Author Topic: Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 vs 21mm f4 (Read 5455 times)

kl03 · « **on:** August 25, 2009, 09:59:30 PM »

I wonder which of these lenses are more suitable as a walkaround lens on the ep-1. Any suggestion?

leowchyan · « **Reply #1 on:** August 27, 2009, 09:32:19 PM »

I have no experience with the 15mm f4.5 but am currently using my PEN with 21mm f4. The 42mm effective focal length suits me very well on general use and I wouldn't ask for anything wider or longer.

The only limitation I face is the 4.0 f stop. Although very forgiving with vast depth of field, I sometimes wish for a faster lens. In this respect, the 15mm would do no better.

At the end of the day, I wanted a combination which is fun, effective, small and light and I got it! It is always with me, while my DSLR collects dust at home.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #2 on:** August 27, 2009, 09:59:24 PM »

have you considered thevoigtlander 28 1.9 as a fast "normal" prime for your ep-1

its really close to a 50 mm lens equiv. which was the prime of choice for slr-dom for many a year

28 X 1.92 {conversion factor for 4\3} = 53.76 mm . . . . .close to 50

the old style is still available in silver black has been sold out for years

the m mount 28 2 is black only

Robbie · « **Reply #3 on:** August 28, 2009, 04:39:58 AM »

A much cheaper option could be the OM 24mm f2.8 (or 24mm f2, but costs a fair bit more). These have a history for being quite sharp. They are much faster than both the voigtlander's, probably just as sharp and only a tiny bit longer. Although mounted with adapter would be a fair bit bigger.

Just a suggestion

DRabbit · « **Reply #4 on:** August 28, 2009, 08:47:09 PM »

If I had the extra money right now, I'd go for the 28 f/1.9 in a heartbeat. I love a good 50mm FOV. I do have to say though, I'm extremely pleased with the Oly 25mm f/2.8 pancake. Even with the adaptor it's not much bigger than the kit zoom.

I have the 15mm f/4.5 Heliar and though it's not my favorite FOV, I've been enjoying it on the E-P1 a bit. I find the results are good... however, because it's not really optimized for the digital medium, you'll sometimes find soft corners/edges. It does have it's own "signature" when it comes to how the pictures look, and I find it quite pleasing.

Here's some I took with the lens:

cosinaphile · « **Reply #5 on:** August 28, 2009, 08:57:27 PM »

the next cosina voigtlander lens i buy will be the 15mm or the 12 mm , your shots are nice , i might just go for the 15 if it feels wide enuf , at photovillage you can play with any lens they have in stock , i can tell you the 50 1.1 nokton is a facinating lens the 12 will be about a 23 and the 15 about a 29 on the ep-1

marcfogel · « **Reply #6 on:** August 29, 2009, 01:09:39 PM »

Quote from: cosinaphile on August 28, 2009, 08:57:27 PM

the next cosina voigtlander lens i buy will be the 15mm or the 12 mm , your shots are nice , i might just go for the 15 if it feels wide enuf , at photovillage you can play with any lens they have in stock , i can tell you the 50 1.1 nokton is a facinating lens the 12 will be about a 23 and the 15 about a 29 on the ep-1

I just picked up the 40 mm f/1.4 from Photo Village via mail order. Monday I have to take my wife to JFK Airport. After, I am going to stop in Photo Village without my Credit Card (yeah right)

cosinaphile · « **Reply #7 on:** August 29, 2009, 01:36:21 PM »

haha, i love photo village , bring your ep-1 and ask william to let you mount the 50 1.1 voigtlander on it, its a blast .also try the 35 1.2 if i had the cash id make this my next purchase.if they dont come out with a fast prime soon thats at least 12mm then im gonna maybe get the 12 5.6 voigtlander [so sloooooow

]

also check out the straps from artisan & artist,while your there they`re awesome
they also have leica cases by luigi that you can see the quality of , should luigi ever have the sense to make an ep-1 case

marcfogel · « **Reply #8 on:** August 31, 2009, 05:20:06 PM »

I just picked up the 15mm.

cosinaphile · « **Reply #9 on:** August 31, 2009, 05:32:04 PM »

enjoy!

