Voigtländer Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5 on M10-D asking for trouble?

[poli]

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I am interested in the small Voigtländer Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5. Since I have a M10-D I won't be able to select a lens in the menu. All my lenses are 6 bit coded. Uncoded 21mm.. will that bring lots of issues I need to solve in post editing? Or is it not too bad? 

Thanks,
paul 

[AndreasG]

I use with the M10-D an Elmarit 2.8/21 from 1989 and a ZM Distagon 4/18, none is coded. No issues with colour fringing, maybe a little vignetting in the corners, which easily can be removed in PP.

[poli]

Thanks! 

How are you enjoying the Elmarit? There are some nice 2nd hand offers here locally. So I am also inclined to look at that lens, but it seems a bit biggish? 

[Ecar]

Like many (all?) recent CV lenses, doesn't this particular one have a recessed groove on the mount that would allow for DIY coding?

[Clactonian]

I have read that the recommended coding for the CV 21 f4 is  011000 which if setting manually is the same as the Elmarit-M 21mm f2.8 ASPH. See lens reference and code below. You might try the same for the f3.5

Elmarit-M 21mm f/2.8 ASPH

11135

11897

011000

[Guest]

3 hours ago, poli said:

I am interested in the small Voigtländer Color Skopar 21mm f/3.5. Since I have a M10-D I won't be able to select a lens in the menu. All my lenses are 6 bit coded. Uncoded 21mm.. will that bring lots of issues I need to solve in post editing? Or is it not too bad? 

Thanks,
paul 

Hello Paul, I have the VC 21mm f3.5 and an M10-D too. I managed to code the lens ok and it works fine but the coding will need touching up now and again depending on how much it's used, ( mounted / dismounted ), and what kind of marker you use to code it with. I just use a fine Magic Marker which is ok but maybe nail polish or paint would work better.Coding a VC lens though can be hit or miss, sometime frustratingly so but eventually the planets line up. You could also try to find the older version of this lens, ( LM, the screw mount version ), and fit it with a LM-M mount adapter that has better coding holes machined in. The lenses otherwise are identical optically, with just the barrels updated.

 It is by the way a great little lens, I like it a lot.

[AndreasG]

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vor 3 Stunden schrieb poli:

Thanks! 

How are you enjoying the Elmarit? There are some nice 2nd hand offers here locally. So I am also inclined to look at that lens, but it seems a bit biggish? 

The optical performance of the lens is very good, but, as you wrote, it is bulky with a filter diameter of 60mm.

[Harpomatic]

2 hours ago, petermullett said:

Hello Paul, I have the VC 21mm f3.5 and an M10-D too. I managed to code the lens ok and it works fine but the coding will need touching up now and again depending on how much it's used, ( mounted / dismounted ), and what kind of marker you use to code it with. I just use a fine Magic Marker which is ok but maybe nail polish or paint would work better.Coding a VC lens though can be hit or miss, sometime frustratingly so but eventually the planets line up. You could also try to find the older version of this lens, ( LM, the screw mount version ), and fit it with a LM-M mount adapter that has better coding holes machined in. The lenses otherwise are identical optically, with just the barrels updated.

 It is by the way a great little lens, I like it a lot.

I think you are talking about the Color-Skopar 21mm F4, not the new F3.5: the F4 is the same lens in M and LTM mount, the F3.5 is a new design. Different lenses!

[Guest]

1 hour ago, Harpomatic said:

I think you are talking about the Color-Skopar 21mm F4, not the new F3.5: the F4 is the same lens in M and LTM mount, the F3.5 is a new design. Different lenses!

Yes Harpomatic, you're right. I meant the Colour Skopar f4. I have the more recent M mount model of the lens, but I used to have the older LTM version at the same time and in use I couldn't see / find any difference between the both of them performance-wise. Nice lenses and perfect sizing on an M body to my mind.

[lct]

Indeed the current CV 21/3.5 is not the same lens as the earlier CV 21/4. The 21/3.5 is significantly sharper at f/4 with more CA than the 21/4. It also has a focus level that you can love or hate. I prefer the regular one of the 21/4 personally. Also the DoF markings of the 21/3.5 are difficult ro read due to the glossy finish. Otherwise it is a great little lens which can compete with the Leica 21/3.4 asph IMHO.

Edit: Forgot to say the 21/3.5 does not suffer from red edges on my M240 contrary to my 21/4.

Edited October 14, 2020 by lct

[Harpomatic]

2 hours ago, petermullett said:

Yes Harpomatic, you're right. I meant the Colour Skopar f4. I have the more recent M mount model of the lens, but I used to have the older LTM version at the same time and in use I couldn't see / find any difference between the both of them performance-wise. Nice lenses and perfect sizing on an M body to my mind.

I have never used the F3.5 but I did use the F4 for an afternoon and really enjoyed it: great size, really nice little lens. Quite a lot of magenta corners though!

[poli]

Thanks for all answers and info. Sounds like a great alternative to Leica SEM 21. 

[lct]

CV 21/3.5 vs CV 21/4 on M240. No 6-bit coding, no red edge correction, no vignetting correction. F/5.6, focus at infinity.

CV 21/3.5:

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CV 21/4:

 

[poli]

Got the voigtkander 3.5 21. The lens is performing fine on the m10-d. No coding. 21mm is a bit of a challenge though and I am not yet convinced it is my focal length. 

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[poli]

All in all I was not so happy with the Voigtlander 21. The focus was not very smooth and the amount of crease used to lubricate the lens was a bit of a worry. Also I was no fan of the focus lever. I have returned it.

[Marac]

I have the Voigtlander 21mm f1.8 Nokton, bit of a beast but does produce very nice images

[astrostl]

On 10/14/2020 at 1:19 PM, lct said:

Indeed the current CV 21/3.5 is not the same lens as the earlier CV 21/4. The 21/3.5 is significantly sharper at f/4 with more CA than the 21/4. It also has a focus level that you can love or hate. I prefer the regular one of the 21/4 personally. Also the DoF markings of the 21/3.5 are difficult ro read due to the glossy finish. Otherwise it is a great little lens which can compete with the Leica 21/3.4 asph IMHO.

Edit: Forgot to say the 21/3.5 does not suffer from red edges on my M240 contrary to my 21/4.

I have both the VM 21/4 and VM 21/3.5 (and TT 21/1.5 and Leica 21/3.4...) and this lines up with my ergonomic experience too: the VM 21/3.5 is too small for its own good IMO, between the focus lever and unreadable DOF scale. Vastly prefer the overall ergonomics of the VM 21/4 to it, but the purple edges are no joke on digital. I'm not a big zone focuser, but it's a default mode of operation for me with a 21mm (f/8 and an OVF).

Edited November 17, 2020 by astrostl

[lct]

The CV 21/4 is a bit smaller too but compared to the Leica 21/3.4 asph, the VM 21/3.5 is hard to beat IMHO.

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[poli]

I am considering to try the cv 21/4 now. I like the results and performance of the 21/3.5, but the ergonomics (esp lever, not the size of the lens) and excessive amount of lubrication annoy me a bit... Maybe I am too harsh in my judgement? 

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[lct]

The excess of grease is easy ro remove but the focus stick is a matter of tastes obviously. I did not like it at all when i got the lens but it fits well the short focus throw of the lens and i have the same on the CV 35/2 now so I've gotten used to it. BTW the focus ring of mine (or was it the CV 35/2?) was a bit stiff out of the box but feels normally smooth now. I still prefer the handling of the CV 21/4 though.