urban-exposure Posted January 21, 2007 Share #1 Â Posted January 21, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) Does anyone have experience with 15mm and 21mm VL lenses on their M8 as primary lenses? Â I have shot on a Contax G2 with 21mm lens for a number of years, and have become addicted to that view, but I am concerned about several things once I upgrade to the M8: Â - What is the actual focal length of the M8's viewfinder (at it's widest) - I am getting very confused by different figures being given for film and digital equivalent (x1.33) focal length. Â - I do not relish having to estimate focus with the non coupled 15mm. Steven Gandy told me this would not be an issue with a lens this wide - can anyone confirm this? Â - Sean Reid has recently pointed out the cyan drift issues with lenses wider than 35mm. Does anyone have direct experience of this with the VL super-wides? Â - I have been following the hand coding threads, but no-one has mentioned whether Leica will code non-Leica lenses? I presume not? Â I am very excited by the prospect of having a digital rangefinder, and have recently sold my Contax G2 kit, but it seems that I will have to make serious compromises when shooting wide on an M8. Â Anyone's thoughts would be appreciated. Â --- James Wakefield Urban Exposure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted January 21, 2007 Posted January 21, 2007 Hi urban-exposure, Take a look here Super-Wide VL Lenses on M8 - 15mm & 21mm - concerns & questions. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 21, 2007 Share #2  Posted January 21, 2007 Does anyone have experience with 15mm and 21mm VL lenses on their M8 as primary lenses?  Several current threads cover this.  I have shot on a Contax G2 with 21mm lens for a number of years, and have become addicted to that view, but I am concerned about several things once I upgrade to the M8:  - What is the actual focal length of the M8's viewfinder (at it's widest) - I am getting very confused by different figures being given for film and digital equivalent (x1.33) focal length.  Since 1.33 X 21 is 28, most are using a 28mm external finder, but some claim that using the full M8 field of view they can, with practice, frame for a 21mm lens.  - I do not relish having to estimate focus with the non coupled 15mm. Steven Gandy told me this would not be an issue with a lens this wide - can anyone confirm this?  at distances of several meters, it doesn't seem to be a problem (others' experience, not mine). Close in, it is a problem, and takes practice.  - Sean Reid has recently pointed out the cyan drift issues with lenses wider than 35mm. Does anyone have direct experience of this with the VL super-wides? yes, see threads on this subject - I have been following the hand coding threads, but no-one has mentioned whether Leica will code non-Leica lenses? I presume not?  we won't know until firmware version 1.10 ships next month, and even then the issue is not Leica coding a Zeiss of CV lens, but whether one can choose to use an appropriate Leica vignetting correction on a non-Leica lens. I am very excited by the prospect of having a digital rangefinder, and have recently sold my Contax G2 kit, but it seems that I will have to make serious compromises when shooting wide on an M8. I've already seen some wonderful pictures. I'm using an old Canon 19mm, and even tho its butt sits 9 mm from the CCD, exposure works, and good pictures can result. YMMV of course. I have a CV15 on order. scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
urban-exposure Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share #3 Â Posted January 21, 2007 shalom scott. thanks for that info. Â if one could frame for a 21mm in the leica's viewfinder that would be preferable, and quicker than using 2 finders (which will take some getting used to after using an autofocus G2 for so long!). Â we will have to see what develops with the other issues. Â thanks again. Â --- James Wakefield Urban Exposure Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 21, 2007 Share #4 Â Posted January 21, 2007 James, welcome to the forum. Â The widest framelines on an M8 are for a 24mm lens. This has the angle of wiew of 24 x 1.33 - i.e. approx the same as a 32mm lens. These pretty much fill the viewfinder. Â The 15mm lens has enormous DOF. You should be able to focus one manually without any dificulty at all. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
urban-exposure Posted January 21, 2007 Author Share #5 Â Posted January 21, 2007 thanks Steve. you menion that widest framelines are 24mm (32mm digital equivalent). Â judging by the images on DPReview, the viewfinder extends a tiny bit beyond this - maybe to about 21mm - would you agree? Â http://www.dpreview.com/articles/leicam8/Images/viewfinderview-24+35.jpg Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
stunsworth Posted January 21, 2007 Share #6 Â Posted January 21, 2007 James, a litle bit, but I wouldn't say they went to 21mm. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
