Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f/2 Aspherical VM

[cboy]

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On 3/30/2021 at 6:52 PM, padam said:

https://news.mapcamera.com/maptimes/【leica】ライカビギナー奮闘記-その8-新しいレンズで/
https://ds2life.at.webry.info/202103/article_6.html

Awesome comparison. Seems the apo has more saturated colours and generally brighter than the non apo cron

[Alan Friedman]

Sharp and soft... Apo-Lanthar 35 on Leica SL (601)

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[npsjr]

APO-Lanthar 35 at f2 on an M10-R. Sharp, and beautiful bokeh.

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[Cayenne]

On 3/26/2021 at 10:15 PM, cboy said:

Nothing against the quality of the lens but i just wished it would of been great if they just removed the chrome ring....Almost 95% who will have this lens will have a black filter, which doesnt pair well against a damn chrome ring.

You feel me Cosina....haaay🤦

I see this criticism of the lens quite a bit.

And I'm not trying to be snarky, just trying to understand not buying a lens that by all reviews is extremely good optically and the price is right....because of a silver ring on front.

I mean, if you're shooting, you won't really be seeing that end of the lens very often, and do you think others around you will care or do you really care what other people think?

Again, not trolling, I"m just trying to get an idea of what part of a silver front ring bothers some people so much.  

 

Thank you in advance!!

C

[hdmesa]

1 hour ago, Cayenne said:

I see this criticism of the lens quite a bit.

And I'm not trying to be snarky, just trying to understand not buying a lens that by all reviews is extremely good optically and the price is right....because of a silver ring on front.

I mean, if you're shooting, you won't really be seeing that end of the lens very often, and do you think others around you will care or do you really care what other people think?

Again, not trolling, I"m just trying to get an idea of what part of a silver front ring bothers some people so much.  

 

Thank you in advance!!

C

Because the E-mount non-chrome aesthetics look so much better. I even prefer how the E-mount has the /// APO-LANTHAR logo on the outside. I keep a filter and hood on mine, so I never see the silver ring. But I would love to see the Lanthar logo every time I used the lens.

Edited April 8, 2021 by hdmesa
grammar

[t00l1024]

This thread made me buy one. Arrives Saturday. Damn you all. 🤣

[Khun Hans]

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On 3/30/2021 at 3:51 AM, Alan Friedman said:

If you are shooting with SL series or Sigma fp cameras, a macro M-L adapter is a versatile accessory with both the 50 and 35 CV Apo-Lanthar. I cannot see an optical performance hit with the 35, which will get down to approximately 25cm with a 5mm extension on the helicoid. The rotation of the adapter to get close is a very short throw - the two step action might actually be easier than the long rotation throw reported to get the Leica Apo-Summicron 35 down from 50 to 30cm. I mounted the Apo-Lanthar 35 for the first time yesterday and took a few hundred exposures around my workplace using f2, f2.8 and f 5.6, all of which have a circular diaphragm opening. (The photo of the lenses and macro-adapter is taken with the Sigma 24 f3.5 dg dn)

 

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Nice ABDick press🤠. I sold hundreds of them. My APO-Lanthar 35/2 arrived. Will use it on M10-R and SL2s

[Paco]

9 hours ago, Cayenne said:

I see this criticism of the lens quite a bit.

And I'm not trying to be snarky, just trying to understand not buying a lens that by all reviews is extremely good optically and the price is right....because of a silver ring on front.

I mean, if you're shooting, you won't really be seeing that end of the lens very often, and do you think others around you will care or do you really care what other people think?

Again, not trolling, I"m just trying to get an idea of what part of a silver front ring bothers some people so much.  

 

Thank you in advance!!

C

In street photography a metallic front lens reflects light and makes you more noticeable. Solutions are a lens hood or a black ND filter (or a black ring, etc). Both solutions I don’t like. Even TTArtisan made the lenses without this metal ring. I guess that Voigtländer has an overstock of lens hoods and want to sell some. Will people complain if the front ring is black (in a black lens)? I guess no, and maybe they sell some more lenses. 
(I have the VM 50mm APO-Lanthar, btw).
 

[microview]

The VC 35 is slightly bigger and as weighty as the 50. Approx 53mm max dia. and 60mm projection. Doesn't the Leica 35 match the physical size of older Summicrons?

[hdmesa]

41 minutes ago, Steven said:

Interesting. Is there a haptic feedback, though, like in the Leica APO 35 to let you know that you’re out of mfd range ? 

Also, is it me or the APO 35 is much smaller than this lens ? 

No feedback on decoupling.

Its not just you, the Leica is very small. If it’s like the Leica 50 APO, that drives most of the cost due to the assembly precision, skilled labor and time required. But do note that as I mentioned in the post; that is a photo of the CV 35 1.2 III and not the CV 35 APO. The APO is not as fat as the 1.2 but is also longer.

Edited April 9, 2021 by hdmesa

[Alan Friedman]

The Apo-Lanthar is longer, lighter and will leave your wallet seven thousand dollars heavier.

[Daniel kk]

Red

Voigtlander Apo-Lanthar 35mm f2 with M10

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[astrostl]

17 hours ago, Cayenne said:

I see this criticism of the lens quite a bit.

