Poki Posted April 20, 2016 Share #1 Posted April 20, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) I know there are already a few threads which briefly touch on this lens, but I want to know: What do you think about the little 21mm f/4 Voigtländer? After planning a few photo trips this year, I thought I need a wide angle. Until now, my NEX-7 with the 12mm Zeiss Touit did the job, but I no longer wanted to bring that rather large combination with me all the time. My Billingham Hadley small still has a little room, and my M-system lacks a wide angle lens (I currently only have a 50mm and a 90mm Summicron).So today, I found a deal at leicashop.com (a well known Vienna-based Leica dealer), so I ordered the Color-Skopar 21mm f/4 together with the old 21mm Voigtländer viewfinder for €420. As I can still cancel the order - or simply send back the lens later - I would love to get some input. My Touit is a great wide angle lens, and I don't want to loose too much image quality. Speed is not a concern - since the M (240) can't do exposures longer than 8 seconds at high ISO anyway, night landscapes are out of question, and that's about the only thing where I need speed in a wide angle lens.So have you shot with the lens? Could you post some images made with it? Is the color shift a severe problem? The internet isn't filled well enough with information about this lens, unfortunately, so thank you in advance for any thoughts! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted April 20, 2016 Posted April 20, 2016 Hi Poki, Take a look here What do you think about the Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/4?. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
JWW Posted April 20, 2016 Share #2 Posted April 20, 2016 I had the 21/4 as my first 21mm a few years ago and was quite satisfied with it and I did not see any color shift. When I bought a Leica 21 3.4 I did notice that the Leica had better edge and corner performance wide open (as expected) so I now have only the Leica, which is a superb lens. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted April 20, 2016 Share #3 Posted April 20, 2016 Here is a shot with the CV21/4 on my M240, shot straight into the sun. It is worth getting the lenshood LH-1, as it improves contrast and reduces flare. 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! 2 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/259498-what-do-you-think-about-the-voigtl%C3%A4nder-color-skopar-21mm-f4/?do=findComment&comment=3030032'>More sharing options...
jaapv Posted April 20, 2016 Share #4 Posted April 20, 2016 21 mm is a big jump from 50. Wouldn't 28 fit better in your system? 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted April 20, 2016 Share #5 Posted April 20, 2016 Great little lens. Needs red edge correction, though. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bachmann Posted April 20, 2016 Share #6 Posted April 20, 2016 My thoughts are the same as Ecar above. It is my most compact lens and fits into the front pocket of a Hadley Small. It is not my everyday focal length, but it is there when I need it and since I have a 35mm, I don't need a 28mm in the bag. That said, using a viewfinder can be a fiddle since I have the Thumbs Up in my shoe, so I reconsider a 28mm from time to time. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
james.liam Posted April 20, 2016 Share #7 Posted April 20, 2016 Advertisement (gone after registration) .... so I reconsider a 28mm from time to time. ...why I travel with a Ricoh GR in a pocket. One less lens change and the output easily rivals the 28 Elmarit ASPH. So if a second, wide is needed, the 21 fits the need. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted April 20, 2016 Share #8 Posted April 20, 2016 ...why I travel with a Ricoh GR in a pocket. One less lens change and the output easily rivals the 28 Elmarit ASPH. So if a second, wide is needed, the 21 fits the need. I agree re the Ricoh GR. I have one too and the quality is quite amazing. In fact, at high ISO it probably outperforms my M240. It really is that good... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poki Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share #9 Posted April 20, 2016 I had the 21/4 as my first 21mm a few years ago and was quite satisfied with it and I did not see any color shift. When I bought a Leica 21 3.4 I did notice that the Leica had better edge and corner performance wide open (as expected) so I now have only the Leica, which is a superb lens. With which camera did you use the lens? Is the color shift something that varies between different copies of the lens or is it a design problem? 21 mm is a big jump from 50. Wouldn't 28 fit better in your system? Nah, I never fell in love with 28mm and 35mm lenses. However, I loved my 18mm equivalent Zeiss Touit. I think for me, a 21mm lens falls right in the wide angle sweet spot. And together with my "always on" 50 and the portrait and long landscape 90, I think all my basic needs are covered in a relatively small and lightweight package. Great little lens. Needs red edge correction, though. Is the 21mm Elmait profile in the M 240 sufficient or do I actually need to go into Cornerfix? I'd prefer not to do so because it's a lot of time exporting all those DNGs to TIFFs, and I loose the flexibility of the RAWs. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted April 20, 2016 Share #10 Posted April 20, 2016 Is the 21mm Elmait profile in the M 240 sufficient or do I actually need to go into Cornerfix? I'd prefer not to do so because it's a lot of time exporting all those DNGs to TIFFs, and I loose the flexibility of the RAWs. No, it's not sufficient (at least for me). You might get away with it if you convert to BW. FWIW, I use FlatField in Lightroom more often than Cornerfix. You don't lose much, other than storage space, with TIFFs. If you intend to use your 21 frequently and don't want to correct for red edges, you'd be better served by another lens. 