Louisianaman
Member
Just bought this lens off Ebay, it a Voigtlander Super Wide Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical Lens for L39 screw mount. Guy swears it's has no optical problems whatsoever. Wanted to know if y'all have any advice or tips to help me in my new(to me) lens? How good is it wide open? Anything would help.
View Range
Well-known
I have the M mount version. I have never used it with film. It is one of my favorite lenses. My M8 and M9 both tend to under expose with it. I don't see any difference in sharpness at any aperture. The depth of field is enormous at any aperture making aperture selection rather irrelevant.
james.liam
Well-known
Are you only using it on a screw mount camera?
presspass
filmshooter
I have had one since they first came out. I don’t use it much, but I am always pleased when I do. When I bought it, I did not have a Barnack. Now I do and the 15 with a IIIa makes a great up close point and shoot. If you get a good copy, you will be happy with it. Just remember to hold the camera straight and level.
sevres_babylone
Mentor
I have one that use to use on the Epson R-D1 where it was a around a 22mm equivalent one didn’t have to worry about the edge/corner degradation which there was on the full-frame digitals. It wasn’t my most-used lens by far, but I really liked the results when I used it.
Pretty sure Al Kaplan used it for his self-portraits using a Bessa-L that he used to post here.
I got it for the Epson because of Toshihiro Oshima’s use of it on Flickr (he also used a noctilux, but that was out of my price-range😊). Here is a link to one of his albums which contains some examples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tommyoshima/albums/1140870
Pretty sure Al Kaplan used it for his self-portraits using a Bessa-L that he used to post here.
I got it for the Epson because of Toshihiro Oshima’s use of it on Flickr (he also used a noctilux, but that was out of my price-range😊). Here is a link to one of his albums which contains some examples: https://www.flickr.com/photos/tommyoshima/albums/1140870
Phil_F_NM
Camera hacker
It's a spectacular lens. Have fun.
Phil Forrest
Phil Forrest
David Murphy
Mentor
Yes it's a real winner of a lens. I don't recall specifically if I've ever used it wide open, but I've never noticed any issues at wider apertures with it. Have fun.
Benjamin Marks
Mentor
This lens is one of my absolute favorites. I have both the LTM version and the M-mount. Wide open, there is some darkening of the corners. At f:4.5, it really is an "outdoor" lens. But it is tiny, easy to pack, and I won't take a trip of any consequence without it. I also pack a five inch table-top tripod for interior shots. Everything from about five feet away to infinity is in focus, so scale focusing works well.
Roma's flower shot
Bessa L, 15mm Heliar
Bessa L, 15mm Heliar