MY PHOTOGRAPHIC EQUIPMENT

Shortly after this post I went ahead and purchased the Voigtlander 15mm and first used it during my 2016 visit to Belfast City. Because of really bad weather and other issues I was less than happy with the results but on my return home I discovered that the lens was not really the problem. However, i have learned that it is best not to use it in heavy rain and that it does not perform well in low light even when used with a Sony A7RM2.

By the end of 2016 I decided that I would only purchase Sony GM lenses and while that was a very expensive option I believe that it was the best decision going forward.

I currently use a Zeiss Batis 25mm for wide angle photography but I am currently considering purchasing either, the soon to be introduced, Batis 18mm or the Voigtlander 15mm E-Mount lens. There is a huge difference in price between the Batis and the Voigtlander so I will delay my decision until I have read some reviews and forum discussions.

Voigtländer is an optical company founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer (de) in Vienna in 1756 and is thus the oldest name in cameras. It produced the Petzval photographic lens (the fastest lens at that time: f/3.7) in 1840, and the world's first all-metal daguerrotype camera (Ganzmetallkamera) in 1841, also bringing out plate cameras shortly afterwards. It set up a branch office in Braunschweig in 1849, moving its headquarters there later. The company issued stock in 1898, and a majority of the shares were acquired by Schering in 1925.

Over the next three decades, Voigtländer became a technology leader and the first manufacturer to introduce several new kinds of product that later became commonplace. These include the first zoom lens for 35mm still photography (36–82/2.8 Zoomar) in 1960 and the first 35mm compact camera with built-in electronic flash (Vitrona) in 1965.

Schering sold its share of the company to the Carl Zeiss Foundation in 1956, and Zeiss and Voigtländer integrated in 1965. In 1972 Zeiss/Voigtländer stopped producing cameras, and a year later Zeiss sold Voigtländer brand to Rollei. On the collapse of Rollei in 1982, Plusfoto took over the name, selling it in 1997 to Ringfoto.