[Leica] 15 Zeiss

[mark at rabinergroup.com (Mark Rabiner)]

>> The most famous wide angle camera is the Hasselblad superwide.
>> No rangefinder you don't need one you could be way off and still nail your
>> focus with the 38mm Biogon.
>> Which is like a  21 on a 35.
>> 
>> You can easily do it with a 24 or longer
>> But a 15!?!?!!?!?!?!
>> A 15 is like hitting the broad side of a barn from one foot away.
>> A rangefinder would be a complete waste of machinery and weight.
>> 
>> Mark William Rabiner
>> markrabiner.com
> 
> 
> And yet... I have and often used the gg back for the SWC and focussed
> on that. It always gave the _correct_ focus, instead of the best
> guess focus. It depends on what's needed. A 15/2.8 at close focus
> does not have endless dof, and the dof on 35mm lens scales is
> optimistic for a 4x6 print, let alone a real enlargement.
> 
> If you shoot a postcard shot, set the lens at infinity and you're OK,
> but for close work, you have to be able to focus accurately. For a PJ
> grab shot to be printed on newsprint, dof covers a lot of errors, but
> they are still errors and they can be seen, and in some shots it
> matters.
> 
> I haven't seen the 15/2.8 Zeiss, but if the rear element is too large
> to allow a cam, then the design should have been modified to
> accommodate one. Thats what's done in almost any lens design. The
> Noctilux could have been a lot better lens if they didn't have (many)
> size restraints. According to reports the 15/2.8 Zeiss is not that
> outstanding a lens at present; maybe a reworking would have done it
> some good.


Shooting wide open closer in yes you're not always going to nail it.
I had a Leica rangefinder on the hotshoe of my Voigtl?nder Vito BL when I
was 13 doing my first darkroom work.
Using a Hasselblad superwide for a month I found myself more comfortable
with it on a lightweight tripod aimed level and I'd shoot at f11 or 8.

But I have shot tons of film with my CV Bessa L with camless 25 "Scopar" and
I don't think I've ever missed my focus once.

But for architectural use the superwide seems like a great camera even
without the groundglass focusing. You'd just make sure things were level and
stopped just a couple down.

For street use a shame it goes off like a shotgun.

But I'd not heard anything less than superlatives about the Zeiss made in
Germany for thousands of dollars 15. I find this surprising.

Mark William Rabiner
markrabiner.com