FW: 12mm/f5.6 Voigtlaender Ultra-Wide Heliar for Bessa-L (M39)

[ralph fuerbringer <rof@xxxxxxx>]

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From: ralph fuerbringer <rof@xxxxxxx>
Date: Sat, 19 Aug 2000 01:02:23 -0400
To: <w.j.markerink@xxxxx>
Subject: Re: 12mm/f5.6 Voigtlaender Ultra-Wide Heliar for Bessa-L (M39)

Willem Jan-Markerink passed along some interesting information on the
upcoming15mm f5,6 heliar in lsm, seeable on the voightlander site. unless of
optical quality far surpassing the heliar
 it won't be in the same optical class as the 35mm apo-grandagon.
the 35mm apo-grandagon according to view camera is the equivalent of an
11.5mm lens on 35 format and allows a 5mm shift on 612 as well.  according
to me as manufacturer of vistashift 612 cameras using this as well as the
45mm,55mm apo-grandagons the 35apo has the micro contrast and freedom of
distortion of the legendary biogon 38mmf4.5 on the superwide
hasselblad. it covers more than twice the area of  that icon (I have one)
with a shift yet. it has a max aperature of f4.5mm,not f5.6. some might find
the 12mm finder  useful on 612 and the extra coverage vertically would show
the possible shift 
however finders are notorious distorted, inaccurate this wide. horseman's
$450 "newly developed finder" for 612 is optically identical to those cheap
.42x attachment lenses for camcorders and ps. i find a finder a waste of
time on a lens of this extreme coverage though perhaps the new reflex finder
could be useful if it has a 12mm aux
lens w/o semi fisheye distortion.  actually this angle seems to equal your
periferal vision. i generally hold the 612 w/35apo chest high, checking the
vertical and horizontal levels and point myself at the center of the
picture. I print sample pics for the 612 camera 12"x24" . no one has
suggested how to crop or compose even one of fifty pictures any better. gg
which i have but find are too slow and hard to see at this extreme angle.
just like my 612 with the apo 35(shift valuable at ground level) the 12mm on
any 35 rf it fits should be the one real 35 point yourself and shoot. that
may offend the tripod set but spontanaety is one of its attributes.W-JM
called it a niche lense.  it is  not the most useful  wide angle for
general use. like the 35apo on 612 it will miniimize people and exagerate
foreground incredibly(more so as 12mm has no shift).i wouldnt trade  21 or
15mm pentax(zeiss designed asherical)
not even 15mm heliar in a hurry even if the 12mm approaches the quality of
the 35mm apo-grandagon. one other problem has not mentioned: fall-off. w/o
centerfilter the extreme corners will get a miserable fraction of the light
dead center. that has nothing to do with optical quality. its a mathematical
equation. i believe before you weep you square the distance from the center
of the lens to the film,
and square the distance from the center to the extreme corner. result is
probably 10x
or worse.   ralph  


     


 

> From: Willem-Jan Markerink <w.j.markerink@xxxxx>
> Reply-To: w.j.markerink@xxxxx
laa a> Date: Fri, 18 Aug 2000 19:13:37 +0100
> To: panorama-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Subject: 12mm/f5.6 Voigtlaender Ultra-Wide Heliar