{"id":21760,"date":"2019-12-31T07:06:18","date_gmt":"2019-12-31T06:06:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/?p=21760"},"modified":"2024-04-21T13:29:43","modified_gmt":"2024-04-21T12:29:43","slug":"review-voigtlander-50mm-f2-apo-lanthar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/phillipreeve.net\/blog\/review-voigtlander-50mm-f2-apo-lanthar\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Voigtlander 50mm F2 APO-Lanthar"},"content":{"rendered":"

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The Voigtlander 50mm F2 APO-Lanthar has been highly anticipated because of the reputation built by its APO-cousins the mighty 2\/65 macro and 2.5\/110 Macro. So can the much compact 2\/50 APO match or even surpass those lenses performance?<\/p>\n

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You can find most images in this review in full resolution on flickr<\/a> where you can also browse them in high quality.<\/p>\n

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Specifications<\/h1>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
Diameter<\/td>\n63 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Length<\/td>\n61 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Filter Thread<\/td>\n49 mm<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Weight (no hood, no caps)<\/td>\n364g<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Max. Magnification<\/td>\n1:6.4<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Close Focusing Distance from the sensor<\/td>\n0.45 m<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Number of aperture blades<\/td>\n12<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Elements\/ Groups<\/td>\n10\/8<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

The Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO-Lanthar sells for $1049 at cameraquest<\/a> | Amazon.com<\/a> | B&H<\/a> (affiliate links).
\nIf you purchase the lens through one of these affiliate-links I get a small compensation with no additional cost to you.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Disclosure<\/h1>\n

This copy was loaned to me free of charge from\u00a0RobertWhite.co.uk<\/a> for a few weeks.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Features<\/h1>\n

The Voigtlander 50mm F2 APO-Lanthar is a fully manual lens so you have to change focus and aperture by yourself. The camera can’t change the aperture so S- and P-mode will not work as with native lenses.<\/p>\n

It has electronic contacts to communicate with the camera. The lens provides correct exif-data and distance information so that 5-axis OSS can be used. Focus magnification can be automatically activated when the focus ring gets turned.<\/p>\n

You can easily de-click the aperture for video use with the turn of a ring.<\/p>\n

Voigtlander calls it an APO lens which means that chromatic aberrations are very well corrected. More on this further below.<\/p>\n

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Other Resources<\/h1>\n

Cosina, the Japanese manufacturer of the Voigtlander 50mm F2 APO-Lanthar dedicated it to celebrate the 20 years anniversary of the Voigtlander brands revival. In an unusual move for them they released a 4 parts series<\/a> along side it which covers the development of the lens and which I found an interesting read. It is in Japanese so google translate is your friend.<\/p>\n

I don’t cover the sharpness aspect with great depth because I don’t find much enjoyment in pixel peeping and so I am still content using a 24MP camera where even 45 years old 50mm lenses deliver excellent performance at f\/8. Fred Miranda<\/a> did an excellent job testing it on the a7rIV, so if\u00a0 you want to know if it holds up 61 MP (spoiler: it does), check out his tests.<\/p>\n

Build Quality<\/h1>\n

The Voigtlander 50mm F2 Macro offers very good build quality<\/b>. The lens hull is made from nothing but metal and tolerances are very low. Most but not all markings are engraved.<\/p>\n

There is no gasket around the mount and Voigtlander does not claim any weather resistance\u00a0<\/strong>which is a bit of a letdown for such an expensive lens.<\/p>\n

Of course I can’t tell you how durable the lens will be in the long term. All I can do is give you my superficial impression which is very positive<\/strong> in this case.<\/p>\n

Bastian once had to get his Voigtlander 1.7\/35 repaired which had to be done in Japan and he had to wait many weeks for the repair while repairs from other manufacturers are usually much faster. Stephen from\u00a0CameraQuest<\/a>\u00a0in the US told me that they do most repairs in house and that few lenses have to go to Japan.<\/p>\n

Handling<\/h1>\n

Handling is all-round excellent. At the base of the lens there is a wide enough area which is textured in parts to easily un-mount the 2\/50 APO.<\/p>\n

Focus Ring<\/strong><\/p>\n

The focus ring\u00a0<\/strong>travels 90 degrees from 45 cm to 1 m and about a further 50 degrees to infinity. This transmission and the focus ring’s very pleasant resistance make focusing at any distance a breeze. Manual focus doesn’t get more enjoyable than with this lens.<\/p>\n

Aperture ring<\/strong><\/p>\n

The aperture ring at the front of the lens is a joy to use<\/strong>. You can easily find it by touch and it is made from metal with distinctive stops and a very pleasant resistance. I am not a fan of 1\/3 stops but since Sony by default uses these this is not something I blame on Cosina. The Voigtlander stops down to f\/16.<\/p>\n

Hood<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Voigtlander 50mm F2 has a rather exposed front element. So I prefer to always have the hood attached. The hood is made from metal and modest in size, it increases the length of the lens by about 23mm without changing the diameter. A nice touch is that the hood has a 58mm filter thread and comes with it’s own lens cap.<\/p>\n

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Size and Weight<\/strong><\/h2>\n

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The Voigtlander 50mm F2 APO-Lanthar is rather compact lens, about the same size as Sony’s FE 1.8\/50 and 10mm shorter than the FE 1.8\/55 and much smaller than the Voigtlander 2\/65 APO. This makes it a perfect match to my a7ii on which it balances very well.<\/p>\n

Optical performance<\/h1>\n

These results are based on the use with a Sony Alpha 7II.<\/p>\n

Flare Resistance<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Even when pushed very hard the Voigtlander will show only minor ghosting and veiling flare. A very good performance.<\/p>\n