25/4 Skopar?

W

WilliamK

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Dec 29, 2009
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Mine just arrived from another great RFF member, I can't wait to test this baby out for some projects. Anyone have any favorite shots using theirs?




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Yes, but not handy at this point.

The 25 is my favorite CV lens of all time. Perfect for street, family, travel, general, environmental, it just rocks.

Welcome to RFF and please share your experiences and results.

B2 (;->
 
The 25 Skopar has been very handy in tight places, narrow streets and alleys, etc. I've used it quite a bit on a Bessa L, but here's one with it on a Bessa R4A...

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BillBingham2 said:
Yes, but not handy at this point.

The 25 is my favorite CV lens of all time. Perfect for street, family, travel, general, environmental, it just rocks.

Welcome to RFF and please share your experiences and results.

B2 (;->
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I was wondering what you like about this lens versus the CV 21 or 28mm? I've never used a 25mm lens, as it always seemed too close to a 28 and a 21. What makes the 25 so special, in your opinion? I'm curious as to what distinguishes the 25 from those other two lenses.
 
I find that the 25mm is nice because 28mm lenses for the Leica are expensive and / or huge. The 25mm is tiny and cheap! It is a 33mm lens on a Leica M8.
 
You get a more wide angle effect on the 25mm than on the 28mm, and less than the 21mm, which I find too wide for my kind of street photography. 25mm hits the sweet-spot!
 
Agree with chambrenoire and others; it's just another choice that may or may not fit your style. May be worth a try to see. :)

I do like 24/25mm, and it makes a good combination with 35/40mm. With film, it's not quite on the edge of super-wide like the 21, yet it's good where 28 might be a bit cramped.

I like it with digital too... In Hawaii recently the 25 Biogon was a good wide companion for the 50mm I also had along for the M8. And with a 1.5x crop factor camera, the 24/25 can be a one-lens kit, as I like the 37mm EFL.
 
I usually hate these "bored while riding the subway" type of shots, but this one does it for me. Interesting in many ways.

tritiated said:
Had lots of fun with this beastie since buying off a RFFer.
Would prob like to buy a Bessa L as a second body to put it on permanently.

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The CV 25/4 is incredibly well corrected and there is hardly any distortion at all. This is quite a deal for a 25mm lens.
 
Not only an amazing little lens, but an incredible bargain new or second-hand. I paid £125 for a mint silver LTM one, complete with finder. It now lives permanently in the gadget bag, alongside my IIIC and 50mm Summitar.

In terms of both colour rendering and sharpness on K64, there's nothing to choose between the Skopar and Summitar.
 
jpa66 said:
I was wondering what you like about this lens versus the CV 21 or 28mm? I've never used a 25mm lens, as it always seemed too close to a 28 and a 21. What makes the 25 so special, in your opinion? I'm curious as to what distinguishes the 25 from those other two lenses.
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It really is THAT 25mm rather than the 25mm focal length in general. Over the past seven years I've learned that it's really not the focal length that has me liking a lens, but it's the glass, speed, sharpness, how it paints, contrast.

I grew up on a Nikkor 24/2.8 and liked it but never loved it. Too much distortion but always wide enough. Sharp, fast to focus, great lens other than it made heads into footballs way too often.

I had a Leica 21/2.8 some years back and did not like it. 21 just felt too wide or not wide enough. Made heads even more like football than my old 24. It was the wide part of my 21/35/90 Leica triad of lenses. Rarely came out to see the light. It wasn't the external finder issue as I used them years before and was quite happy with my pick of a Bessa T over an R2 more recently.

While I have two 28mms that I love (Nikkor 28/2.8 AIs, the 28/1.9 equivalent on my GRD III) I never went that way on any of my range finders or SLRs. 35 as always been my anchor lens in RF and I could not afford much glass in High School.

Going from 35 or 40 to 28 to me seems silly, too close to each other, I can just move. Lots of Nikons were used with a 24/50/105 setup for years. I try to go a little further between lenses. The RF kit that allowed me to get most of I wanted was a 15/25/40/105 combo. After learning to love the Nikkor 50/1.4 Millennium I could have swapped that out for my 40.

The CV 25/4 is a wonderful lens, very low distortion, quick to adjust and sharp. I had no worries about taking people pictures with it and ending up with funny shaped heads. It was not as fast as I would have liked, but it was so small I worked around it. Finding chairs and walls to use for slow shutter speeds.

I kind of design systems around what I call "Anchor Lenses", a lens that you absolutely love. I stumbled onto the 25/4, got it with a used 15/25/Bessa L combo as I wanted the L and the 15 basically for free. I had suspected I would sell it off (previous experience with the 24) but found I loved it. After that I designed many of my systems around the 25 as the anchor, even though it spent 96% of it's life on a Bessa L, the click stops, the painting, it was just perfect for me at that time.

Hope this helps.

B2 (;->
 
I think this lens would get a lot more love if it was one stop faster. I think people see f/4 and write it off.
 
jsrockit said:
I think this lens would get a lot more love if it was one stop faster. I think people see f/4 and write it off.
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which is my excuse to use neopan 1600 :). Developed my first "test shots" with my new lens today, I'm loving it, can't wait to try low iso with some light.

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and of course one of me :)
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