The Z-mount version is officially released today and in stock in major Japanese stores that sell CV lenses. For example Map Camera, Fujiya Camera, Yodobashi Camera etc.
E-mount and VM versions are backordered in all Tokyo stores that I know off and it seems it'll take time for new stock to arrive. E-mount version is still in stock via some online stores outside of Tokyo though, seemingly in small quantities.
Some stores indicate that next deliveries of E-mount version will be in early May and VM in early June. However, there have been other indications of next deliveries being in March (E) and February (VM)... Not sure what exactly is the accurate situation but in any case availability seems to be quite limited.
Voigtländer lenses do not have the issues of popping out of magnified view and misreading the aperture value like Loxia lenses (at least clearly not to the extend many frustrated users have described for some Loxia lenses…)
25mm != 28mm (the former is quite a bit wider in angle of view terms)
f/2 is notably wider than f/2.4 and with the longer focal length you can get more blur
The Loxia is not available for multiple mounts
I'm sure others can assist in helping you
Very valid points. Add 17% lower weight, and 17% shorter, and fact that I realy like the 28mm focal length and often find the 25 mm a tad to wide should all be enough justifaction.
However.. the price EUR 1150 in my country is a very tough one to swallow. Maybe in the near future, but for now I will stick with my lovely Loxia 25/2.4
Maybe I just need to see more lovely photos taken with the Voigtlander 28/2 APO Lanthar to boost the GAS a bit.
It looks like my Z mount version has already shipped! Looks like my CV lenses will be the 28 APO and 40 Nokton on the Zf, which I think should compliment each other nicely.
jrscls wrote:
Why is the 28mm APO for Nikon Z so much more expensive than the 35 and 50 APO lenses?
In Japan the official prices set by Cosina (not including tax) for Z-mount APOs are 130K yen for the version II of 35 & 50 and 140K for 28.
For E-mount it's 120K for 35 and 50 as those came out earlier in 2019 (50) and 2021 (35) and 140K for 28.
The street prices start at slightly less than official prices (it's been around 131K in price-competitive shops for the 28 including tax) and over time the prices tend to drop a bit if there's enough supply and competition between shops and the 35 & 50 have been in the market for a while (esp. in E-mount).
So overall the price increase in Japan has been quite moderate considering inflation and general price increases. I think Cosina always considers the expected impact of prices on how well they can sell here (customers in Japan are sensitive to prices and yen remains very weak compared to a few years ago).
Actually, I would be more interested in a lightweight 90/2.8 Apo Lanthar since f2.0 would probably mean some considerable weight in the range of 500 to 600g.
A 90mm/f2.8 at 450g would be really nice!
Feb 04, 2026 at 03:58 AM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Knut. wrote:
Actually, I would be more interested in a lightweight 90/2.8 Apo Lanthar since f2.0 would probably mean some considerable weight in the range of 500 to 600g.
A 90mm/f2.8 at 450g would be really nice!
That would depend on how Cosina built a 90 f/2 APO (and I would expect a 90 f/2 APO to be an Ultron not a Lanthar as the VM is an Ultron not a Lanthar, similarly a 90 f/2.8 APO would be a Color-Skopar like the VM not a Lanthar as well). The VM APO Ultron weighs 340g, so I could see a Sony E mount version coming in at 450g pretty easily if Cosina wanted to keep it small.
That is not what they did with the 75 f/1.5 Nokton, however. The VM 75 f/1.5 Nokton weighs 350g, but the Sony E mount version weighs 515g. Cosina added some nice things with the Sony E mount version. They shortened the MFD from .7m to .55m. They lengthened the focus throw, which I do think makes focus a little easier as the VM version I find a little twitchy, and they widened the diameter of the lens, which I think probably reduces vignetting at least some of the time. That said, I don't know that these changes are worth the extra weigh.
Taking that as a model, I think if Cosina builds an E mount 90 f/2 APO Ultron it will come in at just less than 500g. Even if they make the same changes, and you got the same weight gain as the 75 f/1.5 Nokton it would come in at 505g, and my guess is they can find a few weight savings to bring it in a little lower, and the body of the VM 75 f/1.5 Nokton is noticeably thinner and lighter than the VM 90 f/2 Ultron and they went with the slightly thicker body on the Sony E mount 75 f/1.5. I think the 90 f/2 APO Ultron could be made with slightly less weight gain than the 75 f/1.5 Nokton even if they make all of the same changes due to this difference in the bodies of the VM versions of these lenses.
Steve Spencer wrote:
That would depend on how Cosina built a 90 f/2 APO (and I would expect a 90 f/2 APO to be an Ultron not a Lanthar as the VM is an Ultron not a Lanthar, similarly a 90 f/2.8 APO would be a Color-Skopar like the VM not a Lanthar as well). The VM APO Ultron weighs 340g, so I could see a Sony E mount version coming in at 450g pretty easily if Cosina wanted to keep it small.
