juju01 Posted June 22, 2014 Share #1 Posted June 22, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) I have been looking at getting the hard to find Voigtländer Color Skopar 28 mm/3.5. Seems lots of people are holding on to theirs since its discontinued. However, I am wondering if I should simply get the 28 mm/2.8 Elmarit ASPH ( is it a better performer?) Anyone used the Voigtländer Color Skopar 28 mm/3.5 on the M240 or even the Monochrome and care to comment or share pictures? how does it compare to the elmarit? thxx Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted June 22, 2014 Posted June 22, 2014 Hi juju01, Take a look here 28 Elmarit vs CV Color-Skopar 28. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
250swb Posted June 22, 2014 Share #2 Posted June 22, 2014 It is your lucky day because Sean Reid published a comparison between these two lenses yesterday, but you will have to subscribe to read it. I don't have the Elmarit but instead the 28mm Summicron so can't really comment directly. The 28mm Skopar is however a jaw dropping lens in its image quality, I can't blame people not wanting to let it go. I bought mine a few months ago and haven't seen another on sale since then. The size especially means it only crops the viewfinder a tiny bit. I find it sharper in the corners than the Summicron at f/3.5, they are both about the same for sharpness from f/5.6 to f/11, then the Summicron wins at f/16. In colour and the Summicron wins, but on the MM this doesn't matter and the Skopar is up to the demands of the sensor. Reid more or less says the Elmarit and Skopar are about equal overall, where one wins a round the other wins the next, so you have to decide where your priorities lie and what features are most important. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjames9142 Posted June 23, 2014 Share #3 Posted June 23, 2014 They are both good lenses, although my Skopar suffers from a mounting problem which leaves an unsharp strip on one side. This is not unknown. Caveat emptor. I am giving mine away to my son, who is not so fussy about these things. On my MM, the 28 Cron is great -- I used it recently in Ljubljana, researching the work of the great Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik. It was the only lens I took, and it was stellar, even hand held at night, and this in spite of the fact that the vertical alignment was seriously off after a knock at the airport. I would also draw your attention to the Elmarit V4, which is very sharp, with smooth transitions and less vignetting than the Cron -- and this makes a difference on the M9. The Elmarit V4 is probably the best bargain of Leica 28s. I will try to attach some pictures from the cron. There is one of of a cemetery building that is straight out of the camera and shows the remarkable lack of distortion of the lens. Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here… Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! Link to post Share on other sites Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members! ' data-webShareUrl='https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/229314-28-elmarit-vs-cv-color-skopar-28/?do=findComment&comment=2616577'>More sharing options...
honcho Posted June 24, 2014 Share #4 Posted June 24, 2014 ...Anyone used the Voigtländer Color Skopar 28 mm/3.5 on the M240 or even the Monochrome and care to comment or share pictures? how does it compare to the elmarit? thxx I use my cv28/3.5 on an MP, but I doubt my opinion of this lens would change if I used it with a digital Leica M. I like it a lot and I don't have the problem of uneven sharpness across the frame as reported above. I can't even come up with a convincing enough reason to persuade myself I need to replace it with a Leica Elmarit-M 28/2.8 asph. I just don't need to. Write-up at the bottom of this page on my website, but you get the gist. If you find one buy it and treat yourself to a holiday with the rest of the money you'd have spent on the Elmarit asph. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
juju01 Posted June 24, 2014 Author Share #5 Posted June 24, 2014 If you find one buy it and treat yourself to a holiday with the rest of the money you'd have spent on the Elmarit asph. Now I just need to find one! Rare like the unicorn these days! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 24, 2014 Share #6 Posted June 24, 2014 Write-up at the bottom of this page on my website, but you get the gist. If you find one buy it and treat yourself to a holiday with the rest of the money you'd have spent on the Elmarit asph. Good review Steve, I agree with every word. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick_S Posted June 26, 2014 Share #7 Posted June 26, 2014 Advertisement (gone after registration) Was the Color Skopar 28 mm/3.5 lens ever made available in M-mount? Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted June 26, 2014 Share #8 Posted June 26, 2014 No, but don't let that put you off. The correct CV ltm-M adapter will bring up the 28mm frame lines if the camera has them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
