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Source for Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 review with photos


albert_smith

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I just got my "SHUTTERBUG" magazine, (December issue), in the mail. There is a review of the new Voigtlander 12mm f5.6 lens.

 

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The lens looks pretty interesting. It was tested by Roger W. Hicks, a Leica using photojournalist that relies more on the image than test graphs when testing lenses. There was for me an initial shock when he had a side by side comparison of images made with this lens and a 21mm model. It is almost 2 to 1, the math is easy, but I never thought about it. As wide as a 21mm is, it looks like a normal or short tele against the 12mm lens.

 

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He shot lights at the edge of the frame... no coma. He did shoot some test charts and reports 100 line pairs per millimeter (LP/MM) centrally and 65 LP /MM at the edge wide open. He tested it on a number of Leica and other brand screw mount as well as Leica M with adapter... no problems. Fit and finish for the lens, hood and finder were rated very high. There is no rangefinder coupling, but when focused at 1 meter, the DOF is from half a meter to past infinity... wide open!

 

Best of all, compared to say, "POPULAR PHOTOGRAPHY", there are actual photo made with the lens, black and whites made in a small church. Even with the high contrast of light streaming in from many angles with-in the frame, they look pretty good. There is nothing to compare this to, so it is the best 12mm lens out there. I don't think it would match the way I see things, but for wide-angle nuts, it could be the coolest thing.

 

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If you see this issue on the news stand, give it a look.

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I haven't read the SHUTTERBUG article mentioned. Tom Abrahamsson, a

Leica guru, wrote a very positive review of the lens in the current

issue (Volume 33 No. 3, 2000) of Viewfinder Magazine of Leica

Historical Society of America (LHSA).

 

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BTW, the lens has been available for sometime on the market for around

$900 US.

 

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Cheers,

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