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 p.25 #20 · Voigtlander 50mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar Review | |
It's a corker of a lens. MFD of 0.35m, 175 grams, terrific performance profile (strong center, steady fade character) and 39mm filters. I love the line crosses of the 40lpmm sag/tan pair, right at the wide edge. It's largely astigmatism-free.
It gives you a lot of detail, which Leica guy Jono Slack thinks APOs deliver in spades, while not appearing as sharp as near-APO lenses. The Chinese are not much interested in APO, an interesting fact given their other design aims and performance.
Here, you get a near-Gauss design layout of eight elements, a kind of expanded version of the famed and popular Heliar 50/3.5. So the early one would have influenced this APO-Lanthar, hence the fine color, smooth fade character and all-round amiability.
I would expect the design brief would not require the kind of radical inclusions the f2 APOs demand, so the three APD elements are there more to balance the HRI, and so provide the final touch to the optical correction. An f3.5 is pretty much edge case market-wise, and at 50mm it's very easy to find high performance, pictorial as well as optical. and deserve their reputation among aficionados.
As you see, resolution is ultra yet doesn't shout its quality. It just gets on with business. For those interested, it is upscale in the 3D department too. I like the bokeh, and I'm very fussy about that.
Among many more illustrious lens makers, I do think the 'cheaper' Zeiss lenses (cine and stills) and their longtime partner in crime in Cosina should bite the bullet and use 15 or 16 blade apertures. They all chintz out on the perceived appeal and prestige attached to their lenses.
In Zeiss case, as one glaring example, the Supreme Primes get 16-blade irises; the Zeiss Nano Primes get a big step down for 12-blade units; and the new Otus MLs get 10-blades! Pretty blatant class consciousness, lol. If you want to be respected for stylish arty lenses, fit more suitable irises please. The 50/3.5 APO gets by with, you guessed it, 10-blades.
Not too bad, at 50mm f3.5 it's much smaller than longer, faster lenses. Luckily too, the smoothness and attractive look of the images more than compensates. Well done, CV. No one else does lenses like this.
focus fade, colour clarity and brightness; informative bokeh.
full bokeh field, looks to be near MFD, reminds of N 75/1.5.
deep bokeh of distant ridge, see detail still visible, smooth edging everywhere.
see past the transition zone, chair cane is still visually identifiable even in heavy bokeh.
one from the earlier 50/3.5, the little pyramid is a 5/3 design.
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I'm looking forward to that. It's been a bit cloudy and rainy autumn weather in recent couple of weeks and getting cooler (was quite summer-like until October started).