karlstorck · « **Reply #10 on:** September 16, 2009, 08:54:18 AM »

I just picked up my new VoigtlÃ¤nder 21mm Color Skopar. I really like the 40mm efl. Epsecially as a walk around I find it very versatile. I made some quick tests on my way hom,e today. Enjoy.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/karlstorck/tags/voigtlander/

JasonMcW · « **Reply #11 on:** September 17, 2009, 06:22:09 AM »

Quote from: DRabbit on August 28, 2009, 08:47:09 PM

I have the 15mm f/4.5 Heliar and though it's not my favorite FOV, I've been enjoying it on the E-P1 a bit. I find the results are good... however, because it's not really optimized for the digital medium, you'll sometimes find soft corners/edges. It does have it's own "signature" when it comes to how the pictures look, and I find it quite pleasing.

Wow, that effect is stunning, I really like the slight vignetting- subtly Holga-like and very distinctive as you say. If you don't mind me asking (because I'm new to all this and the lenses and mounts for the E-P1 confuse me utterly), what adapter did you need for the Voigtlander? I only have the 4/3 to micro 4/3 so I imagine I'd need an additional adapter to fit the Voigtlander? Looks like the perfect lens for my 'around town' shooting...

cosinaphile · « **Reply #12 on:** September 17, 2009, 08:18:32 AM »

the 21 color skopar looks like a great lens , the snapshot skopar, which is a much loved lens by its devoted users has , i believe ,the same optical formula

DRabbit · « **Reply #13 on:** September 22, 2009, 08:03:17 AM »

Quote from: JasonMcW on September 17, 2009, 06:22:09 AM

Quote from: DRabbit on August 28, 2009, 08:47:09 PM
I have the 15mm f/4.5 Heliar and though it's not my favorite FOV, I've been enjoying it on the E-P1 a bit. I find the results are good... however, because it's not really optimized for the digital medium, you'll sometimes find soft corners/edges. It does have it's own "signature" when it comes to how the pictures look, and I find it quite pleasing.

Wow, that effect is stunning, I really like the slight vignetting- subtly Holga-like and very distinctive as you say. If you don't mind me asking (because I'm new to all this and the lenses and mounts for the E-P1 confuse me utterly), what adapter did you need for the Voigtlander? I only have the 4/3 to micro 4/3 so I imagine I'd need an additional adapter to fit the Voigtlander? Looks like the perfect lens for my 'around town' shooting...

I added some of the vignetting in post

The adaptor I bought from CameraQuest.com -- it's here: http://cameraquest.com/adp_micro_43.htm
I know the website isn't the most professional looking, but he has a GREAT reputation in the M-glass world and he's always extremely helpful and professional!

JasonMcW · « **Reply #14 on:** September 24, 2009, 01:31:24 AM »

Ah, ok

*feels slightly embarrassed* When you said it softened the frame edges I thought you meant the vignetting in your shots! What would you say is the benefit of the 15mm Voigtlander vs say the 17mm Pancake as a 'round the town' prime? As I say, I'm new to the Olympus world (have owned Cannon and Pentax DSLRs and mostly Tamron lenses previously). A lot of people on these boards seem to love the Voigtlander lenses- is that because they're a legacy lens for Olympus/Leica products that a lot of people have owned and re-used from prior camera models, or would you consider them a good option for someone starting afresh with Olympus kit?

I guess I need to try and figure out what I need from a lens really! I'm doing the Everest base camp trek at the end of the year which was one of my motivators in getting a reasonably compact 'SLR' like the E-P1, so sticking an adapter and Voigtlander lens on the end of it doesn't really make sense and suggest that the compactness of the 17mm would be the way to go. Any tips on ultra-wide angle primes as an alternative (thinking for panoramic mountain shots here)? Do such things exist either in 4/3 or micro 4/3?

