[shoplink 30081 ebay]
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The brand new New Voigtlander Aspherical 40mm f/2.8 40/2.8 Heliar is in Stock for the first time at [shoplink 30081 ebay]CameraQuest one eBay (Click here)[/shoplink]. This is a very unique lens made specially for the Sony A7 series (obviously it works on APS-C E-mount camera too). And you need to buy the [shoplink 30082 ebay]VM-E Close Focus Adapter Required (here one Bay)[/shoplink] to make it work!
As Voigtlander writes: “The Heliar 40mm F2.8 is manufactured only for the purpose of using this lens onto E-mount camera body via VM-E Close Focus Adapter. You can not do focusing when you mount this lens via adapters not designed with built-in focusing-function or M-mount camera body directly.”
So why is this lens interesting on the A7? Because it is very compact thanks to the collapsible desing.Because it’s well-built and has a nice handling and should give you an “analogic” (old-look) image rendering. I like it 🙂
UPDATE: It’s also in Stock at Fotomundus (via DL).
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A7 users have AF 35mm f/2.8 lens already, why use this ugly thing?
Character (lens drawing) and fashion.
They will sell well with enthusiasts in Japan, HK and South Korea.
Physical size collapsed, obviously. Will fit into a coat pocket with ease, which it certainly won’t with a zeiss one. Will be interested to see how it works with a hawks adapter.
+1 for calling this thing ugly!
It’s fine on A7, a kind of Like-for-likes… Is it good though?
Smaller, cheaper and MF.
LOL, MF is a plus?
For many, yes. I know people that can focus faster with MF than with AF on most mirrorless. The distance scales help a lot, you know?
For some situations, yes. Lol at your question.
Why?? AF lens can MF, MF lens can’t AF, right?
AF lenses can’t MF the same as a mechanical MF lens. I can set the latter to infinity or its hyperfocal in a second, simply based on the distance scale. That is particularly useful when shooting in the dark, trying to be real quick etc. And when you consider that some types of photography don’t rely much on autofocus anyway, such lenses simply make a lot of sense. Until manufacturers decide to do something about it, like Ricoh.
Although, I now realize that the Heliar above actually doesn’t have a distance scale, lol.
I didn’t know this, thanks.
but this lens doesn’t have distance scale
Price? Something less wide angle? Anyway, both are a bit slow..
What about the price? The Sony lens is cheaper!
VM-E adapter plus the non focusing thingy is more expensive also heavier!
True, but only if you buy a single M-mount lens.
Agree! This thing is very ugly and MF.
Steve Huff has one and gives his initial impression in the link
http://www.stevehuffphoto.com/2014/10/28/quick-1st-look-voigtlander-402-8-aspherical-heliar-for-sony-e-mount/
As usual, Steve loves everything about everything.
What a cheap shill.
Don’t forget to buy using his links at the bottom of the page!!
well, is not the same anywhere, also here on this publicity site here, where sometimes you find also rumors and information that are useful. Those who run the site earn money with that, and if it is not overwhelming like on DPR where you have to click around 4 pages od spam until you reach what you want to see, all that is ok. Be grateful that some people do such sites. But, it did not made us lose hope before Internet was there, in that time we bought magazines, with information and full of publicity as well.
Ah, these positive people! Shame on them!
SH is the best reviewer out there. The only one who takes into consideration the important factors of leica glow, rendering and pop. Everybody knows that is what matters in gear.
Great nickname man… First of all Steve’s resource is great, i love it, but HE ISN’T one and only man who takes into account rendering, pop, and glow, he made this words popular among us. Before this words were “coded” into MTF, and then translated to us by many reviewers like Ken Rockwell (he also knows about these things, and from technical side even better than Steve), then you can download leica’s brochure about ALL it lenses where is descriptor WHY and HOW they render, so. And the last, every lens has unique rendering and glow, not only leica, but leica makes small things obvious because of high price 😉 I have many cameras, and even soviet Zorki made images as good as my leica, sony, hasselblad and it also had unique look, all that for 10 USD… not bad.
Shhh he talks with the dead 😉
Well, at least some example images to see there (made with it, not of the lens).
Personally I like 40mm, thought with 2.8 there are some alternatives. There is also the f2 Voigtlander, the old Pentax 2.8 40mm pencake, the Pentax 43mm..
Finally, the Elpha Pancake arrives.
Thanks V!
Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa, where are A mount cameras, waaaaaaa
Stop crying, start taking pictures
Uhmm… I wasn’t crying. I gave thanks.
You cried twice, and started giving orders.
Who’s the baby here?
Elpha is the favorite word of A-mount cry-babies
It’s kind of nifty in a ugly Bond gadget sort of way, but surely smallness is what the RX100 family are for…
This looks like the FE 2.8/35 with the encasing removed 🙂
I am more interested in the new 15mm.
