Voigtlander 28mm f/2.8 Color-Skopar experience

[tom_halfhill]

I'm endorsing Voigtlander's new 28mm f/2.8 Color-Skopar lens for Leica M-mount. It's sharp at all apertures and amazingly small and light. It feels well built and operates smoothly; it approaches Leica quality. It also does something I thought impossible: it blocks almost none of the 28mm frame, even when using the (included) lens hood.

Some reviewers have criticized the vignetting, which is probably a consequence of the barrel's small size (39mm filter ring). However, I've found that vignetting practically disappears if I set the manual lens menu to "21mm f/2.8 11134". (This lens lacks six-bit coding.) For evidence, see my photos below, which I took recently at the Paris Pantheon. My photo of Jean-Jacques Rousseau's basement tomb was taken wide open at f/2.8. For the outdoor photo, I stopped down to an unrecorded aperture, probably around f/5.6 on a gloomy day. Both uncropped photos are straight from the camera JPEGs, downsized for posting here.

Note, however, that 28mm framelines are almost impossible to see while wearing eyeglasses, no matter which lens is mounted on the camera. I usually wear contact lenses when photographing.

[Greg M]

All of the latest versions of Voigtlander VM lenses are exceptional.

I just returned from a trip to West Texas with my M-P240 and M246 Monochrome and used nothing but VM series lenses; a 35mm f1.7 Ultron on the Monochrome, 35mm f1.2 III Nokton on the M-P240, and 21mm f1.4 and 75mm f1.5 Nokton optics when I used something other than the two 35's on either body.

I believe the 35mm f1.7 Ultron is the best Leica M mount 35mm lens I have used, Leica or Voigtlander-brand, the 75mm f1.5 Nokton is much easier to use than the 75mm f2 APO Summicron. The 21mm f1.4 is a behemoth size-wise compared to the 21mm f3.4 Super Elmar but is not a step down in quality.

Edited May 15 by Greg M

[allancobb]

I don't have the 28/2.8 Color-Skopar, but I do have the 35/2.5. That's the lens that lives on my M8 (giving an "effective equivalent" focal length of 46mm) that provides consistent excellent results. Everyone's fine examples are testament to Voigtländer's image quality of that lens and the others we have used.

Edited May 16 by allancobb

[tom_halfhill]

The Voigtlander 50mm f/1.5 Nokton II is also a sharp and well-made lens. Ironically, the recent Voigtlanders are more like traditional M-mount lenses than recent Leica lenses, because they are lighter, smaller, and block less of the viewfinder. Leica's own M-mount lenses are getting too big, in my opinion.