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| p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Voigtlander 110mm f/2.5 Macro APO-Lanthar Review | |
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FM Rolling Review: Voigtlander 110mm f/2.5 Macro APO-Lanthar
The wait is finally over! Long production delays sparked anticipation of the Voigtlander 110mm f/2.5 Macro APO-Lanthar lens, and this month Voigtlander ultimately delivered.
It's not like Sony shooters didn't have anything else in their bags to work with. Most were satisfied with the Voigtlander 65mm f/2 Macro APO-Lanthar, because you have to admit, it does have superb resolution/contrast, lack of color aberration, and 1:2 macro capabilities. However, the expectation with this new lens - was that the Voigtlander 110/2.5 APO would improve MFD working distance at life size magnification and deliver ever better image quality.
A big feature of the CV 110/2.5 APO is a modern apochromatic optical design (APO) and the 8 anomalous partial dispersion elements, or in other words a lot of special glass. In the past, superior axial chromatic aberration correction, was like an impossible dream. Lens designers love to market some of their lenses as true APO, but we all know very few optical designs ever come close to filling the void. I had high hopes and I decided to put this lens through the ringer - and with these high expectations I couldn't even find a trace of color aberration. The CV 110 brings APO to a whole new level. Literally, the best I've ever seen.
If onion bokeh is not your thing, you're in luck. Since they avoided the use of aspherical elements in the optical design, you're left with clean specular highlights on your images. No more onion rings.
The CV 110 also features a 3-group floating mechanism allowing it to maintain high image quality from macro to infinity.
Check out the optical design diagram below:
Here is a summary with links to the tests and sample images:- Side-by-side "size" comparison to CV 65/2 APO at different distances
- Infinity Resolution/contrast comparison between CV 110/2.5 APO vs Batis 135/2.8 APO
- Infinity Resolution/contrast comparison between CV 110/2.5 APO vs FE 100-400 GM @110mm and f/5.6
- Field Curvature and Focus shift
- Sunstar Rendering
- Macro Performance at 1:1 Magnification
- Specular Highlights (Rendering)
- Flare Resistance and sunstar rendering at infinity
- Flare Resistance compared to Loxia 85 and 100-400GM lenses
- Final Thoughts
- Sample images (Macro)
- Sample images (Portrait)
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First Impressions:
Voigtlander keeps rolling out top notch lenses for the Sony E-mount. I've tested every one I could get my hands on and without a doubt, up until yesterday - the highest resolution and mostly color aberration corrected I'd ever seen was on the Voigtlander 65/2 Macro APO-Lanthar.
Now, the newly released 110mm f/2.5 Macro APO-Lanthar promises to keep similar levels of resolution, contrast and aberration correction while adding 1:1 macro capability and longer working distance, and it does. Voigtlander even managed to keep the size of the 110mm f/2.5 APO just about the same as the CV 65/2 APO lens. It's only 8mm longer when compared.
Just like the other Voigtlander lenses, you get the quality of an all metal construction and tight tolerance build. There's also a 10-blade straight aperture mechanism with the precision of 1/3 stop increments. Video users might not like that it cannot be de-clicked, but keep in mind that this is a macro lens and it hands you well-defined 10-point sunstars, the kind that landscape photographers drool over.
Unlike the CV 65/2, the 110/2.5's aperture ring is located near the lens mount instead of the front. I have to admit that this was kinda different and an adjustment for me. But, after a couple days shooting mostly macro, I came to appreciate the aperture ring's position since it's much easier to adjust when the lens is fully extended - almost doubling in size.
Let's talk about the focus ring for a minute. It has just the right amount of resistance and within a 90 degree rotation you can go from infinity to 0.7m.
This focus throw allows for precision but it's also pretty sensitive. The slightest rotation throws your subject out of focus, which is something that I personally don't mind
since I like to know that my subject is tack sharp when manually focusing.
But it does take a little travel time to get from infinity to MFD, because the ring has to be rotated a full circle -- plus an extra 90 degrees.
And, the lens almost doubles in size at 1:1 but barely extends at non-macro distances. At 1m, the barrel only extends about 10mm keeping a comfortable lens' weight distribution at portrait distances.
You might think that this lens is a bit on the heavy side at 763g (my measure) and since the large elements are located towards the front of the lens, it can feel a tad front-heavy, especially when extended. One easy solution is to add a RRS bracket (or similar) on your A7RIII which extends the height of the camera to make shooting with heavier lenses more comfortable.
Compared to the CV 65/2 APO, the new 110mm is only about 8mm longer and weighs 150g more. This difference in weight is noticeable when the lenses are mounted, especially because the CV 65/2's front element is deeply recessed making weight distribution concentrated closer to the mount. At 1:2 Macro setting for both lenses, and where the CV 65/2 APO is fully extended, they are exactly same length.
In my opinion, the Zeiss Batis 135/2.8 APO is the only real competition to the CV 110, even though it's not a macro. I'm basing this on image quality (APO), speed, and focal length.
I compared them for resolution and contrast, and they were pretty much neck and neck.
As a side note, unlike the Loxia line of lenses - the CV 110 lens reports subject distance, and it's capable of 5-axis image stabilization. I've been able to capture tack sharp images down to 1/30 and 1/60s shutter speeds.
At first, 110mm focal length may seem odd for many photographers but I find it to be the sweet spot between 85mm and 135mm which I think provides the ideal distance for un-distorted portraits.
The lens' floating mechanism allows high resolution at any distance from MFD to infinity and it's quite a sight to see such high quality images within this enormous range -- from 1:1 macro magnification as well as infinity distance for landscapes. This was a former feature on the Voigtlander 65/2 Macro APO lens and I'm thrilled that it's a part of the 110mm's optical design as well.
Here is the 110/2.5 APO compared side by side with two other lenses for size reference: (FE 24/1.4 GM and CV 65/2 APO)
Voigtlander Macro APO Lanthar 110mm f/2.5 E-mount Main Features- Optical design: 14 lenses in 12 groups (8 anomalous partial dispersion elements)
- Maximum shooting magnification: 1:1
- f/2.5 to f/22
- 10 diaphragm blades (Beautiful sunstars starting at f/4)
- Angle of view: 22.6° (Making the lens 108mm at infinity distance)
- MFD: 35cm (In 1:1 macro with lens extended, the real working distance is ~ 7 inches or 17.78cm)
- Maximum diameter × total length: 3.08 x 3.92" (78.4 × 99.7 mm)
- Filter diameter: 58mm (Commum with Voigtlander lenses)
- Mount: E-mount (full frame) with electronic contact
- Aperture click: 1/3 step without the option of de-clicking...sorry video folks!
- Weight: 763g (weighted without caps)
- Supplied Accessory: Front Cap, Rear Cap, Lens Hood (Two front caps: One for lens and another for hood)
- EXIF data, auto lens correction, focus peaking and 5-axis lens stabilization
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. If CV decides to stop making these, the used market will explode. I sold my CV 125 APO back in the day for much less than what they went for a few years after that, still regretted that decision.
