Great image quality even at f2.5, a small lens that is light and handy and delivers very high quality results on Leica M cameras, both film and digital. I've had mine since the early 2000s and it has proved entirely reliable and still works perfectly. It's only downsides are a maximum aperture of f4 and the lack of a rangefinder cam, but these are not problems in most cases, and are offset by the fact that the lens is very small and light with nice "bokeh". The bright finder which was supplied with it and sits in the accessory shoe on an M provides a fairly approximate way of framing the image but for a lens like this, likely to be used for "snapshot" type work at small apertures with zone focusing, it is ideal. The focus ring has stops at1m, 1,5m, 3m and focuses down to 0.7m so zone focusing is very practical because there is generally lots of depth of field even at the smallest aperture. I cannot remember how much I paid for the lens when it was new, but I do remember that it seemed a like extremely good value at the time. I guess that this version is no longer made, but it would be a very good buy secondhand.

Not cammed for a rangefinder and fairly approximate external viewfinder

Exceptionally well built. Compact size, not pancake, but not far off. Half stops on aperture. 39mm filter thread so M series Leica users can use their coloured filters for mono work.

Some may comment on the earlier version, which I have, that is not rangefinder coupled.

I bought this lens to use on a Leica M4-P initially, with the 25mm finder. Now I don't bother with the finder as the M4-P has a frame for 28 mm in the viewfinder, with a small space outside it. I reckon thats 25-26mm. So I have a compact camera/lens thats pocketable. I use hyperfocal focus for street photography and results are every bit as good as the Leica lenses I use on my M3 or Nikon F and contemporary Nikkors. If you have a Leica M6/7/MP you will find this lens very useful indeed. I cannot praise it highly enough.

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Leica M series 35/50/90/135 + 28/35/50/85/105/135 Nikkors on a Nikon F

Solid construction, small, extemely sharp lens.

At f/4 it's probably not best for ultra-low light situations. Cosina Voigtlander discontinued this lens in favor of a ranegfinder coupled model.

I use a 35mm lens as my standard wide angle lens, but sometimes the 35mm isn't wide enough. I'd read many good reviews about the Cosina Voigtlander lenses and, finding the 25mm Snapshot Skopar used at KEH, decided to purchase this ultra wide lens.

The construction is outstanding, very solid and compact. Although it is not rangefinder coupled, with this wide a lens you'd be hard put to get anything out of focus! The viewfinder does not have brightlines but you don't really need them. The aperture is click-stopped and you can set it to half stops, a very handy feature. The focus is click-stopped at 1, 1.5, 3 meters and infinity, another handy feature.

The lens itself is very sharp with little fall off at the edges and no vignetting. There was very little distortion, too.

I'd definitely recommend this lens to anyone wanting an ultra-wide lens for their LTM camera.

Build quality, picture quality, very low price.

Mounting the lens with adapter to an M-Leica

I use this gorgeous little lens on my Leica M2. It's well built, lightweight and very useful. It's not coupled to the rangefinder, but having click stops at 1, 1.5 and 3 meters as well as the well made dof-scale makes focussing easy. The viewfinder is extremely crisp. Picture quality is fine. There is only slight vignetting at f/4, but it seems gone by stopping down to f/5.6. You have to use a little adapter ring when using thge lens on an M-Leica, and mounting the lens is not too easy due to the narrow grip. All in all I'm very pleased, as the original Leica 24 mm lens costs much, much more than the Voigtländer/Cosina 25 mm, but overall quality is up to Leica standards.

Customer Service

Not yet needed

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Other M-lenses (50, 90 mm), Sigma 1.8/24 mm on Canon EOS.

great lense. superb optical quality. snapshot is a good name for it, but i would also call it - '''intuition'''

f4, but from the other hand its small size is very importent.

a real snapshot lense and much more. the only thing i would like about this lense is 1 or 2 f/stops more. but theres a flah in that cases. in street photography that im working on now theres i feel that every thing moves (i dont mean blure objects etc.) i use it mostly with ilford hp5 rated on 800. the quality is superb at all f-stops. the close distance perfomance is superb too. the click stops on the focusing knob is one of the most usefull things for snapshot photography. its not rangefinder coupled but theres no need for it. just make a few exercises for better feel of distance and with its natural depth of field there will be no problems. it comes with the viewfinder for hot shoe conection. its very usefull. but the great thing about this lense (for me at least) is that in many cases im not looking at all in the viewfinder (niether the accessory nor the finder on the body which gives a field of 28mm lense). i wanted it mostly for that. after some studies i am able to control bothh the composition and the perspective without looking in the finders. its very importent in snapshot when u want to get very close to people (so close that u can almost touch them). using it on the waist level gives the best results in my opinion. the only better lense for snapshot is the leica 24mm (about $2000), but this one has click stops. u cannot imagine how useful it is for this kind of photography. theres no need for adapter with the r2 body, but one more adapter is very useful for fast changes of lenses.

Customer Service

none

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28mm from zeiss and nikon. have a few frames with leica 24mm

Excellent optically, very, very cheap, small, light - in short, great!

Not rangefinder coupled, L39 screw.

Having bought the 15mm, I thought I would try one of these. Big mistake! I've since bought 3 other Voigtlander lenses and an M6 to mount them on! It's a lovely lens. Handles well, looks great, and is very sharp.

Customer Service

Excellent. I lost the lens cap, e-mailed Prisma Europe to ask where to get a replacement. They sent me one FOC - a small touch, but a nice one.

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Loads!

Absense of flare and barrel distortion. Tiny, light-weight. Click-stop focus settings more useful than I'd imagined.

The finder coverage is a bit 'hit and miss' along the edges

This was the first of my Voigtlander lenses, and the one that sold me on the Bessa system. I'd used 24mm lenses with various SLR's (Canon and Nikon), but was blown away by the difference between those retrofocus designs and the tiny Voigtlander lens. The Snapshot-Skopar euals the sharpness of the pricier Nikkor, but is far superior in contrast and freedom from distortion. The click-stop focus settings are very handy for from the hip street shooting. The only downside is the finder (while sharp and bright) is a little vague in its edge coverage, depending on how your eye is centered behind it.

Customer Service

None so far

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Canon 24mm f/2.8 FD Nikkor 24mm f/2

Quality of construction and sharpness and fun

Slow (f4)

I use this lense on a Leica IIIf and love the shots for sharpness and contrast, and easy use. Also 25mm is a very useful focal length. No problem focussing, even with no rangefinder coupling. Thislense also feels like a very expensive lense, beautifully made.

Customer Service

Not needed

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Zeiss Contax

Sharp, small, included viewfinder,

slow, hood fixed into the lens, strange cap

Good value for your money. Sharp. Viewfinder included. No rangfinder coupling but it is not a problem. Great alternative to save some money and to own a "must have" lens for outdoor/landscape photographer.

Customer Service

ok

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Leica and Voightlander user.

Small, light sharp, takes 39mm filters, has hood.

Alittle slow (f4), screw mount, not coupled RF.

Good overall lens, very sharp & it looks good on my Bessa L. Dont like the screw mt as it takes too long to change lenses. Got inro RF because I like the quietness of the cameras.

Have you read God's Book? There will be a test!

Customer Service

none yet, but did call up distributor & person was not too knollegeable.

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Leica, Canon & (junk) Russian cameras & lenses.