Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar f/5.6 35mm Primes

Voigtlander 12mm Ultra Wide Heliar f/5.6 35mm Primes 

DESCRIPTION

This non fish-eye lens has an amazing 121° angle of view and is ideal for stunning landscape photography as well as dramatic photography of interior spaces. A standard L-mount is used for this lens making it compatible with camera bodies of other manufacturer’s which have the L screw mount with TTL light metering. All lenses have a “click-stop” on the aperture movement at half-stop intervals, making subtle adjustments in exposure or depth-of-field easy.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 1-4 of 4  
[Feb 24, 2003]
Roger Krueger
Professional

Strength:

Really, really sharp Really, really wide Decent build quality--not up to Leica standards, but seems better than most of the plasticky modern SLR lenses I've handled. Click stop focusing verry appropriate for a lens this wide.ø

Weakness:

Needs special adapter for filters. Needs expensive center ND filter for even illumination. Small range of usable apertures (but hey, the 16/f8 Hologon doesn't give you ANY choice of aperture). May make you giggle at inappropriate times.

This lens is very sharp f5.6-f11, but gets hammered by diffraction after that, harder than any other lens I've seen. The finder is very good, although it took a bit of work with a drill and a file to make it clear the shutter-speed knob on my Zorki 2C. It looks like other cameras won't have this issue, but 2C owners watch out. You need an on-camera level--a lens this wide punishes you hard for even the slightest tilt. Prepare to work shooting this lens--you really have to think through a composition to make it work with something this wide. You may also want to leave room in your budget for a center-filter (about $250, plus another $70 or so for the adapter to put the filter on in the first place)--a lens this wide has pretty dark corners. There's a reason why the 16/f8 Hologon comes standard with a center filter.

Customer Service

None needed.É

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 25, 2001]
Peter Klein DDS
Expert

Strength:

Ulta-wide angle rectilinear lens - the widest lens I am aware of. Very nice build quality

Weakness:

None

Leica must get it's head out of the sand and make competitive products. Every Heliar lens I have used has been excellent and the prices are incredibly reasonable.

Customer Service

None needed

Similar Products Used:

15mm Heliar
14mm Nikon AF
14mm Sigma AF

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Mar 07, 2001]
Matt Jachyra
Professional

Strength:

Wide, I mean Wide :) Solid piece of glass, good quality

Weakness:

Maybe too wide? Strange cap, no protection for separate viewfinder, Slow, filter problems, fallout at the edges

Good lens. Sometimes it seams like it is to wide. Well made. Don't shoot it wide open. Since this is the only lens in it's class that can cover up so much space it's a real bargain. Accesories for this lens are rather expensive. Click focusing and great depth of field makes picture taking a pleasurable experience. Expensive but worth every penny.

Customer Service

ok

Similar Products Used:

Leica and Voightlander user

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 1-4 of 4  

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