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M8 and Distagon 15mm. Leica falls short?


Guest leicawanabe

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Guest guy_mancuso

Could you show us proof that the Zeiss maybe better. I would love to see a more technical response here like samples. The problem with the Zeiss is you can't code it because of the screw in the mount so in essence it has some limitations because using a IR filter maybe next to impossible unless leica puts a setting in the menu items to decide which lens you have on the camera otherwise your going to need to use a progrm like Pano Tools. I thought about this lens many times and almost bought it but doing interior shots without a IR filter could be a issue. It's also not rangefinder coupled

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Pretty awesome lens at a pretty awesome price -- $3800 at B&H. A Zeiss 15mm viewfinder costs another $500. The Leica WATE is $2426 to people who bought an M8 early enough to get the discount offer...Do you get $1400 more quality out of the Zeiss? I guess only the owners can know that...

 

JC

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I think the shots are rather good. Things seem very sharp across the frame. I still think it is an incredible lens, and these shots underscore more of what it can do. The downsides are the cost, lack of rangefinder coupling, and unknown about coding. (Guy, one could fill over the screw area with a bit of white paint and then add any black bars as needed. Not terribly elegant, but it would do the job.)

 

From what little has been posted by folks from this lens, it appears to hold its own quite well against the WATE, and it is a stop faster, if that really matters at 15mm.

 

LJ

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Or to put it another way, do you get $3400 more quality out of the Zeiss than out of the CV?

 

I've seen samples, and quite frankly, the Zeiss seems less of a user lens and more of a "I want to say I have it lens" (no offense to people who have it and use it). The Leica is rangefinder coupled, coded, and more flexible a lens than the Zeiss, at least in terms of focal length. The CV isn't a slouch performance-wise and is roughly 1/10th the price.

 

I'm not saying the Zeiss won't float some peoples' boats. I just don't know why it's superior in any practical terms to the Leica or the CV. Yes, I know the Zeiss is faster, and if that's a factor for one's photography, of course it makes sense. But at that focal length, I'm guessing fast isn't a really big concern for most people.

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Guest leicawanabe

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JRC,

 

1400 difference? I don't know if it worth paying 1400 more for it than the TRI. The non discounted price of the TRI is 3400 or 388 I don't remember. Tony Rose has a demo 15 for 3300.00.

 

I was playing with the TRI this past weekend and was a little disappointed with the soft edges and CA that I saw on some tree branches. None the less, it's a very good lens.

 

Actually I was trading the Zeiss for the TRI and when the person I was trading with needed more time to decide on the Zeiss vs the TRI So, I ordered another Zeiss because I liked it better than the TRI and was just going to sell the TRI.

 

As far as coding goes, Leica has informed me that the next version of the firmware will allow for manual selection of the TRI focal length. between 16,18 and 21. That being the case, I am confident that I should be able to manually set the M8 to think a 16 is on there. Lets see what happens.

 

One mor ething about the Zeiss. I know its not RF coupled, But, the focus scale goes from 1 foot to 7 then iot jumps to infinity. That is very forgiving considerning taht shooting at f5.6 and at 2 meters you basically cover the focus from .6meters to infinity. Where the Leica is RF coupled but the focus range is much greater.

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As far as coding goes, Leica has informed me that the next version of the firmware will allow for manual selection of the TRI focal length. between 16,18 and 21. That being the case, I am confident that I should be able to manually set the M8 to think a 16 is on there. Lets see what happens.

 

If that is truly the case with the new firmware (v 1.10), then hand coding the Zeiss should take care of things for having the camera "recognize" a coded lens to make the correction. This is one of the holy grail items that needs to be in the next firmware update....selecting your own focal length....and all the folks with non-coded lenses (Leica, CV or Zeiss) will find ways to get them hand coded somehow, and then we are all rockin' :D

 

LJ

 

P.S. The Zeiss is pretty sharp, and on this somewhat sunny day of the posted pics, it does display the greater contrast that has been seen in other Zeiss lenses. I have the 25/2.8 Biogon, and it is pretty sharp and imparts a bit more contrast than the Leica 24/2.8, in my opinion. Some folks may or may not like that, but on this lens, I think it is excellent. I have the CV 15, and yes it is tons of dollars cheaper, but it is not as crisp as what I have seen from the Zeiss or the WATE.

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LJ

 

The bad news is that the manual selection of lens will only be available for the TRI according to Leica.

 

O.K., but if you hand code the Zeiss as the WATE, then you should be able to make the seleciton for 16mm and you are set. If you were referring to my comment applying to other lenses....well, a lot of us keep wishing and hoping and more than gently telling Leica this needs to be incorporated into the firmware....whatever version we have to wait for.

 

LJ

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I would still love to see a CV15, Zeiss 15, Leica 16 shoot-out. Hopefully, someone will be able to do one soon. I know Sean has it on his radar. Having used both the Zeiss 15 and the Leica 15 in R format and the CV15 on the M8, my guess is that the Zeiss is probably very formidable.

 

Kurt

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I'd like to see Leica make a lens between 15 and 18 with a max aperture of maybe f/5.6 or even f/8 that could sell for $1,400.USD. For a lot of ultra-wide applications this would be the perfect lens, small, cheap (for a Leica) with spectacular correction and quality. For those that need the speed and can afford it there is the Zeiss.

 

If Leica won't do it. CV could probably match the quality level of the Leica/Zeiss ultrawides if they only had to correct for a fixed aperture of f/8 like the old Hologon.

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Guest leicawanabe

Before someone asks, here is a 100% crop of the far right. I bumped the brightness up a little to bring out the detail in the license plate.

 

428831345_37ff911d18_o.jpg

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Guest leicawanabe

Here is 100% of the bike. What IR issues are there? I don't see any maybe except the cap.

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!

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The problem with the Zeiss is you can't code it because of the screw in the mount so in essence it has some limitations because using a IR filter maybe next to impossible unless leica puts a setting in the menu items to decide which lens you have on the camera otherwise your going to need to use a progrm like Pano Tools.

 

Cyan corners? Simple fix post process :cool:

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I'd like to see Leica make a lens between 15 and 18 with a max aperture of maybe f/5.6 or even f/8 that could sell for $1,400.USD. For a lot of ultra-wide applications this would be the perfect lens, small, cheap (for a Leica) with spectacular correction and quality. For those that need the speed and can afford it there is the Zeiss.

 

If Leica won't do it. CV could probably match the quality level of the Leica/Zeiss ultrawides if they only had to correct for a fixed aperture of f/8 like the old Hologon.

 

Hank,

The CV 12mm is a sweet lens that I have used to good effect and dirt cheap- check it out.

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