I'd be interested to hear from anyone using the Voightlaender Heliar 15mm. I'm thinking of getting this lens to use on my M6s, and would appreciate any opinions on this lens..

I've been following some discussions and opinions on the LUG site. Most agree that it's quite a good lens, for the money. There seems to be some disagreement about the extent of vignetting at the various apertures, and at what apertures it becomes more or less apparent. Any thoughts on the vignetting issue?

Also, the M-adapter that is being sold with the Heliar....is this made by the lens' manufacturer (Cosina)? I recall reading somewhere that the adapter was somehow incorrectly made, and when the Heliar was mounted onto the M body the lens was not at the proper twelve-o'clock position; it was slightly cocked or rotated to one side, resulting in an improperly oriented hood. Any experiences with this? And are there other adapters that will work with the M body /Heliar lens?

Thanks, Sergio.

-- Sergio Ortega (s.ortega@worldnet.att.net), January 26, 2000

Answers

The 15 mm Heilar is the best ultrawide, bang for the buck, that you can get for *any* camera, IMHO. It's sharp, fairly well made, and compact. Compared to my 21mm F/2.8 elmarit, it's not as well made, doesn't couple to the rangefinder (at 15mm, who cares?) and it's hood is a joke. It also costs 1/4 as much.

I find that I use it more than I had expected. Of course, it's great for interiors (it can make a closet look like a comfortably sized room) but I find its also good for skies, groups of people, and truly unusual views of everyday objects.

Go for it.

-- Tom Bryant (tbryant@wizard.net), May 12, 2000.

P.S.

It does vignette. An inescapable consequence of the geometry of 15mm lenses. I use a Leitz LTM->M adapter, and the top-of-the-lens focusing mark is about 2 mm left of the top of the lens mount.

It also has superb flare supression. My 24mm f/2.8 Canon lens flares terribly when the sun gets in the picture, ad did my 25 mm f/4 Flektagon (for an Exakta). The Heliar approaches the 21mm Asph Elmarit in it's flare supression.

-- Tom Bryant (tbryant@wizard.net), May 12, 2000.

Tom

Very useful comments. I am waiting for my CL to come back from Leica and then I intend to buy one. I can't see myself using it much - that is why the price is so attractive - but 15mm shots can have loads of impact.

-- Robin Smith (rsmith@springer-ny.com), May 17, 2000.

This is a tip.

Buy the case, even though it is $40 (B&H price, much cheaper in England.) The reason is that the finder is tiny, too small for any cases, and always ends up floating somewhere at the bottom of the bag, or falling out. The Voigtlander case has two sections, one for the lens and one for the finder. I don't normally use lens cases (except for travel days) but this one is useful.

-- Jeff Spirer (jeff@spirer.com), May 17, 2000.

The Heliar 15mm is an excellent lens, but it has a slight light fall- off in the corners. It is physics. Use Fujichrom Astia 100 that will be less sensitive. As far as flare is concerned I have had some problems with it in interiors. You get the falre of windows where there are no windows and I think it is more prone to flare than the Canon FD 24 2,8 that I use parallel to the Heliar.

Clue:

Buy the Heliar.

-- Rudolf KLEIN (ruklein@attglobal.net), April 18, 2002.

I bought a 15mm Heliar over a year ago along with a Bessa L body. The meter is very accurate with the 15. The alternative is to take 5 or 6 readings in various parts of the pic with a hand held meter and try to figure out what exposure to use! I haven't tried it on my M Leicas although I have several old Leitz adapters, B&W photos are remarkably contrasty and very sharp, even interiors shot at f/4.5 with windows in the picture. I bought it as a replacement for an old 19mm Canon lens that was stolen a few years back. I'm more than pleased with the results.

-- Al Kaplan (preachrpop@aol.com), May 12, 2002.