A brand-new Color-Skopar 28mm f/2.8 Aspherical lens for VM mount (compatible with Leica M mount) and another variant in L39 mount will be made available by Cosina in August. The new lens is being offered in three different models and two mounts. One of them has a completely distinct exterior casing, giving it the appearance of being an entirely different lens, while the other two look relatively similar. The appearance of each of these three versions is seen below:

The VM Type I and VM Type II lenses offer radically diverse aesthetics to suit the preferences of various photographers. Cosina claims that the Type I version has a “nostalgic appearance” and the Type II version has a more “modern style.” The optical formula and performance are nearly same regardless of which of them a photographer chooses for their own needs or preferences: they both have a construction of eight elements arranged into five groups and an aperture range of f/2.8 to f/22 via a 10-bladed diaphragm.

Along with the two aforementioned styling possibilities, the Cosina VM mount variants are compatible with Leica M mount and come in either black or silver. Cosina claims that the lenses’ all-metal helicoid unit has been treated to deliver great precision and just the correct amount of torque.

The two lenses’ performance was described as being practically identical earlier; their only difference is in how close they can focus. The VM Type 2 lens can focus much closer, with a close shooting distance of only 0.5 meters (or 19.7 inches), compared to the VM Type 1 lens’s near focusing distance of 0.7 meters (or 27.6 inches).

Cosina refers to the L39 version’s 39mm screw mount as a “universal” mount that is simple to adapt to various mirrorless camera mounts. The performance is otherwise the same as the VM Type 1 lens.