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Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

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Cosina / Voigtlander Hyper-Wide Heliar 10mm F/5.6
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 2:04 am
Post subject: Cosina / Voigtlander Hyper-Wide Heliar 10mm F/5.6
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 2:04 am
Post subject: Cosina / Voigtlander Hyper-Wide Heliar 10mm F/5.6
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I bought the 10mm F/5.6 Hyper-Wide Heliar in early 2017, not long after its release.

As I already had the 12mm F/5.6 Ultra-Wide Heliar in Leica Screw Mount, I chose the Sony FE mount for this one. My 12mm lens has the old optical formula, which was designed for film photography and is not really compatible with most 24x36 digital cameras, leading to strange color shifts, heavy vignetting and softness in the corners of the frame. The 10mm in Sony mount offered a tweaked optical formula more compatible with digital sensor featuring thick optical stacks, but also transmission to the camera of the full EXIF data (focal length and aperture), thus allowing IBIS without having to input manually the focal length, as well as automatic correction of aberrations, in-camera for JPEG files or by using compatible applications for raw files.

That way, I had the best of both worlds: on one hand, a tiny 12mm lens to use on film cameras or, with an adapter (and some limitations), on digital cameras and, on the other hand, a 10mm lens fully usable on my Sony 24x36 and APS-C digital cameras. The 12mm lens also has the advantage of accepting standard screw mount filters, which the 10mm lens cannot do.

While 10mm is not a focal length that I use everyday on 24x36, the Hyper-Wide Heliar is a one-of-a-kind lens that can deliver some unique pictures. Image quality can be described as adequate: it is certainly not the sharpest lens in the world (especially in the corners, which need F/11 to reach acceptable quality), but the lens has the capacity to deliver stunning pictures that look really nice from a normal viewing distance. As most of the Cosina made Voigtländer wide lenses, it is also able to render very nice sunstars or highlight starbursts, which make it very suitable for nightscapes.

Here are a few pictures taken with this lens in Niue Island:











Cheers!

Abbazz

Last edited by Abbazz on Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:35 am; edited 1 time in total


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 2:30 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 2:30 am
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Like 1 Like 1 #4 is fantastic for me!!!


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 5:18 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 5:18 am
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visualopsins wrote:
Like 1 Like 1 #4 is fantastic for me!!!

Thank you for the kind words!

Cheers!

Abbazz


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:27 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 9:27 am
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Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

BTW, the old CV 12mm/F5.6 is doing quite well on Sony A7R II and III as can be seen here: https://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/201812/big_2460_a7testf8_1.jpg


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:01 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:01 am
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tb_a wrote:
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

BTW, the old CV 12mm/F5.6 is doing quite well on Sony A7R II and III as can be seen here: https://forum.mflenses.com/userpix/201812/big_2460_a7testf8_1.jpg

Thank you, Thomas.

I also use the 12mm in LTM mount on my Sony A7, A7II and A6000. This lens does indeed deliver nice pictures, but these pictures require a bit of post processing to look right. Some color shifts are hard to correct and it's easy to outdo the correction for vignetting.

With the Sony FE mount 10mm lens, out-of-camera JPEGs are fully usable without any further processing. Raw files get corrected automatically for vignetting and lateral chromatic aberration in Adobe Camera Raw without any intervention from my part. The amount of correction applied by Adobe Camera Raw even varies according to the F-stop used to take the picture (as reported in the picture's EXIF).

But I understand that some people may prefer the smaller and more flexible Leica mount lens. As I said on the other thread, all my other Cosina made Voigtländer lenses are in Leica M or Leica thread mount.

Cheers!

Abbazz


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:13 am
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:13 am
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Abbazz wrote:
I also use the 12mm in LTM mount on my Sony A7, A7II and A6000. This lens does indeed deliver nice pictures, but these pictures require a bit of post processing to look right. Some color shifts are hard to correct and it's easy to outdo the correction for vignetting.


OK, that's the explanation for your troubles. The A7 and the A7 II use the same CMOS 24MP sensor which is known to have difficulties with the wide angle RF lenses. My A7R II uses a different newer 42MP BSI-CMOS sensor with no AA-filtering which copes much better with these lenses.


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:11 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 10:11 pm
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Nice location and photos! Like 1 small


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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:54 pm
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Posted: Sat Dec 29, 2018 11:54 pm
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blotafton wrote:
Nice location and photos! Like 1 small

Thank you for the compliment!

Cheers!

Abbazz


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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:06 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:06 am
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Excellent shots Sebastien!
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1


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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 1:54 am
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 1:54 am
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kds315* wrote:
Excellent shots Sebastien!
Like 1 Like 1 Like 1

Thank you, Klaus.

Cheers!

Abbazz


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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:12 pm
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Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2018 12:12 pm
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I love your composition of #2, with the geology embracing the bathers. Nicely done Like 1 small .


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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:08 am
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 12:08 am
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Sciolist wrote:
I love your composition of #2, with the geology embracing the bathers. Nicely done Like 1 small .


Thanks for the kind words.

Cheers!

Abbazz


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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:59 pm
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Posted: Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:59 pm
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Thank you for sharing these sorts of experiences. I recently made the full leap into Nikon's mirrorless world after initially purchasing the Z7 and falling in love with the experience. I've since sold my backup D750 and a Z6 is on it's way to me now. Until now, I've been relishing the optical prowess of the newer Nikon, Sigma, and Tamron (among others) offerings but I have grown tired of shlepping a full camera bag around just to carry 3 primes....I've found I much more often grab my little Soligors, Vivitars, and Nikon AI-s lenses because they're so compact (and I LOVE manually focusing, it's just how I work). This has been great but the question whirring around in my head continually is "but what if my setup was even smaller than this? and with equal or better image quality (not hard to do in the case of the soligors lol)" So I've begun down the path many of you who embraced mirrorless sooner...M-mount lenses.

The CV stuff was great when I had my Bessa R2 but I've long since sold that stuff. So I'm back looking at Zeiss, CV, and other M-mount offerings that won't bankrupt me. I very much appreciate the information you're sharing here as it helps me hone the list of what's worth a look!

Very nice images you've shared!


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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:43 am
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Posted: Tue Jan 01, 2019 8:43 am
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You're welcome, David!

Cheers!

Abbazz
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