WATE's For Sale

[j. white]

I've noticed a high number of used wide angle Tri-Elmar lenses for sale over the past several months. It makes me wonder, what's the popular verdict on this lens?

Many thanks,


-J.

[Shootist]

I think most people like it, IE find it a very good lens, but that it is TO SLOW for the type of shooting they would use it for, indoors without flash of some kind.
2) Or it could be that it just to dam expensive and they don't use it as much I they thought they would.

I'm thinking about selling my 24 Elmarit for the same reason as # 2. I simply don't mount it on my M's much.

[marknorton]

The workflow is tedious - set the lens, set the finder, set the menu, focus and meter, frame, shoot and I find I don't use it much.

If they had done the job properly, the lens would have told the camera what the selected focal length was (as the MATE does) and the camera would have been able to set the required frame in the Frankenfinder remotely.

For wide angle shots, I now prefer my Nikon 14-24mm on a D3 - wider than a WATE, faster than a WATE, auto-focus and about 1/3 of the price. True, it's huge but so too is a Zeiss Distagon.

[Francisco Massanet]

I think in this forum many times we forget that most answers have their full meaning depending on the condition of person that answers. Although the pros always feel like an amateur, for them the camera and lenses are tools they have to use frequently and redeem the investment they've done. The only amateurs justify to have bought a lens by one pic they have taken (I know this is an exaggeration, excuse me).

The WATE is not an easy lens to use, either for the practical reasons that Mark tell us, or by the fact that a wide angle is a lens one must understand and master, following some rules to avoid a big fiasco.

Having said that, I love WATE in spite of I don't like multifocals. Before buying it I had many doubts. Since I've it I'm very happy with it.

Here you are a sample, not very artistic, to judge it.


Francisco

[robsteve]

The WATE was also the most highly discounted lens on the Leica M8 early adopter discount. Some people bought it because it was the best bargain, not because it was the lens that best suited them.

You see them for sale, but are they actually selling? The last few I saw advertised were quite expensive.

[j. borger]

There simply is not very much application for it unless one belongs to the very few who realy know how to use a wide angle lens ........
Besides ultra wide angles and a Leica are a bad match .... you have to move in too close with people to feel comfortable and need a tripod for anything else because external finders suck and are not a joy to use. On top ... for interiorshots f4.0 is just to slow!
I do not have a WATE but have a CV 15 and Zeiss 18/4 which both get little to no use for all the reasons above.