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About the Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar lens:
Sony A7R IV sensor has finally found its soul mate!
The Voigtlander 50mm f/2 is the third APO-Lanthar lens released for the Sony E-mount. Although not a macro lens like the Voigtlander 65mm f/2 and 110mm f/2.5 Macro APO-Lanthar, it's compact and weighs only 361 grams (measured).
Inheriting the apochromatic optical design, the Voigtlander 50/2 APO is highly corrected to eliminate optical aberrations including longitudinal chromatic aberration.
Its optical design consists of 10 elements in 8 groups with two (2) double sided aspherical elements, five (5) with anomalous partial dispersion and an integrated floating-focus system.
The Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar is a great balance between optical performance and compactness. It addition, the newly designed 12-aperture blade employs a special shape that becomes completely circular not only wide open, but also at f/2.8.
Full Specifications:
Lens hood included: The lens comes with two (2) caps, one for the lens (49mm) and another for the hood (58mm)
Infinity Performance compared to Sony 50mm f/1.4 ZA - Back to top of page
I consider the Sony 50mm f/1.4 ZA one of the sharpest 50mm lenses on the market (If not the sharpest at center). However, the resolution peak is only available at dead center. When inspecting image off-axis (away from center) resolution drops drastically, especially towards the mid-field at wide apertures. At the extreme corners resolution improves again.
How does the new Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR compare? Here are some 100% crops showing center, mid-field and extreme corner areas.
My CV 50mm f/2 APO review copy is perfectly symmetric and so is the FE 50/1.4 ZA.
Here is the full image thumbnail showing the area demonstrated at 1:1 magnification.
- Distance: Infinity
- Camera: Sony A7R IV
- Focus: Center - Best of three @ 12.4x magnification
- WB: Daylight
- Lens perfectly centered using my decentering test
- Software: Lightroom with my default landscape sharpening. All other settings set to default
PS: Vignetting and distortion were NOT corrected. All in-camera corrections turned 'off'.
Center Resolution and Contrast:
The CV 50/2 APO came very close to the FE 50/1.4 ZA @f/2 on this crop. Considering the Voigtlander is wide open, it's a superb performance.
Already at f/2.5, the Voigtlander matches the Sony.
Equal at f/2.8. Any perceivable differences are probably due to lighting.
Equal at f/4.
At f/5.6, the Voigtlander starts to pull slightly ahead.
Both diffract at f/8 but the Voigtlander seems to retain more micro-contrast.
Mid-field Resolution and Contrast:
Notice above: mid-field performance is the Sony 50/1.4 ZA Achilles' heel. On the A7R IV, the discrepancy between center and mid-field resolution is even more evident. This is not a copy issue as I've tested half of dozen copies of this lens and they all perform the same way. It is not due to field curvature as focusing at mid-field does not improve. On the other hand, the Voigtlander 50/2 APO does something remarkable. It retains high resolution and contrast at mid-field even wide open. Very few 50mm lenses have this capability.
The Sony improves at f/2.5 and so does the Voigtlander.
At f/2.8, mid-field performance is not as troublesome for the Sony anymore but the Voigtlander still performs way better.
Both lenses slightly improve. Sony lags behind.
At f/5.6 not much changes.
Diffraction reduces micro-contrast for both lenses.
Extreme Corner Resolution and Contrast:
Both very good at f/2 at the extreme corners. The Voigtlander has higher vignetting at f/2 but I prefer its color rendering (subjective)
At f/2.5, both lenses slightly improve.
Similar to f/2.5.
Strong performance for both lenses at f/4.
The Voigtlander pulls ahead at f/5.6.
At f/8, both diffract.
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