5 Frames with the new Voigtlander Color-Skopar Vintage Line 21mm f/3.5 – By John Scott

Photography is life, for as long as I can remember I have been freezing moments in time for all to see. I stumbled upon my first proper camera on my travels through Shinjuku in Japan. I had heard about a giant camera/electronics store called Yodobashi. I had been using a really old Canon point & shoot camera. This camera was not built for how I used it but it did such a great job and was always reliable. So while I was standing in Yodobashi I thought it was about time to upgrade my camera. It was there that I purchased one of my first proper cameras.

Fast forward to 2018.

I got into rangefinder photography late into the game. Up until a year ago I was shooting with a range of different DSLR and mirrorless cameras. But nowadays I prefer the slower more methodical and deliberate work flow of my Leica M240.

Now when it comes to rangefinder lenses I am still learning the ropes. But I had been using some adapted Voigtlander lenses on my various camera bodies. I absolutely love the all metal bodies, compact size, colour rendition and clarity of the optics. Naturally when I saw that Voigtlander had released a brand new 21mm f3.5 vintage line lens I had to go check it out. A quick train ride down to City Hall and a short walk to Riceball photography and I had the little gem of a lens in my hand.

Riceball photography were so nice to let me mount the lens to my M240 and go shooting in the street for a quick test. During my short street test I absolutely fell in love with this mini lens. Impossibly sharp and oh so compact, the Voigtlander has been officially melded onto my Leica permanently.

Google the specs and you will find that the ultra-wide Voigtlander Color-Skopar 21mm f/3.5 Aspherical Vintage Line VM contains 9 elements in 8 groups, aspheric lens surface, a 39mm filter thread and a 10-bladed aperture for super silky out-of-focus background action. In short, the lens is amazing.

Another pleasant discovery was the fact that I didn’t need to assign a lens profile – it just worked perfectly, straight out of the box.
I did try to assign the Leica 21mm 2.8 profile just to test but there wasn’t any advantage or noticeable change in my eyes.

I’ll be shooting more and more with lens over the coming months so if you would like to see more then follow my Instagram https://www.instagram.com/hotshotstudio01/

Thanks for reading