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Voigtlander Color Skopar 21 mm on a7r

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
I'm trying to find a decent 20 or 21 mm either in M mount (as I have an adapter M to FE) or A mount (as I have the EA4 adapter).

Has anyone used the Color Skopar lens on the a7r? (Either version - the f1.8 or the Pancake f4).

Or would I be better off with the Sigma 20 mm f1.8 (which doesn't get very good reviews) in an A mount?

Any help appreciated!

TX
Bill
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I'm on hold Bill till next week for announcement updates. I'm staying Sony but if a A mount killer body comes out I may make a move on it. Even a A77 might go and replace my A7 for high speed AF PR type work. The A7r stays in the bag unless something huge comes out. I think the Voightlander has a little corner issue but let's wait till someone confirms it.

I have one of those funny feelings about this announcement. My opinion but I think Sony is going after market share big time and will surprise us.
 

PBR Streetgang

New member
I'm trying to find a decent 20 or 21 mm either in M mount (as I have an adapter M to FE) or A mount (as I have the EA4 adapter).

Has anyone used the Color Skopar lens on the a7r? (Either version - the f1.8 or the Pancake f4).

Or would I be better off with the Sigma 20 mm f1.8 (which doesn't get very good reviews) in an A mount?

Any help appreciated!

TX
Bill


Hi Bill,

I think you will find that the 21mm F4 will have pretty significant color shift and corner smearing on the A7R. Do a google search on that and you will find a lot of info and examples. I have the 21 4 and even under the best of conditions (on the A7, a more forgiving camera), it is a weak performer.

The 21 1.8 is said to have much better performance than the 21 4, but under certain conditions can still get some color shift. Google will pull up some discussion on this issue as well.

I have the A7, not the R, but it seems like these cameras like SLR legacy lenses once you get 35mm and under.

Best of luck.
 

philip_pj

New member
"A Distagon which never achieves more than 20° beam tilt in the corner of the image reacts more tolerantly than a symmetrical wide-angle lens, which might reach a 45° tilt. This is why filters in digital Leicas are very thin – to remain compatible with older optics."

They don't come more expert than Dr Hubert Nasse of Zeiss, who wrote the above.

Bill, it's hard not to want the small high quality M class wide angle lenses, but it's harder to recommend them to you. The SLR Distagons might be heavy and large but they do work fine on the a7/r models, have very little light fall-off too. Might be some news next week from Sony - people expect an FE wide zoom.

Zeiss are sure to do a great FEWA prime (manual lens) late this year or soon after, custom for the a7r resolution and sensor configuration.

A lot of people think highly of Sony's often forgotten but excellent ZA 24/2, which has two Asph and two ED elements and a 9 blade aperture, so very versatile - street, cafe, landscapes, solid bokeh even. Has SSM for fast quiet AF, would LA4 or work on any A bodies you use or buy also:

Zeiss Distagon T* 24mm f/2 ZA SSM (SAL-24F20Z) - Full Format Review / Lab Test

Yes, Zeiss say the cut-off is 35mm for FE use of M lenses - wider is bad, longer is good.
 

biglouis

Well-known member
Bill

All I can say is that my Voigtlander Ultron 21/1.8 does not exhibit colour shift when used on the A7.

It does vignette a tad but not in any extreme way.

Like Guy, I might be tempted to sell it and acquire a FE 21/2.8 or FE 25/2 if and when they appear.

However, it is such a nice lens that I'd be tempted to keep it in addition to the above lenses.

I think I have posted a few examples using the lens here in the 'fun with' thread.

Louis
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
Thanks everybody - very useful input which is appreciated!

I'm going to wait for Sony to announce something for the moment, then I think the Ultron 21/1.8 deserves some research.
 

bipbip

Member
The thing is with the f/1.8 Voigtländers is that they are too front heavy for such light thin bodies. At least that's what I found with the 75mm on a NEX6.
 
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