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Has anyone tried the Zeiss ZM 15mm Distagon on the SL


wlaidlaw

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Could you not use a Lee SW100 mm or SW150 square filter kit? Then you have access to all sorts of ND filters both uniform and graduated (hard, medium, soft transitions). I went on a Lee filters day earlier this year and was very impressed for use on the 24-90 and 90-280. 

 

Wilson

The problem is that the lens has a built in lens hood. The filters would easily scratch and I'm not sure there's a way to attach the holder to the lens.

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The problem is that the lens has a built in lens hood. The filters would easily scratch and I'm not sure there's a way to attach the holder to the lens.

 

I thought the hood must be a bayonet fixed one like the other ZM lenses, given that other people on Fleabay seem to be selling alternative hoods. 

 

Wilson

 

PS I was wrong but it can be removed http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/01/zeiss-15mm-hood-removal/  The problem is that I think this also removes the filter thread. W.

Edited by wlaidlaw
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May i barge in on this thread and ask if there is any experience with the Zeiss distagon 15mm in ZF or ZE mount. Would this more telecentric (SLR) design be an equally good (if not better) choice?

This is the variant i have been eyeing.

 

I think it has less problems, but is even bigger. Still not easy to use filters. (95mm filter thread)

Here a test of the Canon version:    http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Zeiss-15mm-f-2.8-ZE-Distagon-Lens-Review.aspx   

Do not take this report too seriously - they very often call things "the best" or "a great choice". Actually they sound most of the time like a marketing department. I like their aperture comparisons - about in the middle of the text.

The 15mm lens is still quite clunky compared to the WATE. But you can probably make a "professional" impression with it (more than with the unassuming WATE). It is actually very close to my old Zeiss-built Leica R 15mm. A lens I like a lot, also because of its special look.

Edited by steppenw0lf
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The old Zeiss/Leica Holgon is a pain to use though  :mellow: I had one for my Contax G2. Theoretically it is f8 but by the time you have the radially graduated ND filter on it, it is about f16 or 22. 

 

Wilson

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Wilson,

 

See this thread: http://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/253730-your-ultra-wide-angle-uwa-pictures-10mm-to-21mm/page-3?do=findComment&comment=2978054, post #45.

 

That was with the Cosina-Voigtlander 12mm (screw-mount version) on the M240, but that photo was deliberately NOT corrected by CornerFix, which does an excellent job.  Sorry, but I don't have the time to pull up the corrected photo now.

 

BTW, the 15mm CV has been widely reported on this forum to be more problematic than the 12mm.  CornerFix does a wonderful job with both.

 

I have no experience with FlatField.

 

Guy

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  • 1 month later...

I have both a Super-Elmar-R 15mm f/3.5 and the WATE, and have used both extensively (if not exclusively!) on the SL. The Super-Elmar-R 15mm is a Zeiss Distagon 15mm SLR lens built in Leica R mount with some customizations for the lens coatings. 

 

Both lenses image very beautifully on the SL, with crisp center and excellent edge and corner behavior. The WATE provides crisper corner rendering than the SER15. In use the SER15 is easier to focus and focuses closer, has better ergonomics in use, but the WATE is significantly smaller and lighter. (The later Super-Elmarit-R 15mm f/2.8, built by Schneider, is probably on par or better with the WATE and better than the Super-Elmar-R 15, but it's pricey.) 

 

Vieri Bottazzini compared the WATE with the Voigtländer Heliar 15mm f/4.5 III recently, and that might be an option at a reasonable price, even new. Link goes to his post here ... Tri-Elmar-M 16-18-21 compared to Voigtländer 15mm Mark III.

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