Voigtlander COLOR-SKOPAR 28mm F2.8 Aspherical VM

[madNbad]

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15 minutes ago, 28framelines said:

The samples on Fred Miranda seem to show _incredible_ amounts of Vignetting, as well as purple colour casts in the top right corner on some images 

In his review, both issues are addressed. The purple cast could have been from a number of different possibilities, variances from manufacturing, white balance but he also mentioned the experiencing the same type of color shift with lenses from other manufactures.

He also address the vignetting. The 28 2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH does have better vignetting control. It's also $2,000 dollars more than the Color Skopar.

[madNbad]

4 minutes ago, Multicoated said:

It it is worse in every measure than the Ultron II though. I would just get the Ultron II if I wanted a tiny super awesome cheap 28mm lens. I don’t get the point of the Skopar in the line up except for those who shoot screw mount cameras. For them this is awesome. 

I also have the 28 2.0 Ultron V2 and like it. In the past, I've owned a couple of 28 2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH V1 and a Zeiss 28 2.8 Biogon, all nice lenses. Cosina designed the Color Skopar as an alternative to the Elmarit. If it performs almost as well for a lot less money, they'll probably sell a lot of them. 

[Product Details]

More about Voigtlander 28 mm F2.8 Ultron Color Skopar

Available at Amazon and B&H Photo Video

[pedaes]

35 minutes ago, Multicoated said:

Maybe they should’ve just released it as a screw mount lens. 

Why?

[earthmover]

I think main selling point (at least for me) of the skopar is it's tiny size. Ultron is still pretty compact but it's 50% bigger (longer) than the skopar (36 vs 23.5mm)

[madNbad]

5 minutes ago, earthmover said:

I think main selling point (at least for me) of the skopar is it's tiny size. Ultron is still pretty compact but it's 50% bigger (longer) than the skopar (36 vs 23.5mm)

It's small but the focusing tab moves easily and the aperture ring is smooth, quiet and clicks into place solidly. Are you using it on a digital or film body? 

[hdmesa]

1 hour ago, Multicoated said:

… I think the Type I is crazy. Looks flimsy and the aperture turns when you focus it…

I guarantee you the Type I is not flimsy if it’s like the identical 40 2.8 — solid brass and tough as hell. Yes the aperture ring rotates with focus, but it can still be adjusted. As long as you know what aperture you first set, you can know what you’re changing it to by how many clicks you move the ring by. This is no different than changing aperture while looking though the M rangefinder on any other lens. 

[raizans]

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F/2.8 is all I need on a 28mm, and a smaller, lighter lens with less viewfinder blockage is icing on the cake. From that position, I didn’t want an f/2 enough to get one.

[shirubadanieru]

16 hours ago, Multicoated said:

I could say the same about the Ultron II though 

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Just about as small as an Elmarit but f2 and thousands less. And it has better IQ than this Skopar.

The Ultron II is the reason I never bought a Summicron or an Elmarit. For me it replaces both of those lenses if you’re not doing absolute pixel peeping. 

Basically it’s a baby f2.8 version of the Ultron II. For me the Ultron is small already and I would’ve liked them to give me a 50f2 Ultron instead of a smaller 28 Ultron II. 

But there’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Skopar per-se. I would just skip it if I had the Ultron II. 

actually for a 28 maybe they should’ve taken on the 28 Summilux. For those guys who like those big 28 fast lenses. This Skopar sort of feels like more of the same to me. 

That being said, more options don’t hurt…and also, what I like about voigtlander recent releases that their older lenses don’t have:

- Option for L-mount and M-mount (this is great for anyone who has barnack cameras!) 
- Option for black paint , black chrome , silver (compare that with leica that mostly offers their lenses in a black that is neither black paint neither black chrome)
- Option for 0.7m focus only for film / non-EVF shooters, and for 0.5m focus for EVF shooters
- Improved lens body design, without the steel rim that many people do not seem to like in Voigtlander / Zeiss lenses (the new Heliar 40mm and the Skopar Type II look just beautiful and much more improved over Voigtlander older designs)

[hdmesa]

4 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

…- Option for L-mount…

*LTM I think you meant to write.

[28framelines]

To be perfectly honest, I think the better choice would have been a 28mm Nokton. There are other small 28mm options as stated by others in this thread; we do not have an alternative to the 28 Summilux, other than some TT Artisans or some other manufacturer that doesn’t perform well at the widest aperture, making it a moot point.

[Xavier]

6 hours ago, shirubadanieru said:

That being said, more options don’t hurt…and also, what I like about voigtlander recent releases that their older lenses don’t have:

- Option for L-mount and M-mount (this is great for anyone who has barnack cameras!) 
- Option for black paint , black chrome , silver (compare that with leica that mostly offers their lenses in a black that is neither black paint neither black chrome)
- Option for 0.7m focus only for film / non-EVF shooters, and for 0.5m focus for EVF shooters
- Improved lens body design, without the steel rim that many people do not seem to like in Voigtlander / Zeiss lenses (the new Heliar 40mm and the Skopar Type II look just beautiful and much more improved over Voigtlander older designs)

I agree and appreciate having more options for these reasons too. I recently got the 75/1.9 and am looking forward to this 28. These two lenses will let me have a "second" lens set up, to go together with my slightly larger/heavier (and a lot pricier) set of Leica lenses. The extra compactness of the 28/2.8 will be very welcome even compared to already compact Elmarit or Ultrons.

[nitroplait]

6 hours ago, Multicoated said:

Yes. I think the same. Instead of making slightly different versions (that aren’t as good) of what they already have, they should focus on what they don’t yet have. 

I also mentioned a 28f1.4 alternative, maybe they can call it the 28f1.5 Nokton? And have it be the usual “it’s 95% if the 28 Summilux but smaller. Lighter, and A LOT cheaper...