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poki Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share #11 Posted April 20, 2016 No, it's not sufficient (at least for me). You might get away with it if you convert to BW. FWIW, I use FlatField in Lightroom more often than Cornerfix. You don't lose much, other than storage space, with TIFFs. If you intend to use your 21 frequently and don't want to correct for red edges, you'd be better served by another lens. Thanks, that doesn't sound too encouraging unfortunately. I'm working with Capture One, so no Flatfield plug-in for me. So I'd have to use the "edit with" feature on every single image, which sends a TIFF to Cornerfix to remove the color cast. Adds around 30 seconds to the developing time of every single image ... I'll have to wait and see if that's worth it to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bachmann Posted April 20, 2016 Share #12 Posted April 20, 2016 For what it's worth in your evaluation, here's my samples with the 21mm Skopar all shot with an M9 using the built in "21mm Elmarit-M" profile. https://www.flickr.com/groups/skopar21/pool/94884421@N00/ 2 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ernstk Posted April 20, 2016 Share #13 Posted April 20, 2016 Ive gone through a batch of colour photos with the CV21/4 on my M240. I used the 21/2.8 11134 profile and I see no evidence of red edges... Ernst 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Poki Posted April 20, 2016 Author Share #14 Posted April 20, 2016 For what it's worth in your evaluation, here's my samples with the 21mm Skopar all shot with an M9 using the built in "21mm Elmarit-M" profile. https://www.flickr.com/groups/skopar21/pool/94884421@N00/ Ive gone through a batch of colour photos with the CV21/4 on my M240. I used the 21/2.8 11134 profile and I see no evidence of red edges... Ernst Thank you! Dan, these samples look fantastic - if that's what one can expect from this lens with the 11134 lens profile, I'm absolutely happy. Ernst, after looking through Dan's photos, it indeed seems like the lens is fine for use on a digital full frame M. Still, some people report problems even with the lens profile - could that be due to sample variation of the lens? 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecar Posted April 21, 2016 Share #15 Posted April 21, 2016 Sample variation may be an explanation. Individual tolerance could be another one. Here are two reference shots with my copy of the CV 21/4 on the M240. The first one is with the lens uncoded. The second one with the code manually set to that of the Elmarit 21/2.8. While the red edge is greatly reduced, it's still there, to my eyes (looking at a dng on a calibrated monitor) at least. Whether it's acceptable without further correction or not is indeed a personal matter. 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! 1 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/259498-what-do-you-think-about-the-voigtl%C3%A4nder-color-skopar-21mm-f4/?do=findComment&comment=3030603'>More sharing options...
Poki Posted April 21, 2016 Author Share #16 Posted April 21, 2016 I guess depending on the subject, I'd be okay with the coded result. I also received my copy today. Didn't have much time to test it, but here are a comparison between a coded an an uncoded image shot wide open (and another coded one with a blue sky for reference). To my eyes, even with the uncoded sample, it's hard to see a purple color. Of course, the vignetting itself is greatly reduced by the lens profile. https://onedrive.live.com/redir?resid=D135A7723D779491!2939&authkey=!AMF-O73fzkvSvYM&ithint=folder%2cjpg So to me, it seems like I got quite a good copy of the lens, and the purple vignetting is acceptable - I expected it to be much worse tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrharpman Posted January 30, 2020 Share #17 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) Hi guys, I thought I rewake this thread again since I also got a copy of this lens for my Leica M10. My main reason to get one, was the size and form factor. Unfortunately I quickly ran into a lot of color cast issues as discussed in many posts. Except form the red corners, these lenses (or at least my copy) show a great white balance shift trough-out the image. With warmer tones in the center and more blue in the mids and corners. I contacted Voigtlander about this strong cast and they replied to me, that this lens was made for film and not for digital cameras. So I have to deal with the cast on modern cameras. I haven't developed a color film roll from my M6 and this lens yet, but it would be very interesting for me, if there is really no cast on film. So I would say, if you only use it for B&W Photography this could be a nice small travel companion, but don't expect to get great images on a digital sensor out of it. Voigtlander produced a new lens the 3.5/21 which should be much better in digital sensors. I'm not really into this lens, since I don't like the look of it, but this is just personal preference. A short info to the pictures I've uploaded below. I made 4 different versions of one pictures. The pictures was taken with a Leica M10 @f5.6 and uploaded to lightroom mobile. I included the +100 vibrance just to highlight the cast a bit more. Picture description: 1. SOOC - no lens correction 2. SOOC - lens correction 3. Vibrance +100 - no lens correction 4. Vibrance +100 - lens correction 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! Edited January 30, 2020 by mrharpman picture rearrange 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/259498-what-do-you-think-about-the-voigtl%C3%A4nder-color-skopar-21mm-f4/?do=findComment&comment=3902472'>More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 30, 2020 Share #18 Posted January 30, 2020 I’m sure you’ve read about flat field correction. Use it. 1 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrharpman Posted January 30, 2020 Share #19 Posted January 30, 2020 (edited) 4 minutes ago, jaapv said: I’m sure you’ve read about flat field correction. Use it. Unfortunately I haven‘t heard about it yet, but I will definitely look into this topic. Edited January 30, 2020 by mrharpman Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaapv Posted January 30, 2020 Share #20 Posted January 30, 2020 It is a feature of Capture One and a plug-in for Lightroom search the forum, there arel plenty of threads on the subject. Coding the lens as an Elmarit 28 also helps somewhat Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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