| Author: | | New Member Registered: June, 2018 Posts: 6 | | Review Date: June 18, 2018 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Excellent sharpness when stopped down, great colors, small with very nice handling and build quality | | Cons: | Does not work well at full aperture when adapted, usually quite pricey | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 10
Value: 7
Camera Used: Sony A7
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Bought this lens as a wide angle for my A7. Optically, it's a bit of a mixed bag, but I really like shooting with it.
The lens is a joy to use, very small (without the adapter) with nice metal build.
I find sharpness horrible/unusable at full aperture, but I suspect my adapter because I tested it on a DSLR and it was much better. However, after stopping down one stop, it becomes great. From f/5,6 to f/16, everything is sharp almost corner to corner. f/22 is a bit softer but still ok.
Colors are beautiful, contrasty and punchy, that's why I keep it even if it is not my sharpest wide angle.
Bokeh is average for this focal lenght, the lens focuses quite close but I don't like the rendering of the out focus areas. A 20mm lens is not the best for bokeh, even if you can get a tiny bit of subject isolation on full frame.
The lens performs similarly on an APS-C body, hazy and fuzzy at f/3,5 and very sharp from f/5,6.
To conclude, I would say it is not the best wide angle ever and I admit it's the worst of my Voigtlander lenses, but it is nice to use and has pleasant rendering. It can be a good purchase if you need a pocketable wide angle, and if you can find it for a correct price.
I strongly advise you to buy a suitable lens hood because there is a clear difference between with and without.
| | | | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2016 Location: Moab, Utah Posts: 90 | | Review Date: November 3, 2017 | Not Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 5 |
| Pros: | Small, well-built | | Cons: | Vignetting, distortion, lack of detail | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 7
Bokeh: 6
Handling: 10
Value: 3
Camera Used: Sony A7s, A7ii
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This lens is nice and small and it's a 20mm, but when I compared it side by side with my Pentax/Takumar 20mm's it does not compare in image quality in my opinion. The vignetting it produces is radical. The distortion not so bad but not so good. Resolution is so-so, fine contrast is meh. If you have a spec of dust on the minute rear element, you will notice it like crazy. It's just too small for its own good. The lens cap sucks, the lens hood is way overpriced, even in comparison to manufacturer lens hoods. I sold mine after using it for a couple of years and being relatively happy with it. This lens is for people who want something very compact more than they want image quality.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2013 Location: Goolwa, SA Posts: 4,310
4 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 7, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $460.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Small, nice manual focus feel and throw | | Cons: | Given the size...none | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-1
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There are very few 20mm FF lenses available at this time that are compact.... say around 200grams.... the size of a DA15 for example. I consider this lens equivalent to the DA15 in a lot of ways..... the edges benefit from stopping down etc. I rated this lens performance mindful favourably with it's cost and size in mind.
Anyway....pictures are best!
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 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: June, 2012 Location: Freiburg im Breisgau, Germany Posts: 113
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 26, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $250.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | size, colours, sharpness stopped down, flare resistance | | Cons: | ridicolous price of the original hood | |
Don't get me wrong: This is one beautiful wide angle lens, especially if you're in love with the old pentax way of portable lenses. This one has great colour renditon and great flare resistance, which is a good thing since the original FF hood is way overpriced and you don't find hoods for this focal lenghth @ 52mm too often. From about f11 the Voigtländer renders nice starbursts (not SMC DA 15-quality, but really nice nevertheless, see sample below). MF is a none-issue for wide angle IMO.
I haven't yet experienced strong distortions, but people say that i has mustache distortion. I find it acceptable for city / landscapes but if you're serious about architectural shots you should perhaps check if it suits you.
What this lens is not:
- for pixel peepers in search for ultimate sharpness or total absence of vignetting
- a bokeh king
The following image was taken with the K-1 Pixel Shift. Larger sizes on my flickr. Will post more images.
 Manhattan, Bridge & Island by Georg, on Flickr
| | | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: April, 2015 Location: USA Posts: 2,874
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 20, 2016 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small and quality construction | | Cons: | Only average image quality | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 8
Camera Used: K5iis
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Small and light and extremely well built.
The Voigtlander 20mm lens' images look downright soft when compared to the extremely sharp images I get with my Sigma 18-35mm zoom lens. No kidding!
Over-priced and only average image quality.
| | | | | New Member Registered: January, 2012 Posts: 14
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 22, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness, color render, no flare | | Cons: | Wish it had AF sometimes | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 10
Value: 10
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This is one of my favorite camera lens. It is small, well built and reliable.
To be short - this is an excellent lens.
I bought mine from HKBNS.
This lens is so small that you can easily carry it in your pocket all time, even in difficult situations (like hiking in the mountains).
Anti-reflective coatings made by Cosina are up to highest standards. Almost no flare, without hood even in difficult situations.
Images are usable straight from wide open. With max aperture of 3.5 it is actually not "high-speed". But due to pancake design it produces decent results shooting handheld in low-light situations.
As expected from a FF prime lens it delivers sustainable results across all cropped frame.
In my opinion, photos taken with this lens have more micro contrast than from Pentax 18-55 and Pentax 18-250. I never had an opportunity to compare it with DA 21, from what I've seen in the Net, the results are at least comparable.
