Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO vs Leica 50mm f/2 APO

[MarkP]

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13 hours ago, stephan54 said:

Serious advice: Stay away from DP Review. 

I do 🙂

Edited May 20, 2022 by MarkP

[tap360]

On 3/12/2022 at 6:18 AM, bernstein1234 said:

The Leica 50 APO is definitely smaller! Especially the silver chrome looks great with silver bodies. On a serious note, I used to own the Voigtlander APO and am still impressed at its image quality for so much less cost. However, the size and lack of silver option was the final deciding factor to let it go.

On a side note, the Leica APO should be able to hold its value well, so I would say it is value for its money.

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that's a beautiful combo.  Do the chrome match lens and body, or is the anodized aluminium a bit different?

More importantly, do you feel the APO is justified on an M9 (I have one), or should I really be looking to upgrade camera to justify the high cost of APO over say the VM APO Panther?

 

[pedaes]

1 hour ago, tap360 said:

do you feel the APO is justified on an M9

Not a question to ask someone who has paid nearly £6k for it😀

This is a judgement based on many things and what you do with your images. Do you print, and how big? If you only look at images on a screen any 50mm will do.

As the camera 'chrome' is matt, the lens matches very well (or at least mine does)

[bernstein1234]

10 hours ago, tap360 said:

that's a beautiful combo.  Do the chrome match lens and body, or is the anodized aluminium a bit different?

More importantly, do you feel the APO is justified on an M9 (I have one), or should I really be looking to upgrade camera to justify the high cost of APO over say the VM APO Panther?

 

I'd say always go for the lens first, from the point of view of quality-wise and investment-wise. There's no such thing as 'my camera cannot outresolve the lens', in fact I had seen others use this lens on film and produced wonderful results! Always remember there's no such thing as bad camera good lens or good camera bad lens - in fact if one of them is more superior than the other, the results are actually good. Of course if both lens and body are very good (e.g. 50 APO and M11) then the output will be exceptional (near medium format).

That being said, I've since sold off my 50 APO silver as I've a chance to purchase the 28 LUX in silver, a FL which I use more often. Nothing wrong on the part of the 50 APO but rather a justification of which one gets more use time.

[RexGig0]

On 1/23/2024 at 11:38 PM, SuperPuppet said:

After coughing up the big bucks for the M11P, 28mm Summilux and 75mm APO I needed to save on something. (I regrettably sold all my Leica gear in 2012 and finally just replaced it)

Enter the Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar. After reading the high praise I bought my copy, just arrived today. I don’t normally own lenses that are not from the original manufacturer, across several marques and decades of shooting. In this instance, the massive saving combined with the highly rated performance makes for a huge win!!!

The 50mm APO Lanthar is, indeed, a “win,” regardless of budget. The 28mm Summilux and 75mm Cron are a truly powerful pair of Leica M lenses, and accomplished photographers who truly evaluate various brands and systems, without bias, have said that the Voitglander 50mm APO Lanthar performs at Zeiss Otus* level, so, no need feel that anything has been compromised. If, someday, I manage to acquire an APO Summicron-M 50mm ASPH, I will keep my Voigtlander APO Lanthar. If for no other reason, its superb flare resistance.

There usually is more than one way to “win.” In 2022, when I was considering the purchase of a pre-owned Noctilux f/0.95, or a new APO ‘Cron ASPH, I opted, instead, to buy a pristine, pre-owned APO 75mm Summicron-M 75mm ASPH, a financial decision which enabled me to also acquire a very well-preserved Elmar-M 24mm ASPH. Part of this alternate plan was to eventually acquire a Voigtlander 50mm APO Lanthar, which finally happened in 2023. I believe that I “won.” 🙂

Notably, part of this overall winning formula is that I was blessed to start Leica M shooting with the perfectly imperfect Summilux-M 50mm ASPH, which remains my favorite Leica M lens.

* I do not claim to be any kind of expert, or an “accomplished” photographer, but, I do have a Zeiss Otus 85mm ZF.2, for the Nikon mount, which is nowhere near 50mm, but is a useful point of reference.