Review: Voigtlander 180mm 4.0 SL APO Lanthar

Introduction

Sony A7rII with Voigtlander SL 180mm 4.0 APO-Lanthar via Rayqual Nikon to Sony adapter review sharpness bokeh
Sony A7rII with Voigtlander SL 180mm 4.0 APO-Lanthar via Rayqual Nikon to Sony adapter

The Voigtlander 180mm 4.0 SL APO-Lanthar has become quite famous for its small size coupled with good optics, but unfortunately also for being a rare and expensive collector’s item. So does it make sense getting one for actually taking photos with it? Find out in this review…

Sample Images

voigtlander 180mm 4.0 apo lanthar sl sony a7 a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 review tele 200mm sharpness bokeh portrait
Sony A7rII | Voigtlander 180mm 4.0 APO Lanthar | f/4.0
voigtlander 180mm 4.0 apo lanthar sl sony a7 a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 review tele 200mm sharpness bokeh
Sony A7rII | Voigtlander 180mm 4.0 APO Lanthar | f/4.0
voigtlander 180mm 4.0 apo lanthar sl sony a7 a7rii a7r2 a7rm2 review tele 200mm sharpness architecture sunstar
Sony A7rII | Voigtlander 180mm 4.0 APO Lanthar | f/11

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Tuning adapters for infinity focus and reflections – How To

Since a few people asked this is a short how-to on how I tune my adapters. As you will notice I am far from a perfectionist but so far my method has worked well for me and I think it could solve issues for some of you as well.

Correcting Infinity Focus

The Issue

Most adapters, not only the cheap ones, are a bit too short. This means that the markings on your lens are off and you can focus your lens behind infinity so the infinity hard stop of your lens won’t work. It makes sense for adapter manufacturers to make their adapters a bit too short because your Sony’s flange focal distance varies a bit and so does lens calibration. If their adapters were exactly as thick as specified there would be quite a few cases were people couldn’t focus at infinity which is way more annoying than a focus scale which is a little off.

But a too short adapter can also have negative impact on the image quality if you use a lens with floating elements. Especially with fast wide angle lenses you can get serious field curvature issues as many users of the Metabones Canon EF adapters have found out.

Important notice: This fix only works if you can focus at infinity and beyond! If you can’t reach infinity the fix will only make matters worse.

The lens is focused as infinity but the focus scale is way off because the adapter is too short

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Review: Nikon Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4

Introduction

nikon s nikkor rangefinder nikkor-s 50mm 1.4 rf sony a7 a7rii bokeh
Sony A7rII + Voigtlander VM-E close focus adapter + Nikon Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4 RF

This review covers the rather exotic Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4 rangefinder lens, which I got the chance to review thanks to a reader. It is small, it is lightweight, it has exceptional build quality, but what about the optics? Read on to find out!

Sample Images

nikon s nikkor rangefinder nikkor-s 50mm 1.4 rf sony a7 a7rii bokeh
Sony A7rII | Nikon Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4 | f/2.8
nikon s nikkor rangefinder nikkor-s 50mm 1.4 rf sony a7 a7rii bokeh
Sony A7rII | Nikon Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4 | f/1.4
nikon s nikkor rangefinder nikkor-s 50mm 1.4 rf sony a7 a7rii bokeh
Sony A7rII | Nikon Nikkor-S 50mm 1.4 | f/5.6

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The Team’s favorite lenses – April 2017 Edition

This is the first article of a new series in which we want to share our favorite lenses and new gear with you. There will be a new edition of it every half year.

Jannik’s favorites

I am still not able to contribute as much as I’d like to because I am very busy with my work. Nevertheless, I’m happy to share my current favorites with you:

Sony A6500 | Zeiss Touit 1.8/32 | f/4

Zeiss Loxia 2.8/21

I have used the Batis 2.8/18 for a while but something just didn’t feel right about it for me. Therefore, I have exchanged it in favor of the Loxia 2.8/21. It is still my all time favorite lens and I prefer it for it’s handling, the beautiful and contrasty rendering and it’s sun stars.

Sony A7II | Zeiss Loxia 21mm 2.8 | f/8

Continue reading The Team’s favorite lenses – April 2017 Edition

Sony α | Leica M | Nikon Z New article every week