Voigtlander anounced a rangefinder coupled 28 f1.9, and a 90mm f3.5 lens at Photokina, along with the 12mm ultra wide, all in Leica screw mount Boy, that 28mm 1.9 sounds interesting. They also came out with a few SLR lenses in manual focus, including a 125mm f2.5 APOLanthar macro that goes 1 to 1.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), August 29, 2000

Answers

There is a good photo of the 12mm lens with finder, mounted on a beat up screw mount Leica 111. It, (the finder), looks big on that small camera, and it is hard to tell how easy it would be to keep your fingers out of the way of the wide angle of view... But it sure looks interesting.

The photo is in the middle of a long piece about the Voitander line, and it takes a bit of time for all of the picture to load, but it is worth it if you are interested in these lenses.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), August 29, 2000.

Sorry... brain dump. The site to look at the 12mm lens is at:

http://www.cameraquest.com/voigtlen.htm

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), August 29, 2000.

A 28/1.9----and I was so close to buying the 25 that my bankbook was twitching. I can't wait.

-- Michael Darnton (mdarnton@hotmail.com), August 29, 2000.

If the 28 f1.9 is as good as the 35 f1.7, and in the same price range, they are not going to be able to make enough of them. I don't think there has ever been a fast wide angle for a Leica rangefinder. I hope it isn't too big that it blocks anything important on my CLE. By the way, if you get the 135mm screw mount converter, you can use a screw mount 28mm on the Minolta CLE with it and it will bring up only the 28mm lines. Some wierd quirky thing Minolta did. I have the 25mm F4 lens now, and would easily let go of it for a quality fast and focus coupled 28mm lens.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), August 29, 2000.

I reread the e-mail I got from Cosina, and they actually said they WILL BE releasing the 28 f1.9 and 90 f3.5, but they haven't shown them yet at Photokina. So it may be several months yet before we get an official look at them.

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), August 29, 2000.

The 28 seems like a real winner if it is any good. As others say Leica have never had this fast a lens. It does seem to be pushing the envelope a bit though as f2 28mm are rarely very good at full aperture - still Voigtlander/Cosina are doing such good things these days. The 25mm is too slow for me. I suppose the 28mm will be more pricey. I'm still saving for the 15mm!

-- Robin Smith (rsmith@springer-ny.com), August 30, 2000.

Too bad there still isn't a 50mm f2 from Cosina. The 50mm f1.5 is worthless on a classic Leica screw mount. Even if it didn't block the viewfinder, its too honkin' big for these little cameras.

-- Joe Buechler (jbuechler@toad.net), August 30, 2000.

Joe, I agree that the 50mm f1.5 with 52mm filter size would look more at home on an old Nikon F than on the Leica. How did Zeiss make the 50mm f1.5 Sonnar for the old Contax so small and with a 40.5mm filter size? Why is the Voigtlander 50mm f1.5 so huge?

-- Andrew Schank (aschank@flash.net), August 30, 2000.

Andrew, the 50mm Sonnar is so small because the focusing helical is built into the camera. But still, compare the size of a Leica 50mm f1.5 Summarit with the Voigtlander!

Maybe in the future we'll have a modern standard lens to use on our screw mount bodies, but I'm not holding my breath.

-- Joe Buechler (jbuechler@toad.net), September 11, 2000.

I would like to see some shots from the 12mm. I haven't been able to find any on the net yet. Only the one at the Cosina jp site. I am pleased with the 15mm I bought and this new lens has me really lusting for more. I will buy the 28 when available.

-- Jon Ladd (jonladd@mediaone.net), November 04, 2000.

I've been playing with the new 12mm lens and it's great. Sure, there's a fair bit of falloff towards the corners, but don't forget that this is a 12mm lens!!! This aside, then lens is beautifully made, has little flare and is very sharp. Distortion aint bad too... Try it out!

-- Chris Groenhout (groenhout@hotmail.com), November 14, 2000.

My 12mm came in the mail two weeks ago and wow! Its crazy... I love it. I took some snaps at the end of the last roll and its hard to believe what I can see. I am going to do some side by side shots with it and the 15mm to really compare the views and performance (for fun someday). Its funny to think its almost as wide a view as my 140 degree Widelux F8.

BTW: Stephen Gandy says the 90mm goes on sale in Japan at the end of January and the 28mm the end of February.

-- Jon Ladd (jonladd@mediaone.net), December 17, 2000.