Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 I

Voigtländer Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 I

Cosina built this 21mm to sit in its retro-styled "Vintage Line" for Leica M rangefinder cameras, pairing 1950s-inspired exterior design with a modern aspherical optical layout [1]. It is the slower, more compact alternative to the company's faster 21mm wide angles, and it replaced the older 21mm f/4 Color-Skopar designs in the slow-21mm slot. Where the earlier 21mm f/4 lenses used an eight-element, six-group formula, this f/3.5 version steps up to a nine-element, eight-group construction, with the slightly larger maximum aperture coming alongside a modest increase in weight and complexity [2].

The lens is a fully manual, all-metal barrel design with a retro focusing knob and a clicked aperture ring, and reviewers consistently describe the build and finish as feeling more expensive than the price suggests [1][3]. The aperture runs on ten straight blades, the filter thread is the common 39mm size, and an optional LH-11 bayonet hood is offered [1]. It is rangefinder coupled, with coupling reported from infinity down to roughly 0.7 m depending on the camera body, while the focusing helicoid itself continues to a 0.5 m minimum focus distance [1]. The compact dimensions are partly a consequence of the relatively slow f/3.5 aperture, and the lens adapts readily to mirrorless bodies with an M adapter [3].

For identification, the lens carries the "Aspherical" designation in Cosina's marketing and on the barrel, and it is the M-mount member of the Vintage Line that shares its casing style with later additions such as the 28mm f/2 and 35mm f/2 Ultron variants [2]. The "Vintage" label refers only to the exterior styling and not to the optical design, a point that has caused some confusion among buyers [2].

Optical qualities

Rendering Reviews describe a lens that is strong in the center and midframe across the aperture range, with corners that hold up less well and can lack a little contrast wide open [2]. The optical character is otherwise modern and clean rather than overtly vintage.

Sharpness Center and midframe sharpness is rated as very good at all apertures on both Leica M and high-resolution Sony sensors, while the extreme corners trail behind. Field curvature is noted as a weakness at closer focusing distances [2].

Flare resistance Flare control is regarded as a strength; one tester found it genuinely difficult to provoke ghosting and had to push hard to generate any visible artifacts [2].

Distortion and vignetting The lens shows noticeable barrel distortion, which is straightforward to correct in software [2]. Vignetting is heavy wide open, measured at about 2.4 EV, and improves only modestly on stopping down, behavior typical of small wide-angle rangefinder lenses [2]. A correction profile is available for software-based fixes [2].

Collector and user notes Sunstars are well defined from around f/8 to f/11 thanks to the ten straight aperture blades, while the combination of a 21mm focal length, f/3.5 aperture, and 0.5 m minimum focus means there is little scope for shallow depth of field or background blur [2].

History

Development and Launch The lens is a current-production Cosina design sold under the Voigtländer name as part of the Vintage Line for Leica M mount, with the series positioned as classic-looking glass with up-to-date aspherical performance [1]. Cosina marketed it as offering improved results on full-frame digital sensors compared with the older 21mm f/4 [1].

Production Evolution Within Cosina's slower 21mm family, the lineage runs from the original 21mm f/4 Color-Skopar in screw mount, through the VM 21mm f/4 P in M mount using the same eight-element, six-group formula, to this f/3.5 version with its revised nine-element, eight-group design and increased weight [2]. The same optical formula was also offered in a Sony E-mount version, and at least one reviewer compared the two mounts to check for optical differences [2].

Special editions No major factory special editions of this lens are widely documented; it is offered in a single black finish within the Vintage Line [1].

Collector Notes Buyers should note that the "Vintage" name refers only to the styling and not the optics, and that an optically similar E-mount variant exists, so confirming the M-mount, rangefinder-coupled version is worthwhile [2]. The LH-11 bayonet hood and the 39mm filter thread are the relevant accessories to verify when purchasing [1].

Sources

• [1] CameraQuest. Voigtländer Lenses for Leica and Bessa Cameras (Vintage Line 21/3.5 Color-Skopar). https://www.cameraquest.com/voigtlen.htm
• [2] phillipreeve.net (BastianK). Review: Voigtlander VM 21mm 3.5 Color-Skopar. https://phillipreeve.net/blog/review-voigtlander-vm-21mm-3-5-color-skopar/
• [3] findingrange.com (Patrick). Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f3.5 Aspherical Lens Review VM Mount. http://findingrange.com/2019/10/21/voigtlander-color-skopar-21mm-f3-5-aspherical-lens-review-vm-mount/