Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2

The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 is a compact standard lens with the VM bayonet, compatible with Leica M. It is built for rangefinder cameras and works on mirrorless bodies via an adapter. Cosina announced it in February 2024 together with the APO-Lanthar 50mm f/3.5, and sales followed in mid 2024. Its main selling point is size: the lens is only 30 mm long from the mount surface.

Optical design

The lens has 7 elements in 6 groups, including three elements made of anomalous partial dispersion glass. According to Cosina, this gives good optical performance from the maximum aperture of f/2.2. The diaphragm has 10 blades and closes down to f/16. The image circle covers the full frame format.

Focusing and handling

Focusing is manual through an all-metal helicoid, with a focusing tab shaped for the finger. The lens is rangefinder coupled to 0.7 m and can focus as close as 0.5 m, which Cosina says is useful with live view. Cosina includes a compact straight hood designed so that it does not intrude into the rangefinder frame. The filter thread is the traditional 39 mm. The lens comes in silver and black.

Build and size

The lens weighs 135 g, measures 51.4 mm in diameter and is 30.0 mm long. For comparison with other 50 mm lenses in the database for Leica M, the Leica Summicron-M 50mm f/2 weighs 240 g, the Zeiss Planar T* 2/50 ZM 230 g and the Leica Summarit-M 50mm F2.4 ASPH 190 g.

Where it fits

Voigtländer's own 50 mm lenses for M cover a range of designs. The APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 (288 g) is the high performance option and the Voigtlander 50mm F1.5 Nokton VM II (255 g) the fast one. The new APO-Lanthar 50mm f/3.5 is a smaller and slower specialist. The Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 sits between them: faster than the f/3.5 lens, much smaller than the f/2 or f/1.5 lenses, and meant as an everyday lens that disappears on the camera.

Pros and cons

Pros

• Very compact, 30 mm long and 135 g
• Aperture of f/2.2 is a useful step faster than f/2.8 designs
• Compact straight hood included
• Focuses down to 0.5 m
• Anomalous partial dispersion glass in three elements

Cons

• Manual focus only
• Slower than f/1.5 and f/2 standard lenses
• Small 39 mm filter thread
• Focusing is done with a tab rather than a full ring grip

Verdict

The Color-Skopar 50mm f/2.2 is a small, light standard lens for Leica M and VM cameras. It is aimed at photographers who value carrying comfort and a low profile over the last stop of speed, and who want a standard lens that does not dominate a rangefinder body.