Voigtlander Color Skopar L 28mm F3.5

A review and photo examples of the Voigtlander Color Skoper 28mm F3.5.

Gallery

The Sample photo were taken with a LEICA M8.

Review

Color Scoper 28mm F3.5 is an L39 screw mount wide-angle lens released by Cosina Voigtlander in 2002. The brighter ULTRON 28mmF1.9 is a fairly large lens, but this one is very compact.

The design of the lenses is the same as the other Color Scoper series, but Cosina slightly changes the design for each lens. This lens features an elaborate focus lever that has a thick shaft and is knurled.

The lens does not strive for brightness, so it provides flawless depiction even when the aperture is wide open. Since I was using it with a Leica M8, I can’t evaluate the peripheral areas, but based on the lens configuration, I can assume that there is some light reduction in the peripheral areas when shooting with a 35mm full-frame sensor such as the Leica M9.

LH-1, which is shared with Color Scoper 21mm, is sold as an optional hood. LH-2 for 35mm and 50mm can also be attached, and there was no problem with the Leica M8, but with a 35mm full-frame sensor, there is a high possibility of vignetting in the periphery.

I used many lenses with a focal length of 28mm, but at the time I owned many lenses with compact barrels that overlapped with the Color Scoper 28mm, such as the GR28, G-ROKKOR 28, and M 28mm for CLE. . As a result, I wasn’t able to take many pictures with this lens. The price was cheap, so I feel like it was a good thing to have on hand, but it wasn’t a particularly unique lens, so I don’t really regret releasing it so early.

However, this lens is one that is rarely seen on the second-hand market, perhaps because only a small number of lenses were manufactured. From the late 2000s to the early 2010s, used cars were cheap at as low as 30,000 yen, but by 2023 the price is approaching 100,000 yen. If you fall in love with its appearance or are a lens collector, you will have no choice but to buy it, but if you are going to use it for practical purposes, I feel it is better to buy another 28mm than to pay 100,000 yen for this lens. Many Cosina Voigtlander lenses from this era are worn out with balsam and are cloudy, so it’s best to check their condition carefully.

In 2023, Cosina released the Color Scoper 28mm, which is more compact than this lens, half a step brighter, and uses an aspherical lens. The VM mount Type-II has a lens barrel design that looks like an homage to Minolta’s L39 screw mount lens, G-ROKKOR 28mm, with a focus lever and aperture ring. Lens prices have risen to a certain degree, but it’s not so high that you can’t buy them, and I’m impressed that Cosina is hitting the nail on the head.

The lens configuration diagram was taken from the PDF distributed by Cosina.

仕様

Specification

Items	Color Skopar 28mm F3.5	Color Skopar 28mm F2.8 Aspherical
Focal length(mm)	28	28
Max aperture	3.5	2.8
Min aperture	22	22
Leaf blade	10	←
Lens Construction	7elements in 5groups	8elements in 5groups
Aspherical lens	No use	Use
Min distance(m)	0.7	0.5
Lens length(mm)	25.8	23.5/22.5
Max diameter(mm)	50	51/47
フィルター径(mm)	39	39/34
マウント	L39	VM/L39
Weight(g)	163	106/122
Release date	May,2002.	August 8, 2023.
Price(Yen/No-tax)	–	TypeII(VM) Silver ¥85,000 Black¥85,000 L39 Silver ¥78,000 Black paint ¥81,000