Voigtlander Color Skopar L 35mm F2.5C

Review and Photo example of the Voigtlander Color Skopar L 35mm F2.5C.

Gallery

The sample photo were taken with the EPSON R-D1

Review

Color Scoper L 35mm F2.5C is a wide-angle lens with Cosina Voigtlander’s L39 screw mount.

Like other color scope lenses, the C type is a very compact lens, one size smaller than the previously released ULTRON 35mm F1.7, making it extremely portable. The small lens barrel houses 7 lenses in 5 groups. The lens barrel is equipped with a focusing lever, so there are no problems with focusing. I think it’s easier to use a bifurcated finger grip like the Color Scoper 50mm.

The LH-2 hood is available for use with the Color Scoper 50mm. This is a high-quality hood with a crepe painted surface. It can also be attached to the Sonnar 40mm for Rollei RF. Rollei has released the same hood under the Rollei brand.

The Color Scoper 35mm also has a P type named F2.5P, with the following differences.

Design of lens barrel
Lens price is 5000 yen cheaper
The minimum shooting distance is 0.9m, which is close to the specifications of Barnack Leica.

Although the lens configuration is the same, there are limitations such as minimum focusing distance, so there is almost no reason to choose the P type.

The lens specs are mediocre, but since it has a popular focal length of 35mm, it seems that a certain number of lenses were sold and it is often seen on the second-hand market, and as of 2024, the price has not increased much and remains reasonable. There is a lot of competition for the 35mm focal length, so this lens doesn’t have a lot of presence, but even if you use it for some reason, you can play around with it for a reasonable amount of money, so it would be a good candidate if you are adding it to the 35mm.

Lens configuration diagram quoted from Cosina official website

Voigtlander LH-2・COLOR SKOPAR 35mm F2.5C, 50mmF2.5 metal hood

Specification

Items	NOKTON (First)	NOKTON Classic (First)	ULTRON (First)	COLOR SKOPAR (C-type)
Focal length(mm)	35	35	35	35
Max aperture	1.2	1.4	1.7	2.5
Min aperture	22	16	←	22
Leaf blade	12	10	←	←
Lens Construction	10elements in7groups	8elements in 6groups	8elements in 6groups	7elements in 5groups
Min distance(m)	0.7	←	0.9	0.7
Lens length(mm)	77.8	28.5	47.7 (with Cylindrical hood)	31 (with Cylindrical hood)
Max diameter(mm)	63	55	55	49.5
Filter Size(mm)	52	39	39	39
Lens Hood	LH-3	LH-6	IROOA compatible hood	LH-2
Weight(g)	490	200	203	116
Lens Mount	VM	VM	L39	L39
Release date	2003	2008.01	1999.08	1999.03
Price(Yen/No-tax)	135,000-	75,000(SC/MC)	65,000(Silver) 68,000(Black)	35,000(C-type) 30,000(P-type)