It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. If you wanted a lens as wide as 14mm your only options were from Sony, Canon, or Zeiss for a lot of money that no ordinary man could afford. It has gradually changed and there are several affordable manual lenses available now. One of them is the Pergear 14mm f/2.8 II, which for about €240 seems to be a bargain. Let’s see if it’s any good!
I always had the feeling the Sony FE 12-24mm 2.8 GM has been flying under the radar a bit, which is surprising, because it might be the most spectacular ultra wide angle lens any manufacturer has ever built, but let me tell you in this review why I think so.
If you ask all the photographers, which single prime lens they would choose if they could own only one lens in the world, the majority would say the 35mm, and most of the rest would say a fast 35mm. This is because it is one of the most versatile prime lenses. Although it’s a wide-angle lens, it is sometimes referred to as the alternative normal lens because it is so close to the standard focal length that it does not distort the subject much. With such lenses, you can also get a good background separation with a nice bokeh. They are useful in almost all kinds of photography, especially in everyday photography, street photography, environmental portraits, landscapes, weddings, events, and travel. Additionally, it works well for stitched astrophotography.
Its popularity has led to numerous 35mm lenses being produced by various manufacturers from the early days of photography to the modern era. In this article, I will compare six of them, from vintage to old to new. Let’s have a look together!
The original Leica 50mm 2.0 Elcan has been produced for the American army together with the KE-7A camera. According to the information I found, only 500 have been made, therefore a set of lens and camera will set you back around $30,000 these days.
Obviously this is purely a collector’s price, that has nothing to do with this lens’ value for actual photography.
Now if you want to use this lens without spending 30k, Light Lens Lab has you covered, as they offer a replica for $800. This is what we will have a look at in this review.
This lens will be reviewed on the 42mp Sony A7rII and the 24mp Leica M10.
It has generally been difficult to find ultra wide-angle prime lenses for any system until a few years ago. It has become much better for full-frame cameras, but still a scarce market in the APS-C world. If available, most of the ultra-wide angle lenses are zoom lenses, with variable apertures and usually not that fast. Here we have a new lens that breaks that trend, a 10mm (15mm equivalent on FF) at the impressive f/2. Let’s see how this lens is!
UPDATE: 2023.12.19 , Flare Resistance.
