can frame very good up close and far a way with click stops at important distances and in between settings, if needed. It is the best finder, there is.

If lightweight is the reason, to get single focal length finders (and this is the only argument for them) and money plays no role, getting several of the Zeiss finders is fine - I find them nicer, than the Leica finders (20-30% less costly, but equally good optically).

[tgray]

Works great. Worth getting. I like mine.

[tiep]

Works great. Worth getting. I like mine.

 

 

Thank all a lot. I decided to buy it and will get it in next 03 weeks & also hopes that it will work well.

I am concerning to buy view finder CV or CZ view finder. CV view finder is about 140$ , is it ok ?. anyone help for more advices.

thanks

[menos I M6]

Thank all a lot. I decided to buy it and will get it in next 03 weeks & also hopes that it will work well.

I am concerning to buy view finder CV or CZ view finder. CV view finder is about 140$ , is it ok ?. anyone help for more advices.

thanks

 

I hate mine - it resides in some dark corner, unused and has cost money.

[Xmas]

Hi

 

If you get a LTM lens it should come with a (the kit) finder, there might be some new stock around still.. An adapter ring for and M camera is cheaper then a viewfinder.

 

Noel

[lars_bergquist]

I agree that most problems with the 15mm on a digital body are colour-related. Shoot black and white -- in-camera JPEGs or decolorised in post-processing -- and results may be satisfactory. But I never got it to work well on my M8.

 

I will run some more experiments when my M9 returns from Solms with a de-cracked sensor!

 

And it is true that most problems can be 'fixed' in PhotoShop. You can damn well paint yourself a new picture. But that is not my way of working.

 

The old man from the Age of the Hologon

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Hallo,

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[spydrxx]

I got one several years ago and have used it on my M6 (when I still owned it) and these days on my M4. I agree that optical quality is "different" , but this lens is "different". I use mine (infrequently I admit) when I want to do some street photography. Can't comment on finders other than the CV one. I just use it for approximation so it works fine. If you can get one of these lenses cheap, they're fun to play around with.

[frank_dernie]

Frank, I always felt that optically it was one of the weaker Voigtlander lenses I've used - on film and digital Ms - though the novelty value of such a wide lens made up for that. Personally I thought their 21mm lens was quite a bit better. The 15mm was the first LTM lens that they introduced along with the 25mm, I'm not sure if the latest one is identical optically.

 

The price is now over 400 GBP, so it's not quite the impulsive buy it once was.

 

Hi Steve, I was super impressed by mine on film but IMHO it does not suit the M8, so I have not tried it on the M9. I bought a WATE at the same time I got my M8, so I was not too bothered about the 15 CV not suiting the digital.

Perhaps there is considerable sample variation, fairly likely considering the mega sensitivity to mechanical errors in element position inherent in SWA lenses. I know some people who swear by theirs and others who swear at it.

Henning did some tests at the time the RD1 appeared and IIRC he found the more retrofocus CV 12mm had less vignetting than the 15mm.

FWIW.

Frank