Sometimes a more wide angle is desired... I wish it was 18 or I had a FF camera.
Close focusing is possible and produces good results.
P.S.: I wish Voigtlander 28/2.8 was available for Pentax.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: June, 2010 Location: Sebastopol, California Posts: 2,020
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 2, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $569.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Very sharp, excellent color rendering, flare resistant | | Cons: | Stop down to 5.6 or better to sharpen edges | | Sharpness: 8
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 8
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I am a big Voigtlander fan but I never did quite warm up to this lens. At least part of the reason for that is my preference for focal lengths over 50mm.. The lens does require stopping down to sharpen the edges, but it is very sharp overall, has nice color rendering, resists flare pretty well, is built beautifully with all-metal construction, focuses easily, a “pancake” design that weighs a mere 205 grams, has 9 rounded aperture blades, and lets you get within 8 inches to focus. A solid performer.
A quick handheld shot testing how it handled shooting into the evening sun:
Dune grass:
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2009 Location: eastern Pennsylvania, USA Posts: 151 | | Review Date: May 5, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $589.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | build quality, size, flare resistance, colour | | Cons: | exposure issues, lens hood | |
I have only owned this lens for a short time. However, the more I use it the more I like it. Perhaps I'll give it a higher rating down the road.
(Update: OK, Les3547 has a point. And I've raised my rating from an 8 to a 9. There really is nothing between the Zeiss 21mm and this lens. I was getting ready to raise it anyway as I viewed more images. It's a fine little lens.)
First, like many I was torn between this lens, the Pentax DA 21 and the Zeiss 21. However, given the size and price of the Zeiss, it was really between the Voigtlander and the Pentax. What sealed the decision, though, was when I mounted this lense on my MX and went for a walk in the woods. This was, for my purposes, a near perfect match.
I have examined thus far only a limited number of images. And I must say that I am, overall, pleased with what I see. While this lens is not in the same league as my Voigtlander 58mm Nokton, or my 180mm APO Lanthar, it is not bad (especially on my aps-c digital). The outer third of the image on film is, I must admit, not the best. However, stopping down to f8 greatly improves performance.
As suggested by the first reviewer, this lens is a compromise. It is very small for a full frame, ultra-wide angle lens. And something has to give when such a wide angle of view is packed into such a small space. For me the compromise is worth it. Very good IQ in a highly convenient package (and with full-frame/film compatibility).
The lens does overexpose on my K-7 (app. two-thirds of a stop); but this is easily corrected. The lack of auto-focus is a non-issue for me. The lens hood, as mentioned above, is a waste on aps-c. However, I find it useful on full frame (i.e. film.)
I also was moved to purchase this lens over the Pentax because of availability. The Voigtlander 20mm Color-Skopars are almost gone. (I got one of Stephen Gandy's remaining few.) The Pentax 21mm should be around for awhile.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: February, 2009 Posts: 1,371
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: December 14, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Small and discreet, decent optical quality, excellent built | | Cons: | Lens hood, uneveness at the widest aperture, discontinued on K mount | |
The Voigtlander Color-Skopar 20 mm f3.5 is often described as a compromise between performance and size. This is exactly what it is.
The good.
This lens is small. Definitely a pancake! Not as small as a DA40, more like a FA77. The lens is well built on par with the Zeiss ZK or the Super Takumar lenses. Metal, good finish and tight adjustment. The rubberised focusing ring is easy to use and has this "manual smooth solid lens" feel. Focusing is quite easy to achieve. Don't forget we are talking about a wide angle with a relative slow aperture. Indeed the depth of field is important. The image quality is good at the centre from the wide aperture and this lens has a very nice and detailed image rendition. However the resolution never reaches extreme figures. The minimum focusing distance (20cm) allows to produce some close focus pictures, always nice. And yes this lens is full frame compatible.
The bad.
The lens cap given is... poor which is a shame on lens with such a nice built. The image quality is uneven at the widest aperture with not so sharp corners. You need to close down this lens for landscape to at least f6. If with an APS-C body the Color Skopar has an easy to correct distortion, from what I have seen on 24x36, you will get a moustache distortion which is more troublesome for architecture shots. However, most of the time it is not annoying.
The ugly.
The lens hood ( ref LH-20 ) is not part of the package, it is sold at a premium price, its usefulness is questionable on APS-C and it is a real pain to find a lens cap useable on the lens hood. Most of the users buy a Nikon lens hood which seem to be more practical. Don’t forget this lens is now discontinued in K mount and prices will probably rise...
Final thought: this lens is not an optical gem like the Zeiss 21. It is a compromise. A likeable one indeed. This lens small, discreet with decent performances is a good match for a K-7. I really like this combination when I travel. Furthermore I can use it with my MX where it takes me to the ultra wide angle world. If you use both digital and film think of this lens as a nice option. If you use digital only, well think about the Pentax DA 21 Limited which seems to be a similar compromise with autofocus. As I am also a film shooter, I will give this lens a 7-8. Let’s say 8 as I am a Voigtlander fan.
A few samples:
  
Chamrousse - vue depuis la Croix par xiaoxav, sur Flickr
Edit:
After 2 years of researches, I have found a lens cap that I can use with the lens hood! It's simply the 52mm lens cap that can be found with the Nikon kit lens!
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