Introduction

The Voigtlander VM 21mm 3.5 Color-Skopar is Cosina’s latest slower 21mm lens. Phillip already reviewed the E-mount version, now I am having a look at the M-mount version, also to find out, whether there are actually optical differences between the two versions.
Lens is being tested on 42mp Sony A7rII and 24mp Leica M10

Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review can be found in full resolution here.

Specifications / Version History

Cosina has a pretty long history of making 21mm M-mount lenses but I will only talk about the slower ones here. So far we had:

• • Voigtlander 21mm 4.0 Color-Skopar
    M39, 8/6 design, MFD 0.5 m
  • Voigtlander VM 21mm 4.0 P Color-Skopar
    132g, M-mount, 8/6 design (same as above), MFD 0.5 m
  • Voigtlander VM 21mm 3.5 Color-Skopar
    182g, M-mount 9/8 design, MFD 0.5 m

As you can see not only the maximum aperture has been slightly increased but also the weight and complexity of the lens. I am reviewing the latest 21mm f/3.5 version here which has the following specifications:

• • Diameter: 52 mm
  • Field of view: 91.2° (diagonally)
  • Length: 30 mm
  • Weight: 182g (without hood and caps + adapter)
  • Filter Diameter: 39 mm
  • Number of Aperture Blades: 10 (straight)
  • Elements/Groups: 9/8
    
  • Close Focusing Distance: 0.50 m
  • Maximum Magnification: ~1:20 (measured)
  • Mount: Leica-M

You may also have a look at the official page.

You can usually find the Voigtlander VM 21mm 3.5 on CameraQuest, B&H, Robert White, amazon.com or ebay.com for about $799/799€ (affiliate links)

Handling / Build Quality

When it comes to the Cosina’s M-mount lens line-up I still fail to see a clear line when it comes to design as well as features. This 21mm 3.5 is part of the “Vintage line”, as is the Voigtlander VM 75mm 1.5 Nokton, yet they look and feel completely different.
The term Vintage line is especially misleading, as many people think it is connected to the optical design whereas it only relates to the look of the casing.
Now the latest introductions to the Vintage line (VM 28mm 2.0 Ultron and VM 35mm 2.0 Ultron) even come in two to three different casing designs, one of which matches this 21mm 3.5.

What is fortunately true regardless of the design is that so far none of the Voigtlander lenses disappointed in terms of build quality. The focus ring has a nice – albiet not perfectly even – resistance and travels ~100° from the minimum focus distance (0.5 m) to infinity. The focus ring also features a small focus lever.

The aperture ring has 1/2 stop click stops which I think is a good compromise. It travels about 90° from f/3.5 to f/22. Most parts seem to be made from metal and all markings are engraved and filled with paint.

Because almost everything on the lens is a moving ring it is not that easy to attach it to or detach it from the camera. Zeiss Loxia users know this problem already.

I still don’t understand why the E-mount lenses always include a lens hood whereas the M-mount lenses don’t and instead you are expected to pay a hefty extra for them.
The designated hood for this 21mm f/3.5 lens is the LH-11 rectangular aluminium retro-style hood. It uses a bayonet to attach to the lens, but to my surprise it doesn’t align perfectly, which in my opinion is unacceptable given its ridiculously high price tag.

Vignetting

light falloff

Small lenses usually show a high amount of vignetting and the VM 21mm 3.5 Color-Skopar is no exception. Wide open the light falloff amounts to 2.4 EV and there is only little improvement on stopping down, as it is still 1.9 EV at f/11. Other small 21mm lenses perform similarly at shared apertures. You can either correct this in Lightroom or directly in camera. There is a Lightroom profile available for this lens.

It is recommended to have a look at this article first to get an idea how this brightness graph works.

color cast

In scenes with an overcast sky you may be able to see a very slight greenish/blue color cast (on the Sony A7II as well as the Leica M10) in the corners, but it is generally so little, I did not correct it in any of the sample pictures.

Sharpness

infinity (42mp Sony A7rII)

Center and midframe look really good at all apertures but the corners don’t look that great as they lack a bit of contrast.

