Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 50mm f/2 Aspherical VM lens to be announced soon

[roma]

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Thank you everyone for providing focus accuracy tests!

Looks like this lens is a great budget APO alternative to the holy grail. Of course we can’t expect the same results as Leica produces, but the price is right

Also, great to hear it’s wider than a Lux ASPH. It drives me crazy when a lens doesn’t cover what’s in the framellines.

Edited February 7, 2021 by roma

[Pixeleater]

Lots of opinions out there about this lens. I'll wait for Sean Reid to evaluate it. His reviews are exemplary.

[Leon Sung]

One test shot with cat.
 

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[padam]

5 hours ago, jacktaka said:

I'm sorry I don't have a comparison against the Leica APO, but renting one would cost about $300. I have a question though, what differences would one expect to see between these two lenses? The Voigtlander APO appears to be perfect in all aspects I've tested, maybe there are some other characteristics in which the Leica could be better that I'm not aware of?

The sharpness between these two lenses look quite similar, but Voigtlander lenses render colour, contrast and bokeh differently.

The voigtlander seems to have a bit 'flatter', cooler look to it, while the Leica looks warmer and smoother and more 3D, some wrote it is more reministent of some medium format lenses. Difficult to say without seeing them side-by-side, maybe the differences are rather small after the appropriate post-processing is applied.

On the other hand, the Voigtlander does not seem to have the flare problem like the Leica.

I am sure somebody will compare the two sooner or later.

[Gobert]

13 minutes ago, padam said:

The sharpness between these two lenses look quite similar, but Voigtlander lenses render colour, contrast and bokeh differently.

The voigtlander seems to have a bit 'flatter', cooler look to it, while the Leica looks warmer and smoother and more 3D, some wrote it is more reministent of some medium format lenses. Difficult to say without seeing them side-by-side, maybe the differences are rather small after the appropriate post-processing is applied.

On the other hand, the Voigtlander does not seem to have the flare problem like the Leica.

I am sure somebody will compare the two sooner or later.

You have both lenses?

[jaapv]

6 hours ago, jacktaka said:

The Voigtlander APO appears to be perfect in all aspects I've tested,

I am happy that you like the lens and it appears  to be a good one,, but no lens is perfect, some are more perfect than others. If you don't see a flaw, you haven not tested precisely enough. 
What are the resolution numbers? MTF curves? Differences in the OOF areas? Flare behaviour? Vignetting? Distortion? Flatness of focal plane? Etc.

Then there is the not-measurable quality of  rendering. You need to see the transparency and precision of the Apo-Summicron to appreciate the difference.

As for lenses like the Noctilux, those are not made for very low light photography, like in the past. There is no need with present-day sensors and software. They are used for shallow-DOF photography and the way they render, the quality of their bokeh and smoothness of focus fall-off are the differentiating characteristics.

Your piece is a nice but limited  comparison and I thank you for that.

Have a look here

Peter Karbe give a short explanation of the background

An interesting comparison

 

 

 

[Edax]

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1 hour ago, jaapv said:

Then there is the not-measurable quality of  rendering. You need to see the transparency and precision of the Apo-Summicron to appreciate the difference.

If I could actually buy an APO50 that does that out of the box delivered to me at home without any other quality issues I would seriously consider doing that. But for me now it takes courage to order a new Leica M lens again. The last four Leica lenses I bought all had problems out of the box. Some de-centered and all had rangefinder coupling errors (checked on two different bodies). So I returned them all, I have no ambition in the lens quality test business. But still very happy with the first one, the Summilux-M 35mm FLE.

All three Voigtlanders I have came in just fine.

Circumstantial, I know.

 

[Cobram]

6 minutes ago, Edax said:

If I could actually buy an APO50 that does that out of the box delivered to me at home without any other quality issues I would seriously consider doing that. But for me now it takes courage to order a new Leica M lens again. The last four Leica lenses I bought all had problems out of the box. Some de-centered and all had rangefinder coupling errors (checked on two different bodies). So I returned them all, I have no ambition in the lens quality test business. But still very happy with the first one, the Summilux-M 35mm FLE.

All three Voigtlanders I have came in just fine.

Circumstantial, I know.

 

Indeed Voigtlander is doing a remarkable job in last years... 

[jaapv]

Yes, one or two had calibration issues in the past with me. One week in Solms fixed the issue. Nowadays we rarely hear complaints if ever. Maybe Leica tightened up the final inspection. 

[Cobram]

8 hours ago, jacktaka said:

I appreciate the feedback. I've rephrased "best 50mm for Leica M" to be more specific about I mean. I also fully concede that my opinions about >f/1.4 lenses are 100% opinion and many people really like lenses like the Noctilux.

I'm sorry I don't have a comparison against the Leica APO, but renting one would cost about $300. I have a question though, what differences would one expect to see between these two lenses? The Voigtlander APO appears to be perfect in all aspects I've tested, maybe there are some other characteristics in which the Leica could be better that I'm not aware of?

