Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 Review - A tiny gem
The Lens
The Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2. What could I expect? I saw it come up when it was announced. “Woah… a light 50mm for the Leica M mount? That’s kind of interesting. What character could it have?“.
While looking for a new 50mm lens for my Leica M2, I decided to order the Color-Skopar. I already own the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4, but I noticed that its weight of 400 grams was causing some discomfort in my neck when carrying the M2 around all day during trips.
It then came to me that I really think it’s an interesting proposition. With the better ISO performance of the newer Leica bodies, it makes more sense to design lighter lenses with smaller apertures, rather than the f/1.2 and f/1.4 lenses. At least, I think Cosina is going for a diverse set of products, big aperture lenses like the Nokton and smaller, lighter lenses like the Ultron and the Color-Skopar line.
What motivates me to go out and take photos, in line with the vision of Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the first Leica camera, is having a light camera with compact lenses. It’s easy to carry all day, especially on trips, and a lightweight lens helps reduce strain on shoulders and hands after hours of shooting.
A light lens like the Color Skopar 50mm f/2.2 does that very well. It disappears when you’re using it. It looks very natural on a Leica M mount body. It’s stealthy and does not draw attention at all. I can just pop the camera in my camera bag through the side access panel, which is noticeably harder when using a bigger 50mm lens like the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4.
The Skopar Design
The Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 has a very neutral design language. The black lens has a silver rim, of which is the same color as the Leica M mount rim. This is (subjectively) rather aesthestically pleasing. The silver version of the lens works on both black and chrome bodies, in my opinion. Voigtlander seems to stop using chrome noses for lenses (see for example the 28mm APO-LANTHAR), which I am happy about. The lens is slightly cone-shaped and a little bit long when using the hood. I keep the hood on as it does not take up a lot of space and it improves the flare resistance, of which it is already very good without the hood. The barrel design reminds be a little bit of the Voigtlander 28mm Ultron II.
In my opinion Voigtlander has never been really consistent with the lens designs / barrel designs across multiple lens offerings (Ultron / Nokton / Color-Skopar / APO-LANTHAR), but in my opinion the Color-Skopar lineup is the most refined of the three.
What I’m seeing though is that they’re starting to bring together all lineups and have one consistent design language between them. A good example is the 50mm f/3.5 APO-LANTHAR, which looks rather similar to the Color-Skopar.
First thing that comes to mind is obviously the weight of this lens. With an aluminum construction they could lower the weight of this lens, to just a mere 135 grams. This lens is incredibly light and is most likely lighter than your smartphone, as a comparison. This is fantastic if you want to use this lens as your every day carry (EDC).
The Color-Skopar contains 7 elements in 6 groups with 3 elements made of anomalous partial dispersion glass. This partial dispersion glass is also found in higher performing lenses like the APO-LANTHAR series. The rear element is positioned relatively close to the sensor compared to other 50mm lenses. This optimization allows the lens to remain compact without sacrificing optical performance. The Skopar design is not an apochromatic design but I feel like this lens is made for shooting between f/4 and f/11 with a “bonus” f/2.2 setting. As there are no aspherical elements, this lens does not have onion ring bokeh.
This lens design seems to be a combination of the Planar and Sonnar designs. This lens exhibits no focus shift.
There is some optical vignetting due to design choices which is mostly only visible on digital sensors. There obviously had to be a trade-off as you want specific performance at this size. This mainly only happens at f/2.2 until f/4. On f/4 and above it looks like any other 50mm lens in rendering.
Fred Miranda suggested to use the 6 bit code of the v3 Summicron to partially remove the vignetting of this lens, which is “010111”. Or just create your own Color-Skopar Lightroom preset which removes the vignetting!
Using the lens
When I use this lens on my Leica M2 I feel it’s a great lens for bringing on trips due to the low weight. I often shoot Ektar at f/5.6 or f/8 in daylight, and just stop down the lens at f/2.2 on a 1/30th second shutter at night. Right now my style of photography does not require a large aperture lens. If you’re looking for a street 50mm lens I think the Color-Skopar is fantastic.
It focuses from 0.5m (1.64 feet) to infinity. There is no click stop around 0.7m. I notice if you use this lens often, for a longer time, you will rather quickly learn where the 0.7m threshold is as the rangefinder stops moving when you go below that.
These two images has been taken at f/2.2 at minimum focus distance.
The lens has a rather short focus throw which I like, it makes it feel like it’s a true street photography lens. A tiny negative is that when using this lens on my Sony A7, while punching down on 100% zoom, I notice that due to this very short focus throw, it can differ quite a bit in sharpness when focusing near infinity. Just by moving a millimeter it can quite drastically change the sharpness at infinity, even when using the lens at f/8. I can imagine the rangefinder not being accurate enough to focus this lens perfectly on infinity distances. If you want to shoot landscapes at perfect sharpness, a Visoflex or EVF is recommended.
Character
When it comes to character, I think this lens is quite subtle with that. There’s a bit of character left over due to the mix of Sonnar and Planar designs. This subtle character, mostly noticeable at lower focus distances (under 3 meter) shows a rather modern smooth out of focus transition with a very slight vintage touch.
Sharpness
This lens is super sharp. There’s nothing I can say about sharpness. This lens is great at smaller apertures. I can imagine a small dip of sharpness in the corners due to optical vignetting but I don’t shoot wide open a lot.
