Voigtlander Ultra-Wide Heliar

Voigtlander is probably a brand you have never ever heard of unless you are a rangefinder photographer such as myself. Voigtlander (I believe it is pronounced as vut-lan-der) is the world's oldest camera brand and is a German brand though it is not held in the same esteem as Leica or Zeiss or even Schneider-Kreuznach. It celebrated its 250th anniversary sometime back around 2008-2008 I believe. It used to produce a wide range of photographic products until it collapsed and the brand was sold to ringfoto, a photographic retailer in Germany. It was then licensed to Cosina in Japan.

Now Cosina is a company I admire a lot. It is owned and headed by Kobayashi-San, a photography enthusiast. Cosina is a company that is a dark horse. Again, most everyone has never heard of it but the company is an OEM (original equipment manufacture) organization and has made cameras for a lot of famous brands such as Canon, Nikon, Konica. Vivitar and many more. Today, Cosina has licensed the Voigtlander name and manufacture lenses under this German brand. It has also licensed the Zeiss name and manufactures lenses under Zeiss' strict German standards. Cosina also made the world's first digital rangefinder, the Epson RD-1.

Today, I will be talking about one of my favourite lenses, the Voigtlander Ultra-Wide Heliar. It is the world's widest 12mm rectilinear lens made for rangefinders. Some people find it too wide. I find it a fun lens to use. I got mine a few years ago and it is on screw mount. Its smallest aperture is f5.6 and its closest focusing distance is 1 foot.

Construction of the lens is solid and from handling it, I know that this is a robust lens that will endure my rough hands. There is a distance scale clearly marked on the lens and it comes with a lens hood that is attached using an attractive screw mount. It is quite a compact lens which is perfect for me. The lens cap is metal and features the Voigtlander logo.

As all rangefinder cameras only have frames for 28, 35, 50, and 90, you would need a dedicated viewfinder to use this lens. Voigtlander makes a wide selection of viewfinders which can easily slide into your camera's hot shoe. The 12mm viewfinder is made of metal and is a joy to handle. Looking through it gives you an angle of view of 121 degrees, the same as what the Ultra-Wide Heliar would give you. You have to be careful in handling it though as the viewfinder's glass can get scratched. The way it looks reminds me of an old style television set.

Mounted on a camera, the lens and viewfinder combo make for a very sexy-looking photographic kit!

How is the picture quality? It is excellent! Colour reproduction on the M8 is superb and centre sharpness is great! The image does go softer on the edges as with most other wide angle lenses. This is an ultra-wide so do expect a bit of softness and vignetting. Here are a few samples I have taken with this lens. Due to its nature of being a wide angle, you don't need to focus anymore. What I do is I just set the focusing distance to 1 metre and I start snapping away. Shots taken with the M8 are at 16mm if you're using the 35mm equivalent due to the crop factor of 1.3 on the M8. Shots taken with the M6 are at 12mm.

man on tractor - Leica M8; 16mm equivalent

landslide - Leica M6TTL; 12mm equivalent

refreshing restaurant - Leica M8; 16mm equivalent

2 girls, up close & personal - Leica M6TTL; 12mm equivalent

I hope you liked this review of sorts as well as the sample photographs. Cosina has recently released this lens on M-mount so there would be no need to purchase a screw-to-M adaptor if you wish to mount this on your favourite M-mount camera. I believe that this is an excellent lens and for its price point, is fantastic value for money.