Since so many of you asked, here’s a quick review of the quite affordable Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 on the Sony Nex. On the used market you get this lens for about 250 Euros. The newer P-Type lens, where you can even use filters on it, can be had for about 480 Euros new. I use a Kipon adapter to get M-mount lenses on the Nex, so the lens performance may vary among different adapters.

On the Sony the Voigtlaender becomes a 22,5mm lens. So you get a nice wideangle for landscapes or things.
I’ve been very impressed with this little lens on the Leica M8. It was brilliant, sharp and pretty much free of distortion. You got some dark corners, but that was easily fixed in post processing.
To give you an impression of the very nice performance on the M8, here are a couple of shots from a trip to Trieste in Italy last year (continue after the break!).

^ Leica M8, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Leica M8, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Leica M8, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 (click to enlarge)

You would mayby guess that the Sony Nex sensor isn’t as demanding as the one from the M8, since it’s smaller. But it seems the contrary is true.

I don’t want to influence your own verdict, if this lens would serve you well or not. But I’d like to note, that vignetting and color shift in the corners is an issue, when using that lens on your Nex:

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

You can still take away some of this vignetting and color shift in post processing, but – at least the colorshift – takes some time and work.

Here’s a collection of images reflecting the center and the corner performance at different f-stops.

First up: Center performance (click images to enlarge to 100%):

And: Corner performance (click images to enlarge to 100%):

Since the choice of real wide angle lenses for the Sony Nex is quite limited, the Voigtlaender might be the right thing for you. Even though vignetting and color shift are real issues, you still can get nice pictures out of this combo. Here are some samples I shot recently (click on the image to enlarge):

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f5.6 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f11 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

^ Sony Nex-3, Voigtlaender Super Wide Heliar 15/4.5 at f4.5 (click to enlarge)

Thanks for reading!