I have been travelling all week and have had the chance to see several late model and new Leica and Voigtländer wide angle lenses at decent prices. I already have the M-2.0/28 ASPH and have thought very long about getting something wider for travel photography both in the mountains and in the cities. (I seldom shoot action or moving shots.)

Which lens, therefore, do you recommend? 24mm seems too close, 12mm is much to wide. 15mm Voigt.? 21mm Leica? Please advise!

-- Reto (redcavereto@hotmail.com), June 07, 2002

Answers

I have always loved the 20/21mm perspective. Especially for people- and-environment shots. I would say the Voigt 21 would be a very economical way to test the waters. Of course I'm sure the Leica is great also, if you have the money.

-- Josh Root (rootj@att.net), June 07, 2002.

Reconsider the VC 12mm. Demanding to use, but huge fun.

-- Paul Hart (paulhart@blueyonder.co.uk), June 07, 2002.

I use the Leica 21 pre asph. I think anything wider for the M system is somewhat specialized JMHO. If I wanted a 21 and didn't have one I would take a good look at the Voigt. 21 4.0 Skopar which is small and light and gets good reviews. At $380 w. finder it is a real bargain and less than 1/3 the price of a Leica 21. Erwin Puts said good things abou this lens. See some other reviews:

http://www.jimtardio.com/voigtlander-21.html

http://www.photoslave.com/misc/skopar/21skopar.html

g

-- Gil Pruitt (wgpinc@yahoo.com), June 07, 2002.

I use the 28 a lot, and I went through the same thing last year. I settled on the VC 21, and I find it to be the perfect next step down from the 28. 24 is a very nice and useful length, but it is very close to both 28 and 21. But 28 and 20/21 are far enough from each other that I really notice the two lengths being used for different purposes and in different spaces. Sometimes you can make 24 fill the shoes of either the 28 or the 21. Sometimes it will come up short either way,- this is I suppose why all three lengths are made. But if you have the 28, especially that wonderful ASPH 'cron f2, I'd say get a 20/21, you will probably find, as I have, that 24 is superfluous.

FWIW, I also have and carry a 15- that VC Heliar is hard to beat, and much easier (IMHO) to the 12- plus, the 15 viewfinder is MUCH easier to work with and less fragile then the 12 VF, which looks really easy to scratch or break.

Right now, my lineup is: 15-21-28-50. I am never without a 50, and I like to carry at least one wide most of the time. So I am now going through this process of experimentation whereby I carry one of the wides, and try to see if I am getting the coverage and use I need without having to carry three or four lenses everywhere. I am leaning to the 21 at the minute- it's right in between the 15 and the 28, and can work very well as an all purpose wide in a pinch- but sometimes I just need either the 28 or the 15 to do the job. I guess once I trade my 28 Elmarit for the 'cron ASPH, I will carry that more, for the speed.

Sigh- the never ending game of which lens/combo to carry is too much fun to stop playing....

-- drew (swordfisher@hotmail.com), June 07, 2002.

I use the Leica SA 21 for a lot of landscape shots. It too is superb & highly recommended.

-- Patrick (pg@patrickgarner.com), June 07, 2002.

I can't argue with anyone over the usefulness and optical quality of the 21's. I have a 21ASPH and a 21/3.4 S/A myself. But with a 28 in hand (or in my case now, the Tri-Elmar) I find myself grabbing the 15 Heliar rather than one of the 21's. Perhaps I should sell both my 21's and get the C/V 21...small like the S/A but it meters on the M6 like the Elmarit. Back when my wide-angle was a 35, the 21 was always with me and used frequently.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), June 07, 2002.

I have the 28 and also the 21. IMO a great combo. I also tried out a VC 21, and I must adit I found it to be a superb little lens for the money -- essentially the equal of the 21 S/A but you can meter with it. Its main flaw is that it has a significant amount of falloff in the corners (like the S/A), and is pretty flare prone. Otherwise a great performer in a tiny little package. Plus the finder is perhaps even better than Leica's. It appears to be their 15 finder with 21 framelines.

-- Jack Flesher (jbflesher@msn.com), June 07, 2002.

Reto, The VC 21 lens is as cute as pie and the viewfinder is a little ripper. These are new technical terms which mean I am enjoying the VC21 greatly. I thought hard and long about buying it and am very pleased I did.

-- Tim Gee (twg@optushome.com.au), June 07, 2002.

Reto, for some time I've been working with a 21/2,8 & 28/2 Asph combo for wide work. Actually, there is a huge difference in degree of coverage at the wide end of lenses. Even a 24 provides a siginificant difference from the 28. I just found a reasonably priced 24 myself. I got it because I am shooting fast paced people situations in cramped conditions more and more these days, and the 24 is a way to avoid some of the distortion the 21 shows if you're not really careful. Personally I think rangefinder lenses below 21mm need a bubble level in the finder like the Mamiya 7 and X-pan superwides provide. I can't remember if the VC super wides provide that feature. I had a 12mm VC for a few days and hated the amount of work it demanded. Nor did I like the end result when viewing them side-by-side with images from other Leica focal lengths... something that doesn't happen with the Leica 21 images. In my opinion, the Leicas are more consistant in tonality, feel and balance lens-to-lens.

-- Marc Williams (mwilliams111313MI@comcast.net), June 08, 2002.

Follow up question:

What do some of you mean when you say that the lens does or doesn't meter? Do you mean that the 21mm Leica will not offer metering when combined with my M6TTL? Please clairfy because that makes a huge difference to me!

-- Reto (redcavereto@hotmail.com), June 08, 2002.

IMO, the 28 mm is a stand alone WA. The one for those who only want one WA lens. If you were planning on a two WA combo, the (21 or 24 mm) and 35 mm combo gives sufficiently different perspectives to work well. I guess if you want another WA to complement the 28 mm, you would probably have to go to the 15 mm CV lens to get a significantly different view (the 21/24 or 35 just don't do it for me).

As far as the metering issue, what that refers to is the fact that several OLDER Leica lenses (21/3.4, 21/4.0, and first version 28/2.8 (1965-1969)) have protruding rear elements that block the light path to the metering cell of the M6/M6TTL/M7 cameras. Therefore, these lenses will not allow accurate lightmetering. Be assured that all of the current lenses DO allow accurate metering.

-- Eliot (erosen@lij.edu), June 08, 2002.