IWC Doppel Posted June 4, 2014 Share #1  Posted June 4, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Well I have had my 18mm for a while now (9m or so) and I have shot over 1,000 pictures with it. My 'issue' is that most of the time I want the subject to look a little closer and find I need to point the camera as close as possible a lot of the time, so more tempted by the 21 or 24 in most cases. The other use is architectural and whilst it's great, I often find that I crave just a little bit wider. Especially in closed spaces.  For interiors it's good but I wish it was faster f3.8 is slow, whatever some people say. SO here's a thought process, sell the 18mm, viewfinder and filter cover and buy a cheaper Voigtlander 15/4.5 plus viewfinder. I get over £1,000 in the pocket and a wider lens that will cover some shots I can't with the 18 and is half a stop slower. I shoot 95% in B&W so colour shift not a major concern the £1k could go towards my Monochrome fund, this will bring another stop for B&W on all my lenses  This would give me  15mm Voigtlander 21mm Elmarit ASPH 24mm Elmarit ASPH 28mm Summicron ASPH 35mm (Three Leica's, none that I want to sell) 50mm (Four Leica's, none that I want to sell) 75mm Summilux  Nothing I want any longer than 75mm Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 4, 2014 Posted June 4, 2014 Hi IWC Doppel, Take a look here 18mm and thoughts about 15mm... I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
epand56 Posted June 4, 2014 Share #2 Â Posted June 4, 2014 Which kind of camera do you have? I used the CV Heliar 15/4.5 M-Mount on my M8 and it was spectacular, with no cyan or magenta drift. I'm now on a M 240 and it is quite prone to magenta drift on borders. So, being myself not very inclined on correcting pictures with Cornerfix or similar, I mainly use it for B&W. Do not know how it behave on a M9. Anyway, it is a small jewel, very sharp and well built. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
IWC Doppel Posted June 4, 2014 Author Share #3 Â Posted June 4, 2014 M9-P Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirekti Posted June 4, 2014 Share #4 Â Posted June 4, 2014 I don't get why Leica didn't come up with some lens at 15mm. From what I've read this CV15 is remarkable, only some color shifts. Wouldn't Leica be able to make something similar (maybe even better), and correct the color with it's profile? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted June 4, 2014 Share #5 Â Posted June 4, 2014 Me too am a happy user of the small CV15... in terms of value for money is a top lens, and isn't casual that after so many years is still, I think, one of the pillars of the CV offering (and it was probably the first lens they announced, or one of the first pair...) Â But, if you really NEED to go wider than 18, why not thinking to their 12 mm ? It's a bit more costly, but my feel is that, expecially in BW, you don't have more issues than with 15, and, speaking with a people that switched from CV 15 to 12,5 , he told me that the vignetting of a 12,5 frame CROPPED to match 15, is inferior to the 15's... In terms of aperture 4,5 and 5,6 aren't so far, either... (if one wants to go for luminosity... there is the hard to find Elmarit 15 for R... 3,5 or 2,8, costly and heavy and, i think, with problems about using the VF...) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
pgk Posted June 4, 2014 Share #6 Â Posted June 4, 2014 Here's my take on this 'problem'. IMO anything wider than 20mm is super-wide and as such is really something of a specialist lens - I've been there and owned 14mm, 15mm and 18mm plus super-wide zooms (on dSLRs) and I no longer do so. I've found that 21mm is actually quite wide enough for all except for some specialist type shots for which I either use a fisheye or hire as needed. So I'd be hesitant about changing the 18mm for a 12mm or 15mm because I suspect that, as with the 18mm, they are specialist lenses and will suffer from similar problems - you could so easily go from frying pan to fire. Â As a suggestion why not try using the 21mm that you already have and ignoring the 18mm for a while and see whether you really need/miss its extra angle. If not then perhaps selling the 18mm might be fine without replacement. If you do then at least you know and can retry the 18mm or sell and buy wider (although my caveat above still applies). I have tried wider lenses (including a WATE) but have finally realised that I'm actually quite happy enough with 21mm (I own SE and SA though;)). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted June 4, 2014 Share #7 Â Posted June 4, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I don't get why Leica didn't come up with some lens at 15mm. From what I've read this CV15 is remarkable, only some color shifts. Wouldn't Leica be able to make something similar (maybe even better), and correct the color with it's profile? Â It's some time that a Superwide is rumored (14 ? i seem to remember that time ago rumors had, apparantly, a certain consensus about this focal...) ; indeed I was someway surprised that they have came out with a luxury Lux 28... maybe the business from such a focal is more interesting than a very specialist super WA... (and I have the feel that the WATE hasn't proved a big success till now, but its presence on the pricelist, in a certain sense, forces them to go below 16 to make something that appeals) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leicakillen Posted June 4, 2014 Share #8  Posted June 4, 2014 Which kind of camera do you have?I used the CV Heliar 15/4.5 M-Mount on my M8 and it was spectacular, with no cyan or magenta drift. I'm now on a M 240 and it is quite prone to magenta drift on borders. So, being myself not very inclined on correcting pictures with Cornerfix or similar, I mainly use it for B&W. Do not know how it behave on a M9. Anyway, it is a small jewel, very sharp and well built. I just like to confirm that the problems with colour shifts with CV 15 is less prone on M9 compared to M240. I use the Voigtländer with great joy on my M9, but can see the bigger colour-problems on my friends M240, which can be fixed in post-processing of course. /Anders Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
