p.82 #4 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
This is one old thread but it is the thread where we discovered choppy. My 15mm was the gold standard and where we found the corner issue in many copies. This is the historic 15mm thread
p.82 #5 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
I just picked one of these up from MPB for a really good price in "excellent" condition. It came in a box and was like new. Really pleased.
Corners, of course, are softer than the center, but no stretching or decentering. I got lucky.
I was surprised by how small the lens actually is, and how the built in shade is a little silly, but doesn't make the lens that much larger.
Colors and contrast are typical Voigtlander. I just returned a refurbished 20-70 to Amazon, the mid focal lengths were soft. But one thing I did notice was the colors/contrast of the Sony were flat next to the Voigt. This is also true of my 24-105/12-24 G zooms. All my Voigtlanders share a brilliant transparency in the images. The 15mm is no exception.
p.82 #6 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
I get the sense there are factions pulling in different directions inside Cosina. This one has a lot of APD elements and as we see, a beautiful sense of volume, vivid colour and for want of a better word, presence. The only other wide angle starting with a '2' in their lineup to get the same treatment is the heavyweight street lens 21/1.4.
They really should do more at this end of the focal length spectrum. In fact that applies to both ends, in a company that has had its cognitive function taken over by some strange obsession with amassing scores of 35s, 40s and 50s in their run sheet. Saboteurs are everywhere. ;-)
p.82 #9 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
A question was asked several posts (and a couple of year) ago -
Is decentering still a problem with the newer versions of this lens? or have they addressed that issue?
Thanks
Doug
p.82 #10 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
graytrekker wrote:
A question was asked several posts (and a couple of year) ago -
Is decentering still a problem with the newer versions of this lens? or have they addressed that issue?
Thanks
Doug
Hey Doug,
I've tested many CV 15/4.5 III lenses in both M and E-mount. The smearing issue often comes from poor lens alignment, which can be tricky to fix. It's possible that Cosina has improved their quality control lately, though. The newer lenses I've tried seem to have great centering. But it's also possible that this design just has some tolerance issues during production. Tough to say for sure.
p.82 #12 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Fred Miranda wrote:
Hey Doug,
I've tested many CV 15/4.5 III lenses in both M and E-mount. The smearing issue often comes from poor lens alignment, which can be tricky to fix. It's possible that Cosina has improved their quality control lately, though. The newer lenses I've tried seem to have great centering. But it's also possible that this design just has some tolerance issues during production. Tough to say for sure.
p.82 #18 · Official: Voigtlander 15mm f/4.5 III E-mount
Knut. wrote:
What about the smearing of the corners issue?
Is it still of concern with the lenses that have been delivered the last year or two?
(Fred suggested that quality control might have improved)
There was a time when finding a copy without corner smearing was rare. It wasn't true decentering since all the corners were soft. Nowadays, it seems Cosina has improved the tolerances for this optical design, as there are far fewer complaints. I have a great copy that I purchased many years ago, and I have to say it's my favorite ultra wide, though I also love the discontinued CV 12/5.6 III.
The strength of this optical design is that the M-version is optimal for the Leica M, as well as other mirrorless bodies, including Sony, which has the thickest sensor stack.
