Voigtländer Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 100th Model Celebrates Lens Series Anniversary

Cosina has announced the Voigtländer Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 100th Model, a limited-edition lens celebrating the 100th anniversary of the company’s Skopar lens series. The commemorative model combines the optical design of the existing Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 P II with vintage-inspired styling and a silver finish.

Vintage-Inspired Design

The Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 100th Model features a newly designed lens barrel intended to improve portability. It has an elegant silver finish, accompanied by a matching slotted metal lens hood and a special three-piece aluminum rear lens cap.

The lens weighs 134 grams (4.7 ounces) and measures just 23mm (0.9 inches) in length. It accepts 39mm front filters, making it a compact option for photographers using Leica M-mount rangefinder cameras.

Optical Design and Manual Focusing

The lens uses an optical construction of seven elements in five groups, including one abnormal partial-dispersion element. Its 10-bladed aperture diaphragm is designed to produce a rounded aperture opening.

Like the existing Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 P II, the anniversary model is manual focus only. It features a precision-machined metal helicoid unit and a high-precision rangefinder coupling mechanism for use with compatible Leica M-mount cameras.

A shaped focusing tab provides a dedicated point of contact for the photographer’s finger, allowing for more controlled manual focusing. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of 0.7 meters (2.3 feet), consistent with the limitations of many rangefinder-coupled lenses.

Although designed for Leica M-mount rangefinder cameras, the lens may also be adapted for use with other camera systems using an appropriate mount adapter.

Pricing and Availability

The Voigtländer Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 100th Model will launch in Japan in November for 75,000 yen, approximately $475. This is close to the current $479 price of the standard Color-Skopar 35mm F/2.5 P II, which was introduced in 2004 and remains available.

Cosina has not announced whether the limited-edition anniversary lens will be sold outside Japan.