As the VM 21mm 3.5 is a comparably wide and slow lens I was wondering whether Cosina made adjustments to the optical design for E-mount and M-mount. When I compare the results I got with the M-mount version on the Sony A7rII to those Phillip got with the E-mount version on the A7II it seems to me that the M-mount version looks no worse, maybe even better. I also spotted some inwardly curved field curvature when the lens is used on the M10, so my guess is the optical design is the same for both mounts.

infinity (24mp Leica M10)

We have to take the lower resolution of the Leica M10 into account, but the corners look a bit cleaner and contrastier to me. Generally we see good contrast and resolution across frame which should yield good results for landscape and architecture photography.

close (0.50 m, 1:20)

A minimum focus distance of 0.5 m is not that exciting for a 21mm lens but the good thing is that in the center the performance is really great already at the maximum aperture.
The Voigtlander VM 21mm 3.5 does not feature a floating elements design though and as is often the case with such lenses there is also significant field curvature at closer distances visible (have a look at the sample in the distortion section).
A lens with a more complex floating elements design like the Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 is doing a better job here.

Flare resistance

As always evaluating flare is a complex matter since you can get any lens to look bad if you push it hard enough and a slight change of scenario will affect results a lot.
But – as has often been the case with the latest Voigtländer lenses – it is in fact very hard to make them look bad.

I am showing you some of the worst case examples here and I really had to push it to create some ghosts.

Veiling flare or loss of contrast are hardly an issue, no matter whether you are using the hood or not.

Coma

Coma at f/3.5 and f/4.0 can be noticeable but improves significantly at f/5.6, so I recommend to stop down to at least f/5.6 when taking pictures of a city scene with point light sources.

Distortion

The VM 21mm 3.5 shows noticeable barrel distortion that I think is also slightly wavy. I clearly felt the need to correct it in architecture shots and luckily there is a Lightroom profile available for this. I think it overcorrects distortion a bit and for me a setting of 70 to 80 usually worked better than the full correction.
The high amount of field curvature I mentioned in the sharpness close section is also easily visible in these pictures.

Bokeh

A 21mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/3.5 and a minimum focus distance of 0.5 m is not exactly great news if you are into shallow depth of field photography.

For a wide angle lens the bokeh is comparably clean and undistracting though, but there are certainly better lenses available for this task.

The E-mount version of this lens focuses down to 0.2 m (instead of the 0.5 m we get here) which allows for significantly more dramatic close up shots as can be seen in Phillip’s review. If you are using the M-mount version in combination with a helicoid adapter on your Sony camera you will get similar possibilities though (again, very obvious, m-shaped, field curvature):

Sunstars

Sunstars are already visible at f/4.0 but look best defined between f/8.0 to f/11 to me. If you want to know more about sunstar rendering of different lenses have a look at this article.

Chromatic aberration

lateral

Lateral CA are on a low level and easily corrected in post by one click.

M-mount user

I am not sure how popular 21mm lenses are among Leica-M users as the rangefinder is not wide enough to actually properly use them, so you have to resort to an external finder or use liveview instead.
Despite this there are plenty of 21mm M-mount lenses to choose from, counting used options already four from Voigtlander only.
I haven’t used all of them but it seems to me that of the slower options this VM 21mm 3.5 will perform the best, especially on digital cameras as the color cast has been greatly reduced compared to the predecessor or the compact options from other manufacturers.
The lens has actually no flaws that stand out (except for the expensive lens hood maybe), so if you are looking for a compact, lightweight 21mm M-mount lens this should be on top of your list of lenses to consider.

Like the Voigtlander VM 75mm 1.5 Nokton this VM 21mm 3.5 Color Skopar is a lens that delivers great results in a compact and enjoyable-to-use package.

Sony E-mount user

Sample Images

Most of the sample images in this review can be found in full resolution here.

Further Reading

• Sony FE lenses: Our comprehensive and independent guide
• Sony FE lenses: Our guide to ultra wide angle lenses
• Review: Sony FE 85mm 1.4 GM
• Review: Voigtländer 50mm 1.2 Nokton E

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BastianK

My name is Bastian and I am your expert here when it comes to ultra wide angle lenses, super fast portrait lenses (ranging from a 50mm f/0.95 to a 200mm f/1.8) and I also have reviewed way too many 35mm lenses. Don't ask me anything about macro or wildlife shooting though.

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