Voigtlander LTM M39 lenses

I'm gonna repeat that list from the Cameraquest site in a slightly more readable form:
  • 12mm f/5.6 Ultra Wide Heliar
  • 15mm f/4.5 Super Wide Heliar
  • 21mm f/4 Color Skopar
  • 25mm f/4 Snapshot Skopar
  • 28mm f/1.9 Ultron (Aspherical)
  • 28mm f/3.5 Color Skopar
  • 28mm f/2.8 Color Skopar (Aspherical)
  • 35mm f/1.7 Ultron (Aspherical)
  • 35mm f/2.5C Color Skopar ("Compact")
  • 35mm f/2.5P Color Skopar ("Pancake")
  • 40mm f/2.8 Heliar (Aspherical)
  • 50mm f/1.5 Nokton (Aspherical)
  • 50mm f/2.5 Color Skopar
  • 50mm f/2 Heliar (Rigid, Nickel)
  • 50mm f/3.5 Heliar (available in both Nickel and Chrome)
  • 75mm f/2.5 Color Heliar
  • 90mm f/3.5 APO Lanthar
Everything below 28mm should come with an included viewfinder. They've sometimes been separated out by now, which is a shame. Everything other than the recent 40mm and 28mm ASPH Color Skopar is prone to the same "haze" between the elements, too.
 
The haze seems to be happening only in humid climates. I have had zero hazed Voigtlander lenses in California.
The LTM 21mm Color Skopar I bought from Japan is "hazed". A lot of the lenses I run into here in Britain are "hazed" across all focal lengths, too. It took me a long, long time to find a 35mm Color Skopar that wasn't affected.

If I remember right, Skyllaney said it was something to do with the cement used, not haze in the traditional sense. All I know for sure is that it's a big problem here and on the lenses that are available on eBay. It's very rare to see an LTM Voigtlander lens crop up in any of the major UK dealers that doesn't exhibit "haze" to some degree.
 
I bought one of those hazed lenses a while back here in Japan, the CV 35mm f/1.7. The seller stated that the lens would be slightly hazed and could be easily cleaned. I then had sent the lens directly to the Cosina factory, relatively close to where I live, and after inspecting the lens they replied that it isn't haze but element separation and they don't have spare parts for this lens to repair it.
 
I saw someone on here or on Reddit say there's someone in Asia who can separate and recement the affected elements on these Voigtlander lenses. That seems to be the only solution.

On the other hand, Skyllaney won't even touch them, despite their expertise in fixing so many other lenses. It's a lot of work and they can't guarantee the process will work.
 
I saw someone on here or on Reddit say there's someone in Asia who can separate and recement the affected elements on these Voigtlander lenses. That seems to be the only solution.

On the other hand, Skyllaney won't even touch them, despite their expertise in fixing so many other lenses. It's a lot of work and they can't guarantee the process will work.

Found the thread.
 
The haze seems to be happening only in humid climates. I have had zero hazed Voigtlander lenses in California.
Na, its random. I have a 12mm f/5.6 21mm f/4 and 50mm f/1.5. I live in a climate more humid than California less humid than Japan - all kept in a dry cabinet when not in use.
The 12mm is dead from haze (the German service center wouldn’t touch it). Praying that the remaining 2 will survive.
 
I bought a hazy chrome Nokton 50mm 1.5, it came from Thailand. It was otherwise mint. I also have a well used black one with clean glass that came from NY. I did swap the middle element from the black one onto the chrome one with no issues. I need to do some comparison tests with it on film. But on digital, you tell there is a bit of loss of contrast, but not as bad as I thought.

Still pondering whether to send out the hazy element to get fixed.
 
The one bad one I have is a 21mm Color Skopar I bought from Japan in 2022. Otherwise mint - it had obviously been looked after. I've taken some pretty decent photos with it, even in tricky lighting, but when you shoot it side-by-side with a clean 28mm Color Skopar, it's obvious that the haze is really lowering the quality of the 21mm a fair bit.

It's still a bloody good lens, though. If it gets worse, I'll definitely consider the Taiwanese option mentioned above. There's not many LTM 21mm lenses floating around.
 
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