efreed2754 Posted June 4, 2014 Share #9 Â Posted June 4, 2014 HI IWC. Remember when you started with the 18 and it just never seemed to come easy to you. Give you lots of credit for the 1,000 shots -- you certainly gave it a good try. Â I love my 18 and yes you have to come closer than you think at first as its so wide. Oh well, the 18 is my widest and so no experience with anything wider. There are times I'd like it wider however having too many choices has limitations too. So if Leica came out with a 14 or 15 I'd certainly give it some thought, but again enough (lenses) are enough. Â Wish you well in your quest!!! Let us know what you decide. Â Ed Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter H Posted June 4, 2014 Share #10 Â Posted June 4, 2014 If you're thinking about the CV 15 I would mention that from my experience with them both the 12, although more extreme, is the superior lens on an M in all respects. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
luigi bertolotti Posted June 5, 2014 Share #11 Â Posted June 5, 2014 If you're thinking about the CV 15 I would mention that from my experience with them both the 12, although more extreme, is the superior lens on an M in all respects. Â Thanks for the info... ... passing from M8 (6,5 years with crop sensor... ) to M i was initially surprised of "how wide it is"... and am really tempted to enjoy in deep this feeling with a really STRONG focal... btw, my 15 is the very old 1st version LTM silver no RF... 12 seems a step up also in mech and finishing... Just a question about FINDER... which one do you use ? Cameraquest has still the 2 versions available... do you know if the new one is really better ? it's more compact, and that's good, but the older apparently has a bigger frame, and with strong WAs this can be really useful for composition... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter H Posted June 5, 2014 Share #12 Â Posted June 5, 2014 ..........Just a question about FINDER... which one do you use ? Cameraquest has still the 2 versions available... do you know if the new one is really better ? it's more compact, and that's good, but the older apparently has a bigger frame, and with strong WAs this can be really useful for composition... Â I use it with my M so if I need accurate framing I use the EVF. Otherwise I still use a 15mm finder which gives a reasonable but loose impression of what to expect. Sometimes though, because it is so W I D E I don't use a finder at all, because almost everything in front of me will end up in the photo! Â I gather the smaller, more expensive CV finder is the best to use, more accurate and brighter I think, but I haven't used it myself. Â I expected it to be a novelty lens, but it is capable of very high quality and can be surprisingly useful. And it's fun. Â (Sorry to go a wee bit off-topic for a moment.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustafasoleiman Posted June 5, 2014 Share #13 Â Posted June 5, 2014 Thanks for the info... ... passing from M8 (6,5 years with crop sensor... ) to M i was initially surprised of "how wide it is"... and am really tempted to enjoy in deep this feeling with a really STRONG focal... btw, my 15 is the very old 1st version LTM silver no RF... 12 seems a step up also in mech and finishing...Just a question about FINDER... which one do you use ? Cameraquest has still the 2 versions available... do you know if the new one is really better ? it's more compact, and that's good, but the older apparently has a bigger frame, and with strong WAs this can be really useful for composition... Â The older and bigger version is a beautiful viewfinder, big and bright... As I moved to the M i kept the 12 but sold the vf to Richard Caplan, who still has it for sale... It is in perfect condition as I hardly ever used it... I preferred it to the newer smaller but less expansive vf. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rramesh Posted June 6, 2014 Share #14 Â Posted June 6, 2014 If you want to look at a very wide option, get the CV12. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
epand56 Posted June 6, 2014 Share #15  Posted June 6, 2014 IWC, Luigi,  this is a very quick example of the power of this little genius, the Heliar 15 M-mount. It is in B&W because of the Magenta drift it has on the Leica M 240. But you can see how it renders: plenty of tones and razor sharp (keep in mind that this is a 72 Dpi jpeg image).  The picture https://fbcdn-sphotos-e-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t31.0-8/10333446_916936214999268_2317728817731205452_o.jpg  And a close up https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-xfp1/t31.0-8/10298351_917059684986921_5113368254720422416_o.jpg  Hope this helps. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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