That is not what they did with the 75 f/1.5 Nokton, however. The VM 75 f/1.5 Nokton weighs 350g, but the Sony E mount version weighs 515g. Cosina added some nice things with the Sony E mount version. They shortened the MFD from .7m to .55m. They lengthened the focus throw, which I do think makes focus a little easier as the VM version I find a little twitchy, and they widened the diameter of the lens, which I think probably reduces vignetting at least some of the time. That said, I don't know that these changes are worth the extra weigh.
Taking that as a model, I think if Cosina builds an E mount 90 f/2 APO Ultron it will come in at just less than 500g. Even if they make the same changes, and you got the same weight gain as the 75 f/1.5 Nokton it would come in at 505g, and my guess is they can find a few weight savings to bring it in a little lower, and the body of the VM 75 f/1.5 Nokton is noticeably thinner and lighter than the VM 90 f/2 Ultron and they went with the slightly thicker body on the Sony E mount 75 f/1.5. I think the 90 f/2 APO Ultron could be made with slightly less weight gain than the 75 f/1.5 Nokton even if they make all of the same changes due to this difference in the bodies of the VM versions of these lenses....Show more →
Somehow I always felt that the Apo Lanthars were built to a higher optical standard than the other Voigtländer lenses. Usually they also contain considerably more ED glas. But I may be wrong.
Any weight < 450g would be really attractive!
The f2.8 Apo Skopar is nice, but I was surprised by the amount of LOCA it shows. It is clearly visible at f2.8 as well as f4 and traces can even be seen at f5.6, despite the lens having 5 abnormal partial dispersion elements.
Suprisingly, the old Pentax A 1.4/85 has lower LOCA (visible at f1.4-f2.8, but gone by f4).
'I always felt that the Apo Lanthars were built to a higher optical standard'
'The APO-LANTHAR series of wide-angle lenses pursues the ultimate in performance..' (28/2)
'This lens pursues ultimate performance utilizing all the technology we have cultivated in the 60 years since Cosina was established and the 20 years since we started manufacturing Voigtländer lenses.' (50/2)
Well, they can't call them APO-Rare Earths, I guess.
The reluctance to make longer high-end lenses is that they know few people use them as their main lens, and they are inevitably heavy/complex if they go with a fast aperture and super correction. And they serve M-mount first. So the two 90s have low element counts and long MFDs. I think they might wait for the EV1 to settle into the marketplace (and users' psychology to shift).
Feb 04, 2026 at 05:23 PM
Steve Spencer Offline • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
Somehow I always felt that the Apo Lanthars were built to a higher optical standard than the other Voigtländer lenses. Usually they also contain considerably more ED glas. But I may be wrong.
Any weight < 450g would be really attractive!
The f2.8 Apo Skopar is nice, but I was surprised by the amount of LOCA it shows. It is clearly visible at f2.8 as well as f4 and traces can even be seen at f5.6, despite the lens having 5 abnormal partial dispersion elements.
Suprisingly, the old Pentax A 1.4/85 has lower LOCA (visible at f1.4-f2.8, but gone by f4).
All the APO Lanthars (except maybe the 50 f/3.5) have a floating element design. The non-Lanthar APO Voigtlander lenses including the 90 f/2.8 APO Color Skopar and the 90 f/2 APO Ultron do not have floating element designs. The 90 f/2 Ultron has 6 APD elements, so as many as any of the APO Lanthars (except the 110 f/2.5 Macro which has 8), and it has remarkably low axial CA--really as low as all the APO Lanthars--but it does lack the floating element design and has a pretty long MFD at .9m. From Fred's review the close up performance is pretty good, but I don't think it is in the league of the APO Lanthars.
That said I also have the 35 f/2 APO Ultron Macro for Fuji X. It has impeccable close focus performance and a very short MFD as you would expect from a macro lens even though Cosina didn't label it a Lanthar. As usual, it often isn't easy to know exactly why Cosina labels lenses the way they do. IMO, both the VM 90 f/2 APO Ultron and the VX 35 f/2 APO Ultron macro are fantastic lenses that although have plusses and minuses exude quality in much the way that the APO Lanthars do.
I too have had the 90 f/2.8 APO Color Skopar and although I liked it very much for its size and general competence I agree it really isn't in the league of most of the APO Lanthars. That said I also had the 90 f/3.5 APO Lanthar for DSLRs and I much prefer the 90 f/2.8 APO Color Skopar to that lens. The 90 f/3.5 APO Lanthar (at least my copy) fairly often showed quite a bit of purple fringing. In fact, that lens was one of the worst I had for that particular aberration. And although its performance was better I also had the 180 f/4 APO Lanthar for DSLRs and I think that lens had a bit more axial CA than the VM 90 f/2.8 APO Color Skopar as well.