cosinaphile · « **Reply #15 on:** September 24, 2009, 06:40:39 AM »

the reason why i chose to use the cosina voigtlander 50 1.5 and 28 1.9 over say a good slr lens on the ep-1 is because i wanted to use a high quality manual lens with metal barrel construction,speed, styling,and image quality comensurate with the ep-1 with a relatively small size, and very importantly , affordability. they were both purchased following my buying the ep-1.
the voigtlander adapter for m mount lenses is much smaller than ones designed to replace the missing space of a mirror box as in slr lenses also rangefinder lens designers seem try to produce the most compact lens possible ,which is what i want on my ep-1 , the primes designed for m4\3 so far , although sufficently flat, have grossly oversized diameters IMO, the 20 1.7 panny does not have ois ,but it still looks like a hockey puck with a coin sized optical element in the middle.

i would have loved to use leica lenses which have even better quality than the very good voigtlanders but alas they are 4-6000 dollars each and out of my reach

you might consider the 12 mm voightlander a small lens even with the extra 5\16 of an inch of the vm adapter will add , it will give you about a 23 mm equiv in 35 and is about 1\10 the cost of leica , it is said to be the finest constructed prime in the voigtlander lineup, i dont own this lens yet but will as soon as i can
i hear great things about it

cosinaphile · « **Reply #16 on:** September 24, 2009, 07:42:44 AM »

another suggestion i could make is to find a wide angle adapter that will function when connected to the
14 -42 kit zoom set at 14, or make one yourself , i used ther front element of a zyccor branded 2 element wide angle adapter designed for slr lenses in the 1980 -90s i bought a "new" old stock item from as small new york shop that had , no doubt been sitting on it for decades who was glad to unload it for $10
i cut the barrel apart and tried just the front element taped to the kit zoom i, believe it was a . 6 wide adapter . to my surprise the ep-1 can focus thru it accurately ,i notice a tiny bit of image degradatiion, and a lot of wide angle distortion , which i kind of like, but there is no vignetting and the image looks good ,and well focused
i estimate that the fov is the equivilent to about 19-21 mm on a 35 at the 14 kit zoom focal length
i compared it to the 24 mm setting on my ricoh gx-200 and it is a significently wider f.o.v. , perhaps you can experiment with "parts" as i did , the adapter i made is glued to a 40.5 to 46 step up ring and covered with black tape at the edge to increase contrast by preventing ambient light coming at the edge of the lens element, {initally a problem}

JasonMcW · « **Reply #17 on:** September 24, 2009, 03:16:08 PM »

Thanks for the responses Cosinaphile, that gives me a lot to think about. I think home-making an adapter is probably beyond my technical abilities, but I've found a site that sells inexpensive (Â£35 or around $50) Marumi screw-on adapters with a 37mm thread size (made for camcorders I believe). I saw on Mijonju's thread that he had some success with a similar screw-on fisheye lens. Any thoughts on whether a wide-angle version might produce reasonable results on the 17mm Zuiko? Â£35 is a lot more palatable than the Â£400-500 the Voigtlander 12mm seems to be going for on eBay... (although you're right, the Voigtlander styling fits the retro look of the E-P1 to a tee)

cosinaphile · « **Reply #18 on:** September 24, 2009, 09:33:37 PM »

i believe the filter thread on the 14 - 42 is 40.5 mm i would , if you can, use an adapter with a diameter of at least that of preferably more like a 52[ a more common production item] with a step down ring ,or rings to mount to avoid the possibility of vignetting ,

if you live near a camera shop you might try several to insure that the ep-1 can focus thru it,
the optical behavior can be dramatically different between adapters some cause the image to be blurry and unfocusable at any end of the focus range. other seem to work well, it`s really a crap shoot .

the reason i went with the solution i did is because most adapters are 2 and 3 element affairs and many were simply unusable ,
using the large front element of the old stock item gave me a really wide unvignetted image that i was having trouble duplicating with off the shelf 2 and 3 element wide angle adapters.
for what its worth ,
the 28 1.9 voigtlander prime cannot be coaxed to give an unblurry image with any adapter i tried and i tried over 10 , something in the optical formula makes them incompatible
same with the 50 [ as an experement]

the 14 setting on the kit zoom is the best place you should explore enhancing the fov from ,imo

you will be surprised how easy modification can be with patience and some crazy glue[cyanoacrylic]

Author Topic: Voigtlander 15mm f4.5 vs 21mm f4 (Read 5455 times)

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