Voigtlander SUPER WIDE HELIAR 15mm F4.5
L39 screw mount 15mm ultra-wide-angle lens
A review and photo examples of the Voigtlander Super Wide Heliar 15mm F4.5.
Table of contents
Gallery
The following cameras were used to take the sample photos:
- HEXAR RF +KONICA SINBI100
- LEICA M9
- NEX-5
- EPSON R-D1
- RICOH GXR
Review
1．Overview
The SUPER WIDE HELIAR 15mm F4.5 L39 is an L39 screw-mount wide-angle lens released by Cosina under the Voigtlander brand in 1999.
The lens consists of 8 elements in 6 groups, and the minimum focusing distance is 0.3m.
The lens mount is an L39 screw mount, and it does not link with the rangefinder of a rangefinder camera.
Furthermore, filters cannot be attached to the front of the lens.
2．Usability
The SUPER WIDE HELIAR 15mm F4.5 L39’s depiction shows its true potential with little vignetting on 35mm film, but the lack of resolution is due to a slight focus shift. The LEICA M9, which has a 35mm full-frame sensor, has sufficient resolution in the center, and the vignetting and image distortion in the peripheral areas are not noticeable, but in scenes with blue skies, there is a color cast that is common with wide-angle lenses.
This lens does not work with the rangefinder of an M-type rangefinder camera, so it must be used by eye. Since the maximum aperture is a dark F-number of 4.5, if you stop down to about F8, you will not miss the focus by eye.
Although there are no examples for cameras with smaller sensors, when used with the APS-H size sensor of the Leica M8, the focal length is about 20mm, which gives a moderate wide-angle feeling and almost eliminates the image distortion and color cast caused by cropping the periphery.
This is a valuable lens that provides a focal length of about 23mm, especially for cameras equipped with APS-C size sensors that are limited in wide-angle. Since it covers a 35mm full-size sensor, you can use only the best part of the center of the lens, so you will not see distortion, vignetting, or color cast.
The APS-C size sensor, the EPSON R-D1, does not have a 15mm focal length in its built-in viewfinder, so you need to use an external viewfinder to decide the composition. A 22.5mm viewfinder, which is 1.5 times the 15mm, is available under the Voigtlander brand, but I composed my shots using an external 24mm viewfinder with almost the same focal length.
Since the field of view is only about 85% to begin with, this level of accuracy is sufficient. You need to be careful about parallax when taking close-up shots, but if you worry about that too, you won’t be able to enjoy using a rangefinder camera.
The SONY NEX-5 with an M-mount lens adapter and the RICOH GXR M-mount both have APS-C size sensors, so they have similar focal lengths. Since this uses the rear LCD or EVF, you can compose and focus more accurately than with the R-D1.
One very slight drawback is that the background bokeh can be messy when you get close, but this is probably due to the fact that you can get as close as 0.3m, but the functional advantage of being able to get close is important, so as long as you’re careful about how you use it, it shouldn’t be a problem.
3．Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the SUPER WIDE HELIAR 15mm F4.5 L39 is a compact and easy-to-use wide-angle lens.
With a camera equipped with a 35mm full-size sensor, the image quality in the peripheral areas can be a concern, but with a camera equipped with an APS-C size sensor, this is not an issue.
If you are using a 35mm format, this lens is a good match for a film camera.
Specification ,Study and more
As described below, this lens has been released in three generations and is still on sale as of 2024. The price has increased since the third generation, but it is still reasonably priced. In line with the times, E-mount and Z-mount versions have also been released.
The first 15mm was an L39 screw mount, while the second and third generations were M-mount compatible VM mounts and were improved to work with the rangefinders of Leica M-type cameras. However, the second and third generations of the VM-mount version had a minimum shooting distance of 0.5m, which reduced the physical close-up shooting capabilities.
The Sony E-mount version was released one year after the VM-mount version, and in 2023 the Nikon Z-mount version was released with the “III” removed from the name. The minimum shooting distance has been shortened to 0.3m for the E mount and 0.126m for the Z mount, and the lens configuration is the same as the third-generation VM mount version. The lens has been improved to suit the digital age, such as linking with the camera’s in-body image stabilization (IBIS) and transmitting lens information to the camera.
The mirrorless mount version offers the value of buying a dedicated mount product, with improvements to the minimum shooting distance, which is clearly a different stance from Cosina’s release format, which only changed the mount part in the SLR era.
Creating dedicated products comes with sales risks in terms of having inventory, so the creation of such dedicated products is thought to be a trick that cannot be ignored as mirrorless cameras become more popular and can be achieved by optimizing parts inventory through improved accuracy in sales forecasts.
There are also the Hologon 15mm and Hologon 16mm lenses with similar focal lengths, but these have different characteristics from the SUPER WIDE HELIAR. As explained on the Hologon 16mm page, the Hologon has a rear lens that is extremely close to the film surface, so there is a high probability of color casts occurring with digital cameras and there is also a large amount of light loss in the peripheral areas, so if you are thinking about taking normal photos, it makes sense to choose the SUPER WIDE HELIAR. However, it is also true that the Hologon series has an appeal that goes beyond reason, so if you are tired of ordinary wide-angle lenses, it might be worth trying them out.
| Lens name | Super Wide Heliar 15mm, first generation | 3rd | E-mount | Z-mount |
| Focal length(mm) | 15 | ← | ← | ← |
| Max aperture | 4.5 | ← | ← | ← |
| Min aperture | 22 | ← | ← | ← |
| Leaf blade | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 |
| Lens Construction | 8elements in 6 groups,1 aspherical lens | 11elements in 9 groups | 11elements in 9 groups | 11elements in 9 groups |
| Min distance(m) | 0.3 (non-rangefinder coupled) | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.126 |
| Lens mount | L39スクリュー | VM | E | Z |
| Lens length(mm) | 30.7 | 55.2 | 62.3 | 67 |
| Max diameter(mm) | 49.6 | 64.8 | 66.4 | 67.6 |
| Filter Size(mm) | – | 58 | 58 | 58 |
| Lens hood | Lens built-in | Lens built-in | Lens built-in | Dedicated detachable type |
| Weight(g) | 105 | 247 | 298 | 290 |
| Release date | 1999.02 | 2015.3.19 | 2016.4.27 | 2023.2.7 |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | 65,000(sv)/ 65,000(bl) | 95,000 | 95,000 | 118,000 |
Reference links
- COSINA Product PDF（Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical）
- COSINA Product PDF（Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical II）
- Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical III VM-Mount
- Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical III SONY E-Mount
- Voigtlander Super Wide-Heliar 15mm f/4.5 Aspherical NIKON Z-Mount
Update history
- 2025.7.18
- 2024.8.5
Leave a Reply