Color-Skopar 21 f/4 - what's it like?

[TheHub]

I wasn't sure where to put this, exactly. I'm getting tired of 50mm all the time, I feel like the world is closing in on me. I'm looking for something 35mm or wider preferably in LTM but M-mount is okay.

The problem is that the price of a lens is high enough, with a viewfinder thrown in I'm looking at $700+ which is more than I've paid for most of my cameras 🙄 (Leica lenses are 2x that ...)

I found the Skopar 21 with VF thrown in that's pretty cheap (new.) I'm wondering how the lens performs? I'd be using it on a IIIf, CL and M3.

Any input appreciated 🙂

 

[back alley]

i like mine

 

[back alley]

 

[TheHub]

Looks nice.

I just found this: http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1010

 

[Anupam]

Some of my shots with that lens

 

[marknyc]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/288216784_1762b92ff9_b.jpgHere's a couple shots with the lens

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/113/288216784_1762b92ff9_b.jpg

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/120/288216250_0f271f88f4_b.jpg

 

[shimo-kitasnap]

It's a great value for a super wide. I love mine (the m-mount one) but i've shot bothe the ltm and m one and they're exactly the same. Sometimes I wish I could have a faster lens but f2.8 leica or zeiss is too expensive and or too big.

I use the 21 as my main street lens complemented by a 40 cron and 85 j9.

I don't have the finder but find the M6 28 lines work fine and I'm not being exact with it anyway doing most of the shooting from the hip hyperfocal and stopped down to f8. It's so much fun to use.

 

[pipal]

TheHub, you don't have to worry about this lens performance, it is a little gem. I have bought my CV21 from a friend just couple of weeks and have shot just two rolls of film so far. I have never used as wide lens as this and thought that it will take time to get familiarized with it. But this lens got me almost instantly. It's easy to handle and the slowish speed of it seems not to be a big limitation at all (as I was afraid a bit, for I do a quite a few of indoor shots).
Here is my first few shots with it:

 

[nico]

I have one too and it compliments my nokton 50. About quality I'm not an expert but I can say I'd buy it again!
Kully, a friend fellow member here on RFF, keep it mounted on his leica (don't know if II or III), so you may ask him how this combo works.
Here some links to photos took with the CV21:

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=67060
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=67612
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=67226
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=66269
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=76890
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=72039

Hope it may help,
ciao 🙂

 

[mr_phillip]

Another vote of confidence from me. I use the LTM version and it's a superb little lens; great value too.

Examples here.

 

[hugivza]

Love it - can't post examples as am in the wilds of Borneo.

 

[rxmd]

It's great. I use mine a lot. Compact, sharp, with lots of punch:

$700 sounds expensive to me. I paid $280 for the LTM version (good shape, with original box and finder) here on RFF in 2006.

Philipp

 

[Sparrow]

One big thing it has going for it is it’s resistance to flare, the wider you go the more likely you are to get the sun or other strong light in the frame and not be able to do anything about it.
I don’t use the 21 as often as I should but in the two years or so I’ve had it I don’t recall ever seeing any flare.

 

[rxmd]

One big thing it has going for it is it’s resistance to flare, the wider you go the more likely you are to get the sun or other strong light in the frame and not be able to do anything about it.
I don’t use the 21 as often as I should but in the two years or so I’ve had it I don’t recall ever seeing any flare.

Well you can force it to flare but show me the lens where you can't. Here's what happens if you shoot straight into the sun:

Still pretty impressive, more so for a sub-$300 ultrawideangle with the hood detached.

Philipp

 

[Sparrow]

Phillipp

With or without filter? I’m sure I have similar shots without flare

🙂

 

[Sparrow]

like this

link

 

[kshapero]

This really is little gem. Here is a shot of my younger daughter taken with a Leica IIIa.

 

[rxmd]

Hi Stewart,

no filter, just the lens.

The 21/f4 is pretty good; this is the worst example out of a large number of shots against the sun. I notice that in your shot the sun is more at the edge. I guess it depends a lot on where the sun exactly is. A "normal" shot against the sun would look more like this:

The 21 is a pretty flare-resistant lens. The opposite end of the lens flare badness scale would be something like the 35/f2.8 Jupiter-12, look at the following two:

Those were taken with Jupiter-12s. The first one with the sun in the frame is absolutely catastrophic. The second one with the bleeding highlights and the specular reflection is only bad.

The 21/f4 is the best ultrawideangle money can buy IMHO. You can get any lens to display flare. If someone says that their lens never flares, they haven't tried hard enough.

Philipp

 

[squirrel$$$bandit]

$700?!!? Get the LTM and an adapter from CQ--it will come with the viewfinder, $400! I should know, mine's due to arrive tomorrow.

These photos are getting me really excited...

 

[Sparrow]

Philipp, I probably haven’t used it enough, I’ll no doubt catch one sometime, it is however very resistant, the atmospheric mist that day would beat most lenses.