Should I sell my VC 21/4 LTM to get a VC 15/4.5 or get the M mount version?

Should I sell my VC 21/4 LTM to get a VC 15/4.5 or get the M mount version?

I read many reviews again and I still go back to the 21, but the price is really keeping me want to get one. Should sell my VC 21/4 LTM to get a VC 15/4.5 or get the M mount version? I'm planning on gettinga 35 for my M2 so I'm not sure, I also know that the VC 21 is probably the best lens Voigtlander has made

I don't know the VC 21mm f4. - I believe it is OK on film? As told before: The VC 15mm never knocked my socks off (I have the old LTM version). I heard it might do better stopped down but light doesn't grow on trees... I do like it's small size and as a toy for some selfie fun it does well enough. It seems much harder to use it for serious photography. - It is just too wide for my taste. 21mm seems a must have to me and unfortunately not replaceable with the 15mm. I stumbled across a Zeiss f2.8 on sale a couple of years ago and am quite content with it. - OK the focusing is too stiff for my liking but it is shootable.

I have no clue if the M-mount version outperforms the LTM. - Adapters seem cheap and I'd keep a wide lens requiring an external finder on an LTM body or the M body with dimmest RF patch.

No, you should stop reading lens reviews and get out and shoot! :)

 

You obviously like the 21mm, so you might well regret getting rid of it, especially for a 15mm (a rather special purpose lens, which for most people has more limited applications). I don't see any point in swapping an LTM 21mm for the M version with the same glass if yours performs well, especially as you'll probably take a hit on the deal. The LTM lens also has a couple of advantages if you get different bodies in the future. It's small lens that will complement (say) a Leica III very well (where obviously the M version won't fit), and if you ever get a digital M, you can buy LTM adapters with recesses for the 6-bit coding system, to be coloured in appropriately with a Sharpie (it apparently works well with the coding for Leica 21mm/2.8). Only later production M-mount Skopars reportedly have a recess you can use for coding.

You certainly have a way of jumping between lenses, so it is nice to hear you like the VC 21. Having owned the VC 15 (v1) for a couple of years, I admit to tiring of it very quickly...it was too wide for my tastes, and only got used on 3 rolls of film in 4 years. The latest version, according to my friends, has less fringing on the Leica digital bodies than the LTM version, irrelevant if you convert to B&W, but requiring more post processing if you shoot color. Since I use both LTM & M bodies (no digital Leica yet), I prefer the LTM version which I could easily interchange between the different mounts.

I just ordered the VC15/4.5-III in M mount. This is improved for use on digital cameras. I got it to use on a Sony A7R-II with adapter and on a Leica M-Monochrome. Oddly, reviews state that the Sony E mount version of the same lens is not as good in the corners. 15mm is certainly wide, but no more so than the fairly common 16-35 zoom on DSLRs. I have a M21/1.4 ASPH which I use on both cameras and it is often not wide enough for interior work. f/4.5 max aperture doesn't bother me that much as both the Sony and Leica MM are excellent high ISO cameras … and for interior pro work, I'm using lighting at f/5.6 or f/8 with most lenses anyway. f/4.5 doesn't matter for focusing because both cameras are mirror-less.

Having owned the VC 15 (v1) for a couple of years, I admit to tiring of it very quickly...it was too wide for my tastes" SCL

I concur.

My VC 15mm is married to a Leica If and it once came in handy at a "Boat Show" (Very confined spaces)...

 

Down below in a beautifully appointed Motor Yacht... Leica If w/LTM 15mm VC

Edited June 6, 2017 by Gus Lazzari