Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

I am using this lens with Leica M to NEX adaptor for NEX-5N.
It is very compact and solid and smooth operation. It is my favourite lens for street photography.It is very sharp and lines are "straight" even at this wide angle (NEX-5N has an ASPC sensor, so actual focal length for this lens is 31.5mm). Colours are nicely saturated and nice dynamic range and tone for black and white photography. For aperture and focus controls, even though lens is so small, it has knobs for them. Therefore, you can do one hand operation without checking the potion of them and keep tracking your objective.
However, since this lens operate so easily, if you kept a camera in your pocket, aperture setting was often changed during changing locations.

Overall, if you are looking for a lens in compact size and producing good images, I highly recommend this lens for you.

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

Being the owner of a Sony NEX 5N camera recently purchased through B&H, I quickly got on the bandwagon of mounting Voigtlander and Leica lenses (ok Leica lens at this point) on my NEX 5N with an M-mount to E mount adapter (Novoflex purchased from B&H and reviewed with 5 stars).

The reason I mentioned Leica lens, at this point, is cost of course. No one disputes the high quality of Leica lenses, and if everyone had the cash, and a few security guards, they would load up with Leica glass. But the fact is that most folks need another, more-affordable option. This lens provides that and more.

I say "and more" because anyone researching this lens will find out pretty quickly that many believe it to be among the best 21mm lenses available in the M-mount family. Of course the new Leica 21mm Super-Elmar is on many people's notification list since they are in short supply, but it is almost 8x the cost of this very fine lens.

On the NEX 5N it is approx. 32mm, which is perfect for street photography. This pancake is so compact on the NEX 5N, and so unobtrusive, that is is virtually unnoticeable when shooting on the streets (of Tokyo in my case). I often plunk this in my gym bag in a small Ortleib waterproof camera case, and whip it out when an opportunity arrives. When that opportunity presents itself, I can rest assured that anything caught through this remarkable lens will be tack sharp, and clear edge to edge with no light fall off or CA.

I am not a techno-geek when reviewing camera gear. I know what works and what doesn't. If it doesn't, I get rid of it. This lens will be with me for a long time. The only reason I could conceive of trading it would be if the Leica Super-Elmar proves to be the second coming (which it may very well be). But for now, this lens is on my camera more frequently than any other Voigtlander lens ( I own 3) and even more than the vaunted Leica 28mm Elmarit, which I love as well.

This is the absolute perfect lens for anyone looking to branch out into affordable Voigtlander glass for their mirror-less system camera (adapter is required of course), especially if one is interested in street photography.

Some have complained that the lens is not fast enough for their needs. So they can certainly look to the 35mm 1.4 or 1.2 NOKTON Voigtlander lenses. But folks will have to remember that on an NEX System camera 35mm equates to 50mm, and on micro 4/3 cameras it equates to 70mm. Moreover, the 35mm 1.2 is a beast of a lens on a small camera; a wonderful beast that I own and love, but it is a very different tool than this compact piece of kit.

At the end of the day, this lens will be plenty fast for your needs. I have shot with this in low light at f4, and since it is a prime lens over the relatively large NEX 5N sensor, with no mirror, some amazing low-light shots can be had. Is it a NOKTON? No. But it is a top notch street lens that is capable, in the right ands, of taking world-class street shots worthy of the greats.

As of this writing, this is my favorite lens. OK, it is tied with the my Leica 28mm Aspherical Elmarit. Can you blame me?

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

Such a teensy weensy little lens, perfect for my style of Gilden-esque photography. I shoot at f/11 or f/16 with this lens (which is equivalent to a 28mm on my M8) and hold a radio triggered flash in my hand. The DOF gets everything in focus and never miss a shot. It's crisp, it's clear, it does the job. I have ZERO complaints with this lens.

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

When shooting with Leica film cameras, 28 mm's satisfied my wide angle lens requirements. However, my new Ricoh GXR with a Leica lens mount module has a 1.5 crop factor, and so an 18mm lens would be necessary to produce the same field of view. This Voigtlander 21 mm lens was chosen because of its availability (similar Leica and Zeiss lenses were backordered), the company's good reputation, the price and favorable reviews.

At a little over $400, this lens is almost a steal for what you get. It is very compact, but solidly built of metal (almost a small Leica sibling), and its lens is tack sharp with no vignetting or even detectable peripheral light falloff at its full but modest f4 aperture.

Drawbacks relating to its small size are the control rings, which are a bit small for large fingers, and its f4 maximum aperture, but for me that's no deal breaker because of digital's superior ability than film to deal with low light. Also, as another reviewer noted, the lens hood supplied is really inadequate and should be replaced with Voigtlander's LH-1, which, unfortunately, has been discontinued but can still be found with a search of the internet.

Overall, a bargain at twice the price and highly recommended.

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

This lens can preferably be used with the LEICA M8 with the result of a 28 mm lens. It is a remarkable
lens. I would say one of the best I have come across since I started my LEICA-career in the fifties.

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

Amazing lens great color ,very sharp .
Using on g1 with adapt.

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

It is a fantastic wide-angle lens.Has rather small weight and the size, using with R4m, with ease is located in a jacket pocket.Sharpness remarkable on an open diaphragm.Not to catch "hares"))), I recommend to get lens hood.In the lens name "Color-Skopar" there is a direct hint on colour, photographing on a coloured film, it turns out to render that colour which exists, without lies.Black and white, certainly is classics, but here much depends on the chosen type of a film and proattendance process, however as well as in the colour.The unique possible minus when darkly, also there is no flash - is probably a small diaphragm of a lens.If diaphragm was 2.0 then it was invaluable... ха, well, the price has increased certainly)))... Though for dark conditions of shooting always there is a support or iso3200.Regards!

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

streeet or interior photography

Comments about Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/4.0 P Pancake Lens:

Excellent depth of field, no vignetting, sharp field corner to corner, very contrast lens, I love it. Hard to find something wrong on this lens, maybe just the focusing ring is sometime difficult to find in critical moment when you have to react quickly. Otherwise excellent lens and will recommend it to friend with no doubts.