Voigtlander 10.5mm 0.95

I, for one, have been waiting to see who would come out first with a non-fisheye lens wider than 12mm. I was kinda expecting to see a Pan/Leica model, since they still don't have anything wider than 15mm.
As much as I would love a wide prime, I think I'm going to stick with my 9-18 until we see something under $750 and w/autofocus...


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I am trying to imagine a use for an ultrawide f/0.95 lens. Maybe interior architecture? As a primarily travel, landscape and people shooter, that speed just seems wasted to me. I rarely use my 12mm f/2 wide open, either.

What would you guys use this for?

 

1) Wide field astrophotography, stopped down a bit for better corner performance and less issues with coma and astigmatism while still gathering a lot of light.
2) Underwater photography, where it's pretty dark.

 

If Voigtlander finally gets their coma issues under control (the 17.5mm is bad), then this lens will be superb for astrophotography.

 

This exactly. Honestly, I am lusting after this lens. It's going to be between this, the Kowa 8.5mm f2.8, SLR Magic 10mm and the Olympus 7-14 f2.8. Can't wait for reviews of the Voigtlander and the Olympus to come out.

 

With a lens this wide, even with a super faster aperture, the DOF will still be relatively wide, which means you can use it for a lot of things that don't require infinite DOF. Street shooting, getting a unique look for portraits (not head shots obviously), to creative effect when you want to use a wide lens up close to distort proportions but also want shallow DOF for subject isolation. General purpose low light event/photojournalist type shooting.

It should provide a very similar look to the Ziess 21/2 or the Zuiko 21/2.

 

I am in the same situation. The 17.5mm f0.95 is fine already but the exposure time is limited to about 13 seconds to avoid star trail. With 10.5mm, the exposure can be up to 23 seconds.

 

Ouch: 1199 euros apparently.

Not that it is completely unexpected, but it's still up there. Need to start saving.

 

Most Voigtlander's f/.95's for the system have started out around that. And then within a couple years can be had for a couple hundred less new and a couple more hundred less used. I think the 17.5mm started at that same price, but now goes for around 800-900.

 

True, Mike, I could wait. But what fun would that be?

I really was hoping to get an UWA prime a little before May this year since I have some plans for it...

 

If the extra money with worth the pictures you'll get while you would otherwise be waiting, then go for it. I paid the full $900 original price tag on the 75mm f/1.8 and haven't looked back. No regrets there.

 

I'm with you on this one. Unfortunately all the Noktons show significant coma & astigmatism in the corners in the Lenstips reviews even when stopped down to f1.4. I'd be really surprised if the 10.5 is any different.

That's too bad because based on my experience, I'm thinking f2 is about the minimum aperture for decent results w/ night sky photography using current m43 sensors. For that reason, I've been watching for a thorough review of the SLR Magic Hyperprime 10mm T2.1. But so far na-da. There are a couple posts w/ example shots & the following statement from Andrew Reid in this post: http://www.eoshd.com/2015/01/slr-magic-10mm-t2-1-review/

He says "Sharpness

The resolving power of the SLR Magic 10mm T2.1 is exceptional and performance doesn’t suddenly drop off wide open either.

It is easily a match for the Olympus 12mm F2.0, but it has more character, better build quality and of course a wider field of view."

That last sentence got my attention. I'm currently using the M.Z 12mm f2 & 17mm f1.8 & their plenty sharp wide open. Just wish they were f1.4-

Will be making a trip to really dark places next month & thinking seriously about getting the Hyperprime to see if it will do the job.

 

I saw that review a couple days ago too and this lens is on my mind. If you do take the Hyperprime out, please let us (me) know how you did and what you think of it.

 

The Samyang/Rokinon lenses are supposed to be superbly corrected for coma, for what it's worth.

I already have a speedbooster, so I've considered getting the 16mm f/2 and speedboosting it to a 11mm f/1.4. The problem with those lenses is that their cheaply made. Still debating...

 

Samyang lenses have quite good build quality actually. Atleast my 7.5/3.5 and the 8/3.5 I had in Canon mount. Sure, they aren't built like Leicas, but for the pice point they have very good build.

 

Vignetting is such a frequent problem for many WA primes & zooms, both the adapted lens & the impact of the speed booster will be an issue. Though vignetting can be "corrected" in post, doing so will increase the visibility of noise & noise reduction artifacts on the edges.

Have you seen any reviews that show the results of using a SB w/ a fast WA lens? There certainly are a few really good fast WA lenses out there that could be adapted via an SB to m43. But there's no free lunch. The few reports I've seen show that speed boosters significantly degrade IQ especially at the edges. And the combined cost of lens+SB is pretty high.

 

Yes. I just wish their new 10mm for m43 was more than f2.8. Same for the new Kowa & eventual Oly 7-14mm.

 

I should try my 12 F2 in a dark location to see what it can do. Even on dark nights, I hoped to see more of the milky way than what I've got so far. If I just need darker skies, then the SLR 10 comes into play. If not, then its the CV 10.5 for me.