This is the Leica look (on a budget)

Leica cameras like the Q2 or Q3 or the M10 or M11 are of outstanding build and image quality. But super expensive. In my opinion, you can get the Leica look much cheaper, for example with this beautiful small and versatile Voigtländer lens Color-Skopar 18mm F2.8 and with a Fuji XT4, XT5 or a X-PRo 3, for example. And it´s not less fun shooting with these Fuji combos than with a Leica camera in my opinion! I am curious for your opinions on this topic.

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[streetphotographyguy]

Just wanted to add some more thoughts on the Voigtländer Color Skopar 18mm F2.8 lens for Fuji X mount. I've had a chance to test it out for 3 months now and thought it might be helpful additive info for anyone considering this lens:

Pros:
Image Quality: The first thing you'll notice with the Voigtländer Color Skopar 18mm F2.8 is the stellar image quality. It renders colors beautifully, living up to its "Color Skopar" name. The sharpness is impressive, even wide open at F2.8, and it only gets better as you stop down.

Build Quality: This lens feels solid. It's all metal, including the focus and aperture rings, giving it a durability that's hard to find in many lenses today. Plus, it has a certain heft to it that I personally like—it feels substantial without being overly heavy.

Size: For a wide-angle lens, it's pretty compact. Paired with a Fuji X series camera, it makes for a lightweight and unobtrusive setup that's ideal for street photography or travel. A pancake lens.

Manual Focus: If you're a fan of manual focusing, you'll appreciate the smooth focus ring on this lens. It offers just the right amount of resistance and precision, making it easy to nail focus quickly.


Cons:
Manual Focus Only: While I listed manual focus as a pro, it's also a con for those who prefer or need autofocus. Manual focus isn't everyone's cup of tea, especially in fast-paced shooting situations.

Price: Voigtländer lenses aren't cheap, and the Color Skopar 18mm F2.8 is no exception - about 600 to 650 Euro. It's definitely an investment, so you'll need to weigh its benefits against your budget and specific needs. But compared to a Leica lens, it´s definitely a bargain on the other hand.

No Electronic Contacts: This lens doesn't have electronic contacts, meaning you'll miss out on EXIF data and any lens correction features your camera might offer. It's not a deal-breaker for everyone, but something to be aware of.

Vignetting: After the video i double-checked, and: There's some slightly, but noticeable vignetting when shooting wide open at F2.8. It can be corrected in post-processing, but it's something to keep in mind if you prefer getting things right in-camera.


Overall, the Voigtländer Color Skopar 18mm F2.8 is a fantastic lens if you value image quality, build, and the experience of manual focusing. It's a bit of a niche lens due to its manual focus and price, but for the right photographer, it could be the perfect piece of glass.

[homecareful]

I enjoyed this very much. Perfect pacing. Made me feel like a one-on-one conversation with you at a coffee shop. Keep up the good work.

[heldercosta]

I'm new ro the fuji family coming from high end canon. Allways wanted an experience and look on digital as close as possible to film. Have been sitting on ttartisan and 7artisans lenses on fuji and really loving it. Use manual focus for everything even for situations many influencers say its impossible, have no clue why. Starting now to build my voightlander lineup 😁

[jarosawzon]

"Leica cameras such as the Q2 or Q3, M10 or M11 are characterized by exceptional design and image quality." While looking for my first digital Leica, I learned that these are cameras that are prone to failure, are full of defects, very expensive, with very expensive service. The myth of the Lecia camera being reliable and built like a tank has been completely destroyed. All the Leica M8 cameras I checked had sensor defects. Someone will say, but these are old cameras. I have lots of older, serious and amateur cameras. They all work flawlessly mechanically and electronically. Please remember that the Leica M8 had a shutter that failed after only 15, 000 photos. The Leica M9 was famous for sensor corrosion. The forums are full of entries about lines of dead pixels appearing on the matrices of various types of Leica cameras. As a Leica camera owner, I can only say that Leica has only two good things: propaganda + marketing, and lenses. Any other camera can take better photos. Any other camera is more efficient and more comfortable to photograph. Those who dream of a Leica camera should forget about it and spend the money on a good lens for their system. This will be ten times more beneficial. And Fuji has nothing to do with Leica.

[williamstackford]

which mist filter are you using? I'm using a 1/8 and a glimmer glass on sony system and i'm looking to get some for xf 16-55

[AnshulIndia-lrwr]

Thank you! Have you also checked out the 27mm f2 ?

[on_her_own]

Is the Vogtländer lens also available for Sony cameras?

[paprhat]

I laughed out loud when you mentioned the Ricoh HDF hahaha

[berndschimpf]

One important point is that the lens is able to communicate with newer Fuji cameras. My X-Pro2 can´t, so I miss the aperture number in the exif data. But the images are also gorgeous as from my XT5, with shows the aperture correctly.

[PrabhakaraHannken]

Does the hard stop focus at infinity, or beyond as the noktons do?

[Paulo_das_Neves]

Please, any additional comment when comparing with Fujinon 18mm F2? I just sold mine because I didn't like the rendering. Considering this Voigtlander.

[sssf]

Honestly, most of the standard Fuji autofocus primes have the "Leica" look. On a side by side comparison the difference is almost obsolete with build quality also being around the same.

[RohamBroccoli]

Contacted several local stores here in Norway, it looks like they are not interested in taking it in. Really weird😮 Can I ask how much you paid for yours?

[ditruter]

I think i shoot the same photo with Fujifilm 18mm and Voigtlander 18mm and Leica 28mm and nobody can distinguish who is who. So i prefer Fuji 18mm with autofocus. i always choose the cheapest one with good quality instead of the expensive one "with soul" (expensive soul).

[dingbat]

There is one serious problem with this otherwise excellent lens - a lot of people will want to use this for street photography - however the focus throw on the manual focus ring is very, very short for the distances you are likely to want to set it to for zone focus street photography, e.g. set it to 2M distance and f8 - tiny movements are required and it's largely impossible to see what distance you are set at that longer part of the distance scale. This is a real shame as otherwise the lens is a winner

[fernandofrnca]

I have the other Voigtländer pancake, the 27mm f/2. It's glued to my camera ;)

[NDakota]

It's so soft in the corners and with CAs, even at F5.6 or F8…

[zwzs]

I like my Voigtländer lenses - but on the Leica M! 😆 Also have a Fuji X-T30 as a second camera, but I never bothered about the Voigtländer lenses for X-Mount. The XF 27mm (also the old version) is just perfect as a small pancake lens and also cheaper. The Color Skopar 18mm would make more sense to me, because the old XF 18mm is only ok-ish and overpriced in the used market. But then again, 600+ Euros is just too much... Hope the Chinese lens companies make a cheaper 18mm pancake for Fuji some day.

[eek]

because of ridiculous price of fuji, just going to Q1 or CL might be better option and they are all native leica cameras

[devroombagchus]

Why the comparison to Leica? I have a Leica M, but never considered it a standard for benchmarking.