Ricoh GXR: M-Mount Unit with Voigtländer 25 mm (M39)

Introduction | Body with Lens Attached | Some Technical Data | Sample Images | Conclusions | Links

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Note: At the end of 2016, I decided to sell or give away my Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4.0 Pancake lens in favor of the Leica Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH. lens in order to have less trouble and work with color shading when the lens is used at the Leica M (Typ 240). I gave it away in mid-January 2017 and am therefore no longer able to update this page or to answer questions about this lens.

After Ricoh's official announcement of the M-mount expansion unit, I decided to buy one, although I had not intended to do so originally. Here are my first personal experiences with the lenses that I bought (or tried to buy). This page is devoted to the Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens that I bought used. This is not an M-mount lens, but a M39 one - it has to be used with an LTM adapter at the M-mount expansion unit.

All lens pages: Voigtländer 15mm f/4.5 | Zeiss Biogon 21mm f/4.5 | Voigtländer 25mm f/4 (M39) | Minolta M-Rokkor 28mm f/2.8 | Zeiss Biogon 35mm f/2.8 | Zeiss Sonnar 50mm f/1.5 | Voigtländer 75mm f/2.5 (M39) | Leitz Elmar-C 90mm f/4 | Leitz Tele-Elmar 135mm f/4

 

Introduction

Why I Bought this Lens...

After I had purchased the Zeiss Biogons 21mm and 35 mm, I found that there was still a gap that should be closed. The 21 mm lens comes close to a classic 28 mm lens, while the 35 mm corresponds to a normal lens between 50 mm and 55 mm. Thus, I was looking for something in the range of a classic moderate wide angle lens of 35 mm. Since the 25 mm Zeiss lenses were beyond what I wanted to pay, and even the Voigtländer 25 mm pancake lens appeared to much, I looked for a cheaper option and found it in the Minolta M-Rokkor 28mm f/2.8. But with its 42 mm equivalent focal length, it is actually a "short" normal lens.

I therefore pursued this issue further and hit, more or less by accident, on the Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens, which received quite favorable reviews. Probably, I did not consider it in the past because it is a screw mount (M39) lens. But since I had bought already a screw mount lens (a Voigtländer Color Heliar 75mm f/2.5 lens), which worked well with an LTM adapter, just before, I no longer had any reservations as to buying a screw mount lens. So I purchased a used one via eBay in mid-June 2014.

Actually, this lens is a little bit "longer" than a true 35 mm lens: On the M-mount expansion unit, it has an equivalent focal length of 37.5 mm. Thus, it is a "mild" wide angle lens - between a 35 mm and a 40 mm lens.

The Lens

Below are photos taken by the previous owner who sold the lens (including a Voigtländer LTM adapter) in a very good condition:

    

Photos: Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake (37.5 mm equiv.) (Photos taken by the previous owner)

And here are some quick-and-dirty photos of my own:

         
       

With LTM adapter

   

With LTM adapter

 

Screw mount (M39) visible

 

With LTM adapter

   

Lens hood separate

 

Lens hood separate

 

Screw mount visible, lens hood separate

Photos: Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens (37.5 mm equiv.)

On the M-mount expansion unit, this lens has an equivalent focal length of 37.5 mm, so it is a mild "wide angle" lens - between a 35 mm and a 40 mm lens.

 

Body with Lens Attached

         
         
   

Photos: Body with A12 M-mount expansion unit attached and Voigtländer SNAPSHOT Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens

 

Some Technical Data

Focal length 25 mm (37.5 mm equiv.)
Angle of view (35mm film) 82° diagonal
Maximum aperture 4
f-stop range 4-22
Number of iris blades 10
Number of lenses/groups 5/7
Shortest distance 0.7 m
Weight 90 g
Length 29.5 mm
Maximum diameter 49.5 mm
Filter thread unknown
Lens hood separate, screw-mount
Mount M39

Depth of field table for the Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 (valid for 35 mm film or a full-format sensor):

  F/4.0 F/5.6 F/8.0 F/11 F/16 F/22
0.7m 0.62-0.80 0.60-0.85 0.57-0.,93 0.52-1.07 0.48-1.39 0.42-2.40
1.0m 0.,85-1.23 0.80-1.35 0.74-1.58 0.67-2.08 0.,59-3.88 0.50-∞
1.5m 1.17-2.11 1.08-2.50 0.97-3.48 0.84-7.84 0.72-∞ 0.59-∞
3.0m 1.89-7.46 1.66-17.54 1.40-∞ 1.15-∞ 0.92-∞ 0.72-∞
4.93-∞ 3.58-∞ 2.54-∞ 1.81-∞ 1.29-∞ 0.93-∞

 

Sample Images

Here are first samples taken with the Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens (click the images to view the unprocessed original files in a new window). Some shots were taken at the same place but at different times and with different lighting.

    
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
 
     
   

 

Conclusions

Disclaimer: I am not a lens expert who sees marked differences between various Leica and/or other lenses. I can check for soft corners, find differences in color rendition, and, in rare cases, may discover a "3D look", but that's all. Please regard therefore my conclusions as the verdict of a "layman".

I have too little experience with the Voigtländer Snapshot-Skopar 25mm f/4 Pancake lens to draw any definite conclusions on this lens. However, the silver lens looks nice on the black Ricoh GXR body, which I did not expect. It is also a very handy lens - and it seems indeed to be an all-purpose lens on the Ricoh GXR, where it comes close to a classic 35 mm lens (actually, its equivalent focal length lies between 35 and 40 mm).

Note: At the end of 2016, I decided to exchange this lens against the Leica Elmar-M 24mm f/3.8 ASPH. lens to have less trouble and work with color shading (since I am a JPG shooter...) when the lens is used at the Leica M (Typ 240). I tried to sell it but then decided to give it away to a friend in mid-January 2017. I am therefore no longer able to update this page or to answer questions about this lens.

 

Links

For more links related to the Ricoh GXR M-mount expansion unit, see page M-Mount Links.

 

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21.11.2020