Voigtlander's 12mm/5.6 lens

Here is a site with a review:

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<a href="http://www.luminous-landscape.com/12mm.htm">

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/12mm.htm</a>

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Cheers,

I have one, I love it. You can do amazing things with it but you must

be careful - its not good for every situation.

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There are the tricks of perspective but I avoid these. I try to get

normal looking shots where an extreme wide angle can include lots of

interesting material. I used mine in a slot canyon, it was great.

However, in other parts of the canyon the lens caught too much sky and

the dynamic range was too much for the film. I've gotten some great

shots of buildings along a narrow brick road but other shots of

buildings look odd due to the perspective.

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Light fall-off in the corners is enormous - at least four full stops

but with the right subject its OK. It's not the sharpest lens I own.

It's definately sharp but put side by side with a leica image they're

obviously not the same.

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If I were you, I would get one.

Falloff is pretty severe with the 12mm until f16 - perhaps the 15mm

is a better choice, especially at half the price?

I bought the 12mm some months ago and I'm delighted with this lens.

OK the colour and sharpness is different from the Leica lenses but

the overall performance is extremely good.

The 12mm lens was tested in Germany and compared to the 15mm and

proved to be much better in all respects especially the viewer.

The 15mm was tested at only 2 tenths of a point less than the US$

3200,00 Zeiss 15mm lens! The finish of the 12mm is absolutely

beautiful. The vignetting was tested at slightly over 2 stops.

Voigtlaender will introduce a filter which will correct this

vignetting but also will slow down your lens of course. In practice

this vignetting doesn't prove to be a problem and the lens can be

used at full 5.6 aperture.

I absolutely can recommend this lens which is very popular amongst

Leica owners in Holland and Germany.

My first impressions are that this is a fascinating lens to use and

is capable of very impressive results, but should perhaps be used

sparingly and carefully. I also think it may be at its best with

black & white.

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I hesitated for far longer than usual before getting it, but am

delighted with it and have no regrets at all. Stopping down to f8

seems to produce a meaningful improvement in image quality. The

viewfinder is superb. I use mine with my M6, and wonder what Leica

would charge for a 12mm?!