28/3.5 Color Skopar

biomed

biomed

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What is your opinion of the CV 28/3.5 lens? I am currently looking for something in between the 35 an 21mm lenses. Compact size is more important than maximum aperture to me. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Mike, the 3.5/28mm Skopar is a little gem, beautifully made and with excellent performance if f/3.5 is acceptable. I found I really needed more speed so I replaced it with a faster 28; might have been a mistake to sell it! I had even dug out my Pentax 2.0/28mm SMCP for a couple rolls in a K2 to see if f/2 would be adequate, and that was a useful experiment. Here are a couple of samples from the Skopar, one fine lens...
 

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A great little lens, very well built, sharp, everything that everyone says.

Unlike Doug, I kept my 28 Skopar when I bought the 28 Ultron, too nice to sell.
 
biomed said:
... Compact size is more important than maximum aperture to me...
Click to expand...

Mike
Then the 28 Color Skopar is your lens, because everything else than the speed is superb with that lens. Sharp and contrasty. Soft bokeh (if one can talk about bokeh at f3.5 with a 28mm). Small, compact, even with the hood and cap on, and quite heavy for it's size. Probably even the best built of all actual CV lenses.
Didier

See a b&w sample here:
Resized
Fullsize (consumer lab scan)
 
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Color-Skopar 28mm

Color-Skopar 28mm

As mentioned before, size makes this one attractive lens. That said, I highly recommend this for its optical qualities. I have mine for over a year and am challenged to improve my vision to match the quality of this lens.😀 The attached photo is of a courtyard of a sorts and the idea was to capture the lines in the bricks. This lens did that. The b&w C41 by Kodak are quite contrasty if you use an orange or red filter. I stopped doing that because the labs printed them quite hard. The scene from the park is an example of the higher contrast. I haven't regreted not getting the faster lens. Because of its size, I can shoot at much lower speeds than I could before. I don't think you'll regret it.
 

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Never heard a bad report. I prefer a 25 as I already have a 35 and 28 is too close.

The 25 Snap-shot Skopar is a fine lens, but not Rf coupled. At 25mm you don`t need coupling and I never missed focus with mine on outside pics.

If you do inside close up shots wide open, it is another story.

I would wait for the new one. 3/6 months is my guess. Or pop for the Zeiss one. People are very pleased with them.
 
I'm getting flare occasionally with this lens, so I suggest buying the square lens hood, as the standard attached hood doesn't cut it sometimes. I'll be ordering mine this week. Change that - I'll be ordering when Gandy gets back. I don't shoot b/w, (yet), so I can't say anything to that, but the lens is fantastic with color. As good as Zeiss? No, but you REALLY need to be pushing the lenses to spot the performance differences. Shoot with chrome and the Skopar can be amazing. I'll probably end up getting the Zeiss 28/2, but only for dof. That said, I WON'T be getting rid of the Skopar. The subtle vignetting and softening at the edges can be a wonderful creative advantage in the right circumstances.

-grant
 
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Love it.
20060622164025_cop.jpg
 
ferider said:
I have used the rect. hood but it's a pain on the M Leicas, at least. It severely obstructs the viewfinder, with a lens that I use for
its compactness.
Click to expand...

What material is it made of? I'm pretty handy with a dremel. If the metal isn't too dense, I'll likely modify it to work like Zeiss 21/25 hood. Unless it's simply too intrusive to bother with.

-grant
 
>>all other "fast" lenses out there are f2.8, and the Color Skopar is only half a stop different.<<

For the record, f/3.5 is two-thirds of a stop slower than f/2.8, not half a stop.
 
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