Regarding the small size of the images, I'll remove the 50/1.5 II tests so that the images show up larger. The 50/1.5 II comparison didn't add much anyways.

Dear Jacktaka,

I really appreciate your review. I think it is very similar to reviews you posted in this thread: https://www.l-camera-forum.com/topic/305393-small-compact-lenses/page/3/?tab=comments#comment-4119421

@steve 1959 why so different opinion about Jacktaka reviews between 35 Lux and CV 50 APO? Just curious.

[colonel]

2 hours ago, jaapv said:

I am happy that you like the lens and it appears  to be a good one,, but no lens is perfect, some are more perfect than others. If you don't see a flaw, you haven not tested precisely enough. 
What are the resolution numbers? MTF curves? Differences in the OOF areas? Flare behaviour? Vignetting? Distortion? Flatness of focal plane? Etc.

Then there is the not-measurable quality of  rendering. You need to see the transparency and precision of the Apo-Summicron to appreciate the difference.

As for lenses like the Noctilux, those are not made for very low light photography, like in the past. There is no need with present-day sensors and software. They are used for shallow-DOF photography and the way they render, the quality of their bokeh and smoothness of focus fall-off are the differentiating characteristics.

Your piece is a nice but limited  comparison and I thank you for that.

Have a look here

Peter Karbe give a short explanation of the background

An interesting comparison

 

 

 

Actually I disagree on the low light thing. Every modern camera is better on lower ISO. In addition, by opening wider you can bump up the speed, which is essential for sharp movement. The more range a lens gives you the better. Which is why I use the TTartisan 50mm 0.95 as my go to 50mm now for street and night shooting. It’s sharp everywhere except the extreme corners, Having the range is wonderful. 

[Gobert]

@colonel,

that is not completely correct. It was in the old analog days, but not nowadays.

Optimum ISO of an M10 is ISO 200. Nevertheless, you can down to ISO 100. 

[BrianS]

11 hours ago, jaapv said:

i know a number of convincing reasons to use a Noctilux 0.95...  It is a specialist lens, but in the right hands it gives unique results.

Here is my list of lenses with convincing reasons for each as to why you should not consider using it:

1) 

Edited February 7, 2021 by BrianS

[Gobert]

8 minutes ago, BrianS said:

Here is my list of lenses with convincing reasons for each as to why you should not consider using it:

1) 

I am glad to read that you are out of arguments.

[BrianS]

A fence in the neighborhood- gives an idea for sharpness across the field. Full-res jpeg uploaded.

At F2,

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This lens does well with the M Monochrom. 

[BrianS]

3 minutes ago, Gobert said:

I am glad to read that you are out of arguments.

For not using lenses, I have a couple hundred that I lost the "I can't think of any reason not to use this lens".

The only reason why I do not have a 50/0.95 Noctilux and the APO-Summicron is the expense. I would very much like to have them. I do have many very-rare lenses, but would not sell them to attain these.

Edited February 7, 2021 by BrianS

[tgray]

1 hour ago, jaapv said:

Yes, one or two had calibration issues in the past with me. One week in Solms fixed the issue. Nowadays we rarely hear complaints if ever. Maybe Leica tightened up the final inspection. 

I have a new Lecia lens (28mm Summicron) that is incredibly off in focusing. New out of the box. I acknowledge the impacts of the pandemic, but I was quoted 14 weeks to fix it by Leica NJ, and that is ridiculous even if they hit their target date.  Which I doubt they would. 

[tgray]

9 hours ago, jacktaka said:

I appreciate the feedback. I've rephrased "best 50mm for Leica M" to be more specific about I mean. I also fully concede that my opinions about >f/1.4 lenses are 100% opinion and many people really like lenses like the Noctilux.

I'm sorry I don't have a comparison against the Leica APO, but renting one would cost about $300. I have a question though, what differences would one expect to see between these two lenses? The Voigtlander APO appears to be perfect in all aspects I've tested, maybe there are some other characteristics in which the Leica could be better that I'm not aware of?

Regarding the small size of the images, I'll remove the 50/1.5 II tests so that the images show up larger. The 50/1.5 II comparison didn't add much anyways.

Thanks for the review. I’d keep the 50/1.5 II images. Not a lot of comparisons between that lens and the others you tested. 

[Gobert]

5 minutes ago, tgray said:

I have a new Lecia lens (28mm Summicron) that is incredibly off in focusing. New out of the box. I acknowledge the impacts of the pandemic, but I was quoted 14 weeks to fix it by Leica NJ, and that is ridiculous even if they hit their target date.  Which I doubt they would. 

Why this never happens to me?

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Edax]

5 minutes ago, Gobert said:

Why this never happens to me?

Where do you buy them?