And I'm not trying to be snarky, just trying to understand not buying a lens that by all reviews is extremely good optically and the price is right....because of a silver ring on front.

I mean, if you're shooting, you won't really be seeing that end of the lens very often, and do you think others around you will care or do you really care what other people think?

Again, not trolling, I"m just trying to get an idea of what part of a silver front ring bothers some people so much.  

I frankly don't understand not understanding it. It's personal aesthetics, which are going to be an even bigger deal in Leica circles than others.

I'm fine with the ring, but I can see how others aren't. I personally can't stand the way tapered lens barrels look, but I can see how others disagree.

[lecycliste]

I bought a used silver 35mm f/1.4 Summilux-TL for my Leica SL2. It was around $900 less than a new one, and half the price of a used 50/2 APO-Summicron-SL ASPH.

I always use hoods on my lenses for flare reduction and protection. Because the used silver 35mm f/1.4 Summilux-TL didn't come with one, I bought a used hood - black since that's what I could find - again for half the price of a new hood. 

That silver lens renders very sharp pictures and pleasing background blur with its black lens hood. But I'm certain the other three possibilities - black-silver, silver-silver, black-black - render just as well. 

I've owned and, more importantly, actually used Leicas since 1969. That wasn't because of their colors. No, it was because of their excellent design and mechanical / optical quality in a relatively small package. Now with low-cost alternatives in optically-great lenses, I look more and more at those alternatives. 

Yes, I realize there are those looking more at aesthetics. But I've always felt equipment was meant to be used, not just looked at, and that it should deliver at least good quality for money.

[astrostl]

15 minutes ago, lecycliste said:

I've always felt equipment was meant to be used, not just looked at, and that it should deliver at least good quality for money.

These are not necessarily mutually-exclusive properties.

[hdmesa]

7 hours ago, Steven said:

Thanks. 

Size, to me, is an important factor. 

That closer MFD is what has my interest. But since I have a Q-P and Q2M, it makes it somewhat redundant. I could sell the Q-P to get it, which would make the expenditure a bit less painful. But since it's really not easily available right now, the temptation factor is pretty low.

Edited April 9, 2021 by hdmesa

[hdmesa]

10 minutes ago, Steven said:

I've used the 35 APO. The MFD, to me, is a big deal if you use the lens on an SL body, or more generally with an EVF. On an M, unless you're a macro photographer, which you shouldn't be if you're using an M, I think you will use it scarcely. it's nice to have for the extra versatility, but it's very cumbersome to use. 

Is 30cm on a 35mm lens on a full frame sensor even macro? The Q's 28mm stops at 30cm before you have to switch it to macro mode, so the 35 APO would give just a bit more magnification than that. So maybe "borderline macro" with macro in quotes. Anyway, lots of us using the M have a Visoflex, so it's just another tool available to those of us that like closeup work. It would keep me from having to take Q along with the M since I do like to use the Q for close-up stuff. I guess the standard 0.7m MFD has a kept M users from becoming hipsters and photographing our plate of food while on vacation because it's too close to focus on 😂

As for cumbersome, do you mean having to use the LCD is cumbersome or do you mean that super-long focus throw in the close-up range makes it awkward? I've wondered about how well that super-long throw works versus the Q with it's macro ring twist that lets me keep the same focus throw speed for close up. I wouldn't care for having to use a really long focus arc to go from 0.7m to 0.3m.

[Jeff S]

22 minutes ago, Steven said:

I've used the 35 APO. The MFD, to me, is a big deal if you use the lens on an SL body, or more generally with an EVF. On an M, unless you're a macro photographer, which you shouldn't be if you're using an M, I think you will use it scarcely. it's nice to have for the extra versatility, but it's very cumbersome to use. 

A video interview I saw recently described how the marketing side coordinates with the technology side within Leica to eventually bring new M lenses to market.  The initial design proposal for the 35 M APO, from the marketing/development side, did not include the .3 MFD; only the typical .7m.  It was only later that the tech side proposed adding it in, given advances in tech, and they went back to the drawing board. I would have much preferred the first design, a simpler, and probably less costly, approach.  Sometimes less is more; just because something can be done, doesn’t mean it should.  But that’s just how I use my gear...M lenses on my M, and SL lenses on my nSL2.  

Jeff

[lecycliste]

I've photographed food and Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs with the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 Nokton II VM and Zeiss 25mm f/2.8 Biogon T* ZM at 0.5m on an M10, using the Typ 020 EVF. It's a very light, high-quality location setup if you're not shooting action. I actively look for M-lenses focusing closer than 0.7m. If the capability's there I use it to tell more of the story. 

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[Jeff S]

3 hours ago, Steven said:

I suppose it was a good move from Leica. When I went to the shop, they said "we have the new APO, it costs 8K, do you want it ?" I said "F2? meh...." They said "it has a revolutionary new MFD of 30cm", I said "here's my credit card". 

The photos at 30cm looks so spectacular it could even make some dog poo look good 🤪

I agree that this change helped justify the desired high price. Bingo. Beyond that, it does nothing for me on an M, nor do I remember any historically great photos with an M that would have improved with closer MFD.  My SL lenses focus closer if I want to use the SL/2.

Jeff