And also a 50f2 Ultron. The APO-Lanthar is just impossibly large for an M (at least for my taste). It would be great if they could shrink it though. That would be amazing. If they could update the APO-Lanthar to the size of the Leica APO.  I know it would cost more, but in Voigtlander terms that would still be under $2,000. 

I wonder why you think your preferences are representative of the market? Or why you think you know better what the market need than Cosina/Voigtländer does?

They obviously didn’t make this lens for you.

The black paint L39 has my name one it and I am not the slightest attracted to any of your suggestions for better alternatives.

 

[28framelines]

On 8/12/2023 at 3:10 PM, Multicoated said:

Yes. I think the same. Instead of making slightly different versions (that aren’t as good) of what they already have, they should focus on what they don’t yet have. 

I also mentioned a 28f1.4 alternative, maybe they can call it the 28f1.5 Nokton? And have it be the usual “it’s 95% if the 28 Summilux but smaller. Lighter, and A LOT cheaper...

And also a 50f2 Ultron. The APO-Lanthar is just impossibly large for an M (at least for my taste). It would be great if they could shrink it though. That would be amazing. If they could update the APO-Lanthar to the size of the Leica APO.  I know it would cost more, but in Voigtlander terms that would still be under $2,000. 

Agreed on both counts. It boggles my mind why they’ve avoided a 50 Ultron. The APO-Lanthar is massive for an f2 lens; whereas if the size was for a 28 Nokton, I mean sure, I’ll take it considering the Lux is already massive

[raizans]

If they made a 50mm Ultron, someone would complain that it makes no sense when the 50mm Nokton II is better and only a little bigger.

[28framelines]

1 hour ago, raizans said:

If they made a 50mm Ultron, someone would complain that it makes no sense when the 50mm Nokton II is better and only a little bigger.

Ha! Fair enough, given we’ve been complaining how this new Color is unnecessary because it’s only a little smaller than the Ultron…

[madNbad]

Here are a few test on Tri-X developed in a 50:1 dilution of Rodinal. They were taken in strong morning light and metered with a Sekonic 308x. Scanned with a Sony A7II, FE90 2.8 Macro, Negative Supply Pro Carrier 135 and a 5X7 Lightsource Pro. Conversion software was RAW Power plug in for Apple Photos. 

I also have the 28 2.0 Ultron V2 but this little lens is fun to use and will be a regular companion with my M4-2. It shows vignetting, it's not an Elmarit-M but pretty close.

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[earthmover]

I just received it. It’s tiny! 50mm APO for scale 😀

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[28framelines]

On 8/14/2023 at 1:16 PM, madNbad said:

Here are a few test on Tri-X developed in a 50:1 dilution of Rodinal. They were taken in strong morning light and metered with a Sekonic 308x. Scanned with a Sony A7II, FE90 2.8 Macro, Negative Supply Pro Carrier 135 and a 5X7 Lightsource Pro. Conversion software was RAW Power plug in for Apple Photos. 

I also have the 28 2.0 Ultron V2 but this little lens is fun to use and will be a regular companion with my M4-2. It shows vignetting, it's not an Elmarit-M but pretty close.

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Mind if I ask: do you know what aperture these were shot at? This almost looks like a case of the vignetting not being nearly as bad on film as on digital

[madNbad]

3 minutes ago, 28framelines said:

Mind if I ask: do you know what aperture these were shot at? This almost looks like a case of the vignetting not being nearly as bad on film as on digital

Most were exposed at f5.6 @ 1/250th. The street signs were f11 @ 1/250th. There is vignetting but the combination of size, weight and price mean there will be some tradeoff. I have owned the 28 2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH V1 and found it to be an outstanding lens in many ways. I sold the last one and bought both the 28 and 35 Voigtlander Ultron V2 in silver chrome to go with my M4. When Cosina announced the 28 Color Skopar, it seemed like a good match to go with the 35 1.4 Nokton Classic SC V2 I use on my M4-2. The images from the Color Skopar remind me of photos taken with wide angle lenses from the sixties and seventies. Many of them had vignetting but the manufactures were more concerned with controlling fisheye and barrel distortion. Nikon had a breakthrough with the "floating element" for the then new 24 2.8 non-Ai that helped reduce distortion but vignetted heavily. It wasn't until the age of computer assisted design and the aspherical element coming in to regular use did vignetting on wide angles begin to subside.

This may not be the lens for everyone and I'm sure Voigtlander will tweak it at some point for digital sensors. I'll keep mine and enjoy the classic look.

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[28framelines]

4 hours ago, madNbad said:

Most were exposed at f5.6 @ 1/250th. The street signs were f11 @ 1/250th. There is vignetting but the combination of size, weight and price mean there will be some tradeoff. I have owned the 28 2.8 Elmarit-M ASPH V1 and found it to be an outstanding lens in many ways. I sold the last one and bought both the 28 and 35 Voigtlander Ultron V2 in silver chrome to go with my M4. When Cosina announced the 28 Color Skopar, it seemed like a good match to go with the 35 1.4 Nokton Classic SC V2 I use on my M4-2. The images from the Color Skopar remind me of photos taken with wide angle lenses from the sixties and seventies. Many of them had vignetting but the manufactures were more concerned with controlling fisheye and barrel distortion. Nikon had a breakthrough with the "floating element" for the then new 24 2.8 non-Ai that helped reduce distortion but vignetted heavily. It wasn't until the age of computer assisted design and the aspherical element coming in to regular use did vignetting on wide angles begin to subside.

This may not be the lens for everyone and I'm sure Voigtlander will tweak it at some point for digital sensors. I'll keep mine and enjoy the classic look.

Well if you do shoot any at wide open on film, I’d love to see them to compare against Fred Miranda’s photos on digital!