4X5B&W Posted June 26, 2014 Share #9 Posted June 26, 2014 The 28mm 3.5 Color-Skopar is an extremely good lens, very high resolution edge to edge. However, it does vignette quite badly, regardless of of aperture. It can look good on B&W if you want those darkened corners. Something to know before purchasing this otherwise excellent lens. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 26, 2014 Share #10 Posted June 26, 2014 It doesn't vignette here, coded as an Elmarit f/2.8 on digital, or with my film cameras. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
honcho Posted June 26, 2014 Share #11 Posted June 26, 2014 .... it does vignette quite badly, regardless of of aperture. It can look good on B&W if you want those darkened corners. Something to know before purchasing this otherwise excellent lens. Wrong. If you want a vignette, you'll have to apply it yourself either post-scan or during enlarging. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted June 28, 2014 Share #12 Posted June 28, 2014 The 28mm 3.5 Color-Skopar is an extremely good lens, very high resolution edge to edge. However, it does vignette quite badly, regardless of of aperture. It can look good on B&W if you want those darkened corners. Something to know before purchasing this otherwise excellent lens. Managing vignette is about the easiest thing there is in post processing. It is an irrelevancy in this digital age. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico1974 Posted June 29, 2014 Share #13 Posted June 29, 2014 I had the same dilemma a couple of months ago. After a lot of searching I managed to purchase a Skopar 28 lens from Japan. The lens is beautifully made and so small. I really wanted to like this lens but was disappointed with how it performs on a digital sensor. Most reviews seem to be either on the M8 or film where none of the corner smearing issues that I encountered are mentioned. Compared to the Elmarit 28/2.8 ASPH which is sharp corner to corner at f4 the Skopar is a disappointment even at f8. It performed perfectly when I tested it on film with my M6. Tried to attach an image but the option does not seem to work. PM me and I can e-mail you a test image. Hope to save you a bit of money and time. I have settled for the Elmarit 28/2.8 ASPH now and extremely happy with my choice. A few images from the Elmarit 28/2.8 ASPH at my flickr page https://www.flickr.com/photos/nico1974/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
250swb Posted June 29, 2014 Share #14 Posted June 29, 2014 Most reviews seem to be either on the M8 or film where none of the corner smearing issues that I encountered are mentioned. Clearly there must be some sample variation as Sean Reid tested the 28mm Skopar on an M240 and doesn't mention corner smearing. And its not something I have seen on my M9, MM, or M240, or film. Steve Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
nico1974 Posted June 29, 2014 Share #15 Posted June 29, 2014 Clearly there must be some sample variation as Sean Reid tested the 28mm Skopar on an M240 and doesn't mention corner smearing. And its not something I have seen on my M9, MM, or M240, or film. Steve I am a subscriber to Sean Reid's reviews and when I look at the test images he took I can see that the lens is a bit better than my sample but still pretty disappointing given the hype that has been created around it. I don't want to comment further as people should really subscribe to Sean's site to make up their own mind. The Elmarit is a superior lens performance wise - I am a big fan of Voigtlander lenses but the 28/3.5 and M240 just did not live up to the hype for me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
bocaburger Posted June 30, 2014 Share #16 Posted June 30, 2014 I can't speak to the Skopar, but I have the f/1.9 (screw mount, not the f/2 M-mount which had some reported focus issues IIRC) and it is stunning. And I can't speak to the Elmarit-ASPH, but I have the IV (e46) and it too is stunning. Got mine for $600 due to a 1mm coating mark thanks to the original owner's insistence that Leica coatings are immune to cleaning marks and therefore a protective filter is an unncessary image degrader Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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