Plus on the 15mm.
I was also enthusiastic about that until I tried the Sony 10-18 f/4 OSS…
Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar Aspherical III 15mm f/4.5 ???
I’m now deciding between this one, Samyang and 10-18, which on will be my next big landscape “glass”
Another fun lens. Voigtlander really is one of the best lens makers out there.
Atrociously priced when you look at the combined price of the VM-E close adapter. I have far better lenses to use on my A7 series at fraction of these prices.
Kind of like this: http://4.static.img-dpreview.com/files/p/TS1600x1600~forums/52970629/7a7b2fdbb4c4447e893f028f6fd7b047
You have to be careful, though, to only collapse the lens when it set to closest focus. At infinity the inner part of the lens will hit the black baffle around the sensor when collapsed.
Um… Wow! They made a lens SPECIFICALLY FOR the A7 series which can bitt inside parts of the camera? Weird.
No, he is talking about 50’s era Leica collapsible lenses, while similar are not remotely the same.
I remember CV said that Ultron can’t be put on M body without damage.
More interested in how good this lenses is. It would be silly to make it for the sake of fashion alone. All those new VM lenses are made with A7 in mind so those who buy 40 with adapter are expected to add 35, 15, 50 and maybe also 21 later.
I really don’t think anybody would start off with this lens…it would be better off as a promotional item handed out along with the purchase of the adapter…
Aesthetically and functionally this is an engineering abomination. Just make the damned thing in a native mount instead of forcing buyers to spend an extra $300 on an overpriced (and also unattractive) adapter.
I guess this lens is meant to attract people who already own the adapter. By the way this adapter is genious! It’s the only way to make those Leica M-mount lenses focus much closer at around half the distance!
Or you can buy the great tiny and cheap Voigtlander 40mm f/1.4.
Puny lens even collapses to hide…shames itself because punyness…Hulk smash!
One of the nice things about MF lenses is having a nice distance scale…which this thing doesn’t have, makes it a bit pointless in my view.
Unless you focus using the viewfinder (like 98% of photographers do), then it works fine.
I have and love the adapter. Just waiting for the reviews.
Wow, that camera look enormous with that lens mounted.
I think I just lost my dinner.
This is actually a component from the International Space Station. Most likely a valve of some sort used in the cooling system. I have to give them credit for incorporating the glass elements so nicely while making use of the flow control mechanism as an aperture.
Metabones should be able to give us an adapter for less than half that VM-E thingy.
http://www.metabones.com/products/details/MB_CG-E-BM1
I’ll keep my FE 35/2.8 for that part of the image world.
“This is a very unique lens made specially for the Sony A7 series.”
Uh, no. Anything that requires an adapter is NOT made “specifically” for that product. What a load of BS.
This lens was designed to use with the E-mount close focus adapter. It will not focus on an ‘M’ mount camera. Perhaps CV will make adapters for other systems, but for now it seems to be designed for the Sonys.
It makes sense making this an M fitting as the M system has so many lenses and will hopefully be around for another 100 years. Sony will probably change it’s E-mount in 5 years time making an E-Mount lens redundant. At least this way you just need to buy a new adaptor rather then a new set of lenses.
Not only will it only work with E-mount, a 60/2.8 on half-frame E would be pretty meaningless, and since there’s only the a7 line in the FE lineup…he’s pretty much right.
Sony themselves need to add collapsible FE lenses
Collapsible zoom? It’s like pump zooms from canon, this technology has major flows:
It needs different lens design, so original 28-70 cannot be collapsed, or you will destroy something, there is autofocus motors so you need something like clutch not to broke them, and the last problems with dust inside of lens, in zoom lens it makes more sense than in primes.
Of course it’s not easy… But they made it in SEL1650PZ which is twice smaller than non-collapsible kit zoom
My SEL50F18 had dust it in despite it’s a prime with front and rear element fixed T.T
I’ve always wondered if weather-sealed lenses let in dust, do you have any?
No I don’t have any. Most of SELs aren’t, anyway
Kenta Honjo just confirmed that no 4K codec (or so call XACV S) for A7/r thru firmware update due to its required hardware such as motherboard change. (comment peak from DPreview interview with Kenta Honjo)
Made specifically ? With adapter?
LoL
How about the Canon 40mm EF lens ? It’s smaller than this lens.
It will be bigger on the A7 because it needs an adapter. This lens is probably better optically too 😛
Edit: Sorry, the adapter will be bigger because of the flange focal distance 🙂
Wonder how a pinhole would work on this camera…
I love my Konica Hexnon 50mm f1.4, price was only 40 euros.