Distortion
Distortion is something I haven’t really seen directly in my images. I often don’t shoot interiors or specific things that are very straight.
Let's be different. Instead of a brick wall to check distortion, how about some Egyptian hieroglyphs? ;-)
Pros
- Very light build
- Does not take up much space
- The lens is very sharp.
- f/2.2 aperture is very usable and covers nearly all my photographic needs.
- Easy to use, fluid movements.
- The design is actually really nice, the black version looks good on both silver and black bodies due to the silver rim. Nice touch!
- Price! 599 USD or 649 Euro.
Cons
- Vignetting (on wide apertures) on digital sensors, which can be corrected
- Aluminium construction feels a bit less “tight” compared to brass lenses like the TTArtisan 50mm f/1.4 or the Nokton 35mm f/1.4 II. This is ever so slightly noticeable when turning the focus ring
Yangshuo, China, shot at f/8
Yangshuo, China, shot at f/8
Conclusion
I really like this lens. It’s compact, relatively fast and has a touch of character. But it does make me wonder how a 50mm f/2 Summicron or a 50mm f/2.4 Summarit would handle, as it’s 80g heavier but is made of brass, which most likely feels a bit “tighter” to use and handle. Due to the compromise on weight and size, the lens elements are a bit smaller compared to other 50mm lenses, resulting in a slightly lower edge performance. But this is not important to me, as I mainly shoot my images between f/4 and f/8. This lens is a no-brainer recommendation if you are looking for a every day carry lens during your street or holiday trips. A f/2.2 50mm at 130 grams weight is a fantastic combination with nearly no compromises.
Alternatives
Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron
Not really a direct alternative price-wise. Also heavier (at 240g), but has brass build quality. Practically no optical vignetting and less vignetting vignetting compared to the Color-Skopar. This is the more “correct” lens with less compromises. There’s a reason why this lens design is unchanged for nearly sixty years Image quality wise on modern lens designs after f/4 or f/5.6 there is practically zero difference.
Leica 50mm f/2.4 Summarit
Weight-wise this is also a heavier lens at 190 grams, but I think this is a serious contender. Price wise, it’s nearly twice the price, but has the brass build quality the Color-Skopar does not have.
Light Lens Lab 50mm f/2 Elcan
Price-wise this alternative is more interesting. I am really interested in this lens, as it has more character at f/2 until f/4. This lens is way less corrected, as it only has four elements in four groups. The aperture ring also turns the other way as it’s a recreation of the original Elcan, which was made for Nikon military photographers. Again, at f/5.6 and above the results are probably very comparable. If I were to shoot weddings, I’d probably consider buying this lens for the character. Design-wise this lens is in my opinion also slightly bit better looking on a M body.
Thypoch 50mm f/2 Eureka
Similar price point, light lens and has a bit more simple design (more double-gauss like, so a bit more classic rendering). Less vignetting in your images. Gives great results and is collapsible too. Collapsed the Eureka is a bit smaller, but extended it is about 1 cm (0.4 inch) bigger. Aperture is unclicked, so the Eureka would be a bit less suitable for street photography where light changes often. This is a lens I’d love to test against the Color-Skopar as well if I manage to get my hands on one.
What now?
I had to bring my copy back to the store as the aperture ring was getting more tight toward the smaller apertures (f/5.6 and onwards) and started losing the clickiness. I’ll update this article whether the new copy is better. The folks over at Fred Miranda told me they did not have this issue, so I hope it can be solved!
I will definitely be keeping this lens as a travel lens. For other purposes, like model photography or other kinds of photography that require other lenses with more character or better light-gathering capability I’ll be extending my 50mm lineup.
Images
To give you a feeling how the rendering looks like of the Color-Skopar I have a set of digital photos and film photos. Hope this helps you in your purchase decision!
Film photos
The Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 is such a delight to use. It becomes an extension of me when I shoot it on film, with my Leica M2. With the quick focusing I know quickly whether the subject is in focus. Such a good experience!
Every image shown here is shot on Kodak Ektar 100. All is scanned with the Nikon Coolscan 5000.
Summer Palace, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Ming Tombs, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Ming Tombs, Beijing, China, shot at f/4
Ming Tombs, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Ming Tombs, Beijing, China, shot at f/5.6
Ming Tombs, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Two concubines at Forbidden City, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Mao's Mausoleum at Tiananmen Square, Beijing, China, shot at f/8
Painter, Xi'an, China, shot at f/8
City Wall, Xi'an, China, shot at f/4
Terra Cotta Warriors Exhibit 1, Xi'an, China, shot at f/4
Digital photos
Guilin, China, shot at f/4
Yangshuo, China, shot at f/8
Yangshuo, China, shot at f/8
Hong Kong, China, shot at f/8
Abu Simbel Temple, Egypt, shot at f/8
Abu Simbel Temple, Egypt, shot at f/2.8
Aswan, Egypt, shot at f/8
Nubian village, Aswan, Egypt, shot at f/8
Nubian village, Aswan, Egypt, shot at f/2.2
Esna Temple, Egypt, shot at f/8
Rameses IX tomb, Valley of the Kings, Egypt, shot at f/8
Temple of Hatshepsut, Egypt, shot at f/8
Karnak Temple, Egypt, shot at f/5.6
Bird in the stones of Karnak Temple, Egypt, shot at f/2.2. Here you can see the vignetting for example.
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