Voigtlander 21mm f4 - so impressed

[colonel]

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Tiny, well built, sharp, cheap as chips

 

I am more then impressed, blown away actually (£279 on import, £384 UK)

 

One of these should be in everyones bag (unless of course they have another 21mm).

 

All taken with M9 (remember to use the profile 21 f/2.8 11134 to ensure the italian flag is not there):

 

 

 

Edited March 19, 2016 by colonel

[tenezus]

Thanks for sharing! £279 where?

[Xavier]

I may get interested in this lens eventually. How are the corners ? Thanks for posting !

[NB23]

Corners very bad on prints.

[colonel]

Thanks for sharing! £279 where?

http://mwclassic.com/?product_cat=leica-leica-copy

[colonel]

I may get interested in this lens eventually. How are the corners ? Thanks for posting !

Looks good, but haven't looked in detail

 

I wouldn't buy this lens for perfect corners

[colonel]

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Corners very bad on prints.

Look good on the screen

[james.liam]

Corners very bad on prints.

 

 

Corners look surprisingly good on my monitor. 

[david strachan]

James & Colonel

 

I'm with you tiny, nice to use, sharp enough throughout...even wide open.

You are up against it saying something in the Leica Forum.  Generally It's Leica with a half nod to Zeiss.  Voigtlander lenses are often said to be bad copies, decentred, unsharp, etc.

Not my experience...I reckon they are built well and great value.

 

Of course I use them on my M8's, which uses the central "sweet spot" of the lenses. They are good on my Fuji XE-1 too, but I have Fuji wide angle 18mm which I tend to use (when I'm desperate for autofocus... ) 

 

cheers Dave S

Edited March 20, 2016 by david strachan

[david strachan]

..

Great use of a wide angle lens, by the way.  Fantastic leading lines and still enough "size" to get the subjects too.

cheers  Dave S

[lct]

Great little lens indeed (M version). It is slightly softer than the Leica 21/3.4 asph at f/4 but corners look sharper out of the CV 21/4 on my A7s mod. Haven't done side by side comparos witn my M240 for a long time but results looked similar as clear as i recall.

[Ernstk]

It's an excellent lens and I use it regularly. It benefits from the optional LH-1 hood, which is quite hard to find.

[TomB_tx]

Yes, I'm also very pleased with it on M9, with the rectangular LH-1 hood. I love it on my M film also. On my A7 I prefer my Pentax-M 20 f4.

[Hayek]

On my A7 I prefer my Pentax-M 20 f4.

The Olympus 20/3.5 is also particularly tasty on the a7

[Stealth3kpl]

I was so impressed by the M version, I bought the LTM version for my 111f.

Pete

[rafikiphoto]

Off topic but my 15mm Heliar III ASPH, the latest version, on my M and my SL has just blown me away! It is superb. Voigtlander have really got their act together by the looks of it.

Edited March 20, 2016 by rafikiphoto

[madNbad]

  American Falls, M2, Portra 160  Possibily my favorite lens.

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Edited March 20, 2016 by madNbad

[ECohen]

I may get interested in this lens eventually. How are the corners ? Thanks for posting !

 

 

I have had the lens less than a year  so I haven't used it a lot...yet

And I shoot a lot of B&W so the corners are fine.

In color the corners go  magenta...not heavy but a definite unpleasant shift. That is totally fixable in Lightroom with lens corrections.

For the money and small size you cant beat this lens!!! 

[bocaburger]

I owned an original f/3.4 SA which I loved for its size, but when I went from an M4 to a metered M I found myself somewhat reluctantly searching for an alternative.  I bought an Elmarit but the size was a big compromise.

 

Years later picked up a minty LTM version of the CV 21/4 despite numerous net reports of sample variation resulting in all sorts of unappealing phenomena, but either the doomsaying was overblown or it was just dumb luck, but my copy was brilliant.  Met the Elmarit's quality at every common aperture.  And it has held up to lots of use with no ill effects. 

 

During my sojourn with the M9 I happened upon an M version of the 21/4, again hoping for the best in terms of sample variation.  Again, it was either luck or else these lenses have better QC than the net forums give credit. 

 

Honestly, I rarely use the Elmarit.  Mainly I bring it to occasions locally, or when I know for certain the extra stop is absolutely going to be a must.  Otherwise the little CV is constantly in my travel kit. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Musotographer]

I bought this lens today, pre-loved as they say, with the CV 21 finder, at a good price. The dealer also had a coded Elmarit 21pre-Asph, with a Leica finder, but this seemed as good at nearly £1000 less, and the size is just so handy. 

 

It seemed fine at the dealer's (files viewed on their monitor) and I happily trotted off to spend the afternoon trying it out. Very disappointing when I got home - splendid IQ, but the dreaded magenta stripe was down the LH edge of most of the shots, also, but to a much lesser degree, on the bottom edge. I'm using an M9P, set to the 11134 lens coding, and aperture was mainly 5.6 or 8. My copy is a LTM with an adapter. ISO was mainly at 400 or 640 - could this contribute to the problem? I have since tried a couple of test shots at ISO 160, and the problem seems rather less. 

 

I don't actually find it too difficult to correct in LR (without faffing around with CornerFix) - but I'd rather not have to at all, and I'm thinking of taking the lens back, though I don't want to spend the considerably greater sum for the Elmarit.

 

Any thoughts from anyone please?

 

Christopher