doubice Posted January 21, 2007 Share #7  Posted January 21, 2007 Advertisement (gone after registration) .......... I'm using an old Canon 19mm, and even tho its butt sits 9 mm from the CCD, exposure works, and good pictures can result. YMMV of course...... scott  Scott,  Are you referring to the Canon RF coupled version of this lens? If you are - can you elaborate a little more about what is your experience using it on the M8? I have kept this lens, along with a Canon RF 3.5/25mm to try on the M8 when I gather enough courage to get one.  Kind regards,  Jan Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
geoff Posted January 21, 2007 Share #8  Posted January 21, 2007 Does anyone have experience with 15mm and 21mm VL lenses on their M8 as primary lenses? - What is the actual focal length of the M8's viewfinder (at it's widest) - I am getting very confused by different figures being given for film and digital equivalent (x1.33) focal length.  - I do not relish having to estimate focus with the non coupled 15mm. Steven Gandy told me this would not be an issue with a lens this wide - can anyone confirm this?  - Sean Reid has recently pointed out the cyan drift issues with lenses wider than 35mm. Does anyone have direct experience of this with the VL super-wides?  The widest lens supported by the M8 viewfinder is a 24mm, which translates into a 32mm.  For a 20mm cropped field of view, I have been using the using the Voightlander Super Wide Heliar 15 as my primarily lens. For most of my work I have been zone focusing at 2.5 feet/ƒ8 with little issue. Set it, forget and concentrate on the subject matter.  I picked up a Voightlander Color-Skopar 21mm lens mainly to use the bundled viewfinder with the 15mm on the M8 since the lens/finder bundle was only USD$200.ºº more than the finder alone.  All of the indoor work currently posted on my MySpace space was taken with the Heliar 15mm with exception of the slideshow stuff, which was done with a Digilux 2. The outdoor work was done with the Color-Skopar 21mm.  No UV/IR cut-off filters were used at all. I think the only set where a magenta cast is noticeable is on my first M8 outing at the Roullette Tribute. Since then I have simply adjusted the purple saturation slider in Aperture to address the issue to my satisfaction. None-the-less, the magenta cast issue has not been much of a concern to me for my type of work.   myspace.com/geoffotos Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 21, 2007 Share #9  Posted January 21, 2007 Scott, Are you referring to the Canon RF coupled version of this lens? If you are - can you elaborate a little more about what is your experience using it on the M8?  That's the one. I bought it when Leicas were being dumped so that working pros could have nice new manual Nikon Fs and FTNs. I think it was swept up into a volume deal, rather than something I decided on carefully, but it can't have cost much. It even has the old style Leitz untrimmed 90mm LTM to M adapter, which provides enough space to draw a Sharpie code on. It doesn't have much flare protection from lens shade or internal design, so be prepared for the Easy Rider video look, lots of flare spots when the sun is in front of you. It's sharp in the center, has nice color and moderate contrast, seems to hold its sharpness across the frame at f/8, but is not so sharp or contrasty wide open and at the edges.  There are two shots with it in my pbase Leica samples gallery (link below). I did some tests with a wall of books and a few desk lamps last night. I didn't expect miracles, but...  in the center things look like this (f/3.5):   which is sharp enough for government work, and the contrast improves at f/8:   Things are less successful in the corners. Here's the upper right at f/3.5:   but it improves a lot at f/8:  .  f/4 in the corners clears up the smeared look, and f/5.6 is as good as f/8, to a first approximation. So the rule that applies to the tiny superwides applies here -- find good clear light and use f/8. The shelves really are bowed, but the verticals are straight and parallel, so distortion is well-corrected.  scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
j. borger Posted January 21, 2007 Share #10 Â Posted January 21, 2007 To get the 21mm perspective you like so much you need a 15 or 16mm lens and a 21mm external viewfinder. The M8 viewfinder is to narrow to frame a 21mm lens (which translates to a 28mm lens) accurately. So for using a 21mm lens on the m8 you need a 28mm external viewfinder. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnelson Posted January 21, 2007 Share #11 Â Posted January 21, 2007 Scott... Â That's an extremely nice self of photography books. How many books in your collection. Â I'm putting mine in the computer now. another photo addiction for me I guess... Â Bill Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
scott kirkpatrick Posted January 21, 2007 Share #12  Posted January 21, 2007 Scott... That's an extremely nice self of photography books. How many books in your collection.  I'm putting mine in the computer now. another photo addiction for me I guess...  Bill  Somewhere between 15 and 20+ linear feet, depending on whether you count art books. Haven't counted them. Some of them have been with me through quite a few moves. Recently they have been accumulating faster than I can put up more shelves.  scott Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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