BlattWorld, Item Details: Voigtlander 12mm f/5.6 Heliar Aspherical (black)

March 2000, Voigtlander announced the 12/5.6 in Leica Screw mount. It is the widest production super wide ever made for 35, a rectilinear lens, not a fish eye! It went on sale in Japan Sept 1st 2000. 10 elements, 8 groups, smallest aperture f/22. T

he lens weighs in at only 6 1/2 oz with lens shade and front cap. While not rangefinder coupled (there is no need for it in a lens this wide), you have easy fast focusing from 12" to infinity with the handy dandy focusing lever. The finder is of robust

all metal construction, offering a sharp bright image, and weighs in at 3 oz. It's probably a good idea to keep the lens shade on unless you are using the 77mm filter adapter, since with the shade removed, the front element protrudes beyond the lens

barrel. The huge glass front of the finder also protrudes beyond the finder base. Unfortunately Voigtlander does not provide a front cover to protect the 12 finder while in the camera bag.