peter_habens_brown

Gert, My advice is BUY IT! If you enjoy wideangle photography, you'll love this lens. I used the Carl Zeiss 18mm for

years as my favourite WA, but since obtaining the 45mm for the 67, 5-6 years ago, the 18mm now takes second

place. Use any distortion to your advantage and don't think of it as a negative fault. Distortion with this lens is

minimal for a WA anyway.

I believe there is only the f4 avaliable at present. Can't help you with the cost but many good second-hand lenses

are avaliable at reasonable cost.

P

Franz,

I use the 45 & 55 routinely in my professional work. Much of my fine art landscapes are taken out in the

Australian outback - fierce strong sunlight - and I've never experienced ghosting with either lens. The 45 is

superb! Very little distortion but lots of fine detail. You just have to watch flare if you get the sun in the frame

(but it's btter than most wides in this respect). Perhaps the ghosting is more the result of the 55-100 zoom design? I

don't have any problems with the 55 either but I also make sure that the lens front element is well shaded. I shot a

lot of sking photos some years ago (35mm) and you need to be aware of a lot of reflected light from the snow as well.

Hope this helps - happy shooting.