Re: [Leica] 15mm Cosina Pix

["Henning J. Wulff" <henningw@archiphoto.com>]

R. Mark Newport wrote:

>> The Heliar has a bit of distortion, but at a level of the 21 Elmarit;
>>hardly a
>> major concern. In the areas of resolution, contrast and flare, the Heliar
>>is definitely better. I would also classify the Heliar as 'better'.
>
>
>I may be needing a really wide lens for an upcoming project.  Are there any
>pictures on the web from a 15mm Cosina that I can look at.  I would buy a
>21 Elmarit or Zeiss Hologon if I could afford one (we will see). This
>Cosina wide angle would be used to photograph a large building project over
>the course of the next year and might called upon for some big (20X30)
>enlargements. I have a 28 Elmarit, but don't think it will be wide enough.
>By the way, between the 21mm's, does the Elmarit have more distortion than
>the Super Angulon?

I don't have any Heliar pictures on my site yet. Anyways, it wouldn't help
you much, as anything less than a high-end drum scan would obscure the
results, and such scans I only get done for well-paying clients.

The 15 Heliar is fully up to the standard of the old 21 Elmarit, if not up
to the 21ASPH. The 15 Heliar's performance is on a level with the 3rd
version of the 28 Elmarit, but not quite that of the 4th (current). All
these lenses have more distortion than the SA, but none have any amount
that can be called significant. All are better than any SLR lenses in this
range I know of.

If you need 110 degree coverage, and high quality, why not go MF? A
Horseman 612 with shift and the 35 Apo-Grandagon will give you either 6x12
or 6x7 with shifts, which are likely to be more useful than a 15 on 35. A
swing lens panoramic like the Noblex will give you nearly 130 degree
horixontal coverage, with less _perceived_ distortion (in some respects)
than a 120 degree rectilinear image. In any case, the 15 Heliar is the best
game in town for 35mm work at this time, unless you can get away with 90
degree coverage, in which case a lot of other options open up.

   *            Henning J. Wulff
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