p.4 #1 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Fred Miranda wrote:
The current Voigtlander 35mm f/3.5 Color-Skopar isn't marketed as an APO lens, yet I couldn’t find any trace of chromatic aberration during my review. So, if excellent color correction is a priority and you don't mind a slower lens, it's an outstanding option. Not only does it deliver excellent performance wide open, but it’s also one of the smallest 35mm lenses ever made. At just 14mm in length, this lens is exceptionally compact, even shorter than the ultra-compact Voigtlander 40mm f/2.8 Heliar and a full 4mm shorter than the tiny Leica 28mm f/5.6 Summaron.
That looks like a truly exceptional lens--excellent performance in a tiny package. I like everything about it except the induced field curvature on cameras with thick sensor stacks. It's lenses like this that are pushing me to consider a Kolari ultra-thin sensor mod.
come very close in almost all cases to the MTF charts Zeiss provides. That is important because Cosina made all those Zeiss lenses in the same factory that they make the Voigtlander lenses, and as the Zeiss lens' MTF provided by Zeiss are claimed to be actual lenses tested in the factory, the Voigtlander lenses may well be similarly tested.
If you look at those Zeiss lenses and all the Sony FE lenses they tested reported on this page:
How many of the 36 lenses tested had a smaller drop from their center performance to their outer performance? The answer is 3 and it is notable what these three lenses are: the ZEISS Milvus 35 f/1.4, the Zeiss 100 f/2 Makro, and the Zeiss Otus 28 f/1.4. All are very large and expensive lenses. None of the 22 Sony FE mount lenses tested at that point had less of a drop of center to edge performance.
You might ask what lens' MTF charts look most like the one Voigtlander posted for the 90 f/4 APO Lanthar? Check it out but it is the Sony FE 135 f/2, the Zeiss Batis 135 f/2.8 APO, the Zeiss Otus 85 f/1.4 (although it has a larger mid zone dip), and the Zeiss 85 f/2.4 Loxia (although the Voigtlander is a bit higher performance everywhere). That is some pretty good company for this new lens to keep. ...Show more →
p.4 #4 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
I am excited about this lens. I am not the pro lens examiner like most of you guys but value high quality lenses (sharpness, contrast and tonal graduations - not to mention the importance of build and ergo).
I shoot Fuji X mount and have the 18/2.8 and 27/2 Ultron so a 43mm 90/4 would make a fantastic travel setup and if I needed I could toss in the 50/2 Lanthar (albeit a larger lens).
Jul 26, 2026 at 08:13 AM
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p.4 #5 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
pechance wrote:
I am excited about this lens. I am not the pro lens examiner like most of you guys but value high quality lenses (sharpness, contrast and tonal graduations - not to mention the importance of build and ergo).
I shoot Fuji X mount and have the 18/2.8 and 27/2 Ultron so a 43mm 90/4 would make a fantastic travel setup and if I needed I could toss in the 50/2 Lanthar (albeit a larger lens).
Since you are on Fuji X, you should consider the 50 f/1.2 Nokton for Fuji X mount. It is a nice small lens, gives you a faster aperture if you need and is a great performer in my experience.
p.4 #6 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Steve Spencer wrote:
Since you are on Fuji X, you should consider the 50 f/1.2 Nokton for Fuji X mount. It is a nice small lens, gives you a faster aperture if you need and is a great performer in my experience.
I may pick that up in the future. Seems primarily a portrait first lens - I prefer the 75mm focal length for portraits. I do some portraits but not as much when traveling. The 50/2 is a pretty stunning travel lens for that focal length. I don't mind missing the exif data with the m-mount lenses.
Jul 26, 2026 at 09:18 AM
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p.4 #7 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
pechance wrote:
I may pick that up in the future. Seems primarily a portrait first lens - I prefer the 75mm focal length for portraits. I do some portraits but not as much when traveling. The 50/2 is a pretty stunning travel lens for that focal length. I don't mind missing the exif data with the m-mount lenses.
Well on Fuji X, a 50mm is the same perspective as a 75mm on FF, so you might like it for portraits. You can in most ways think of th 50 f/1.2 for Fuji X as a 75 f/1.8 for FF in terms of look, field of view, and depth of field.
The Fuji X lens is more different from the 50 f/1.2 for FF as well. The Fuji lens is a Sonnar design and has no aspherical elements. It is a bit soft wide open, but stopped down it sharpens up really nicely across the frame. I typically used it stopped down to at least f/2.8 where it is nicely sharp and has really nice bokeh. I only used it at wider apertures when the light was really low and then not really close up either as the lens loses even more sharpness at wide apertures and closer focus. I am posting a few examples below:
The 50mm f/1.2 for Leica M (and Sony E and Nikon Z which share a very similar design) is a very different and more modern design with two Aspherical elements.
Do keep in mind that many M mount lenses will be affected by the thicker sensor glass on Fuji X mount cameras than on Leica M cameras. The effects of the thicker glass gets worse the farther you are from the center of the frame, so the smaller sensor of Fuji X will help, but expect that beautiful performance of the 50 f/2 APO to degrade a bit on the edges and corners when shot of Fuji X mount.
X-T5VOIGTLANDER NOKTON 50mm F1.2 lens50mmf/2.01/60s800 ISO+0.3 EV
X-T5VOIGTLANDER NOKTON 50mm F1.2 lens50mmf/2.81/25s800 ISO+0.3 EV
X-T5VOIGTLANDER NOKTON 50mm F1.2 lens50mmf/2.81/40s800 ISO+0.7 EV
X-T5VOIGTLANDER NOKTON 50mm F1.2 lens50mmf/1.21/450s3200 ISO0.0 EV
p.4 #9 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
dan98 wrote:
While there is just a gradual decrease from the center to the corners at 10 lp/mm (which is not a mid-zone dip), there is a pronounced dip at 30 lp/mm and 40 lp/mm in the sagittal direction. This is most pronounced at 30 lp/mm and f/5.6, where the value hits a trough at about 12-13mm, and then rises steadily as we move out to 18%, but only for the sagital. This is exactly the same pattern as the MTF curve for the 90/3.5 at f/3.5. In the sagital direction a trough occurs at 12-13%, with the value rising steadily as we move out to 18mm. With both lenses the dip in the MTF curve only occurs in the sagital direction. Regarding the magnitude of the dip, it is is slightly more pronounced with the new lens, although they are really quite similar. It is this similarity that has me concerned, but I agree that the real-world results are what matters....Show more →
Curiously the max magnification of the CV 90 3.5 is 0.29 or about 1:3.5. That is almost identical to the new 90 f4 despite the design difference. I like my copy in OM mount and it behaves well on extension. The size is nice. One should expect excellent performance though for a mid tele with modest max aperture.
p.4 #10 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Michael Gordon wrote:
Curiously the max magnification of the CV 90 3.5 is 0.29 or about 1:3.5. That is almost identical to the new 90 f4 despite the design difference. I like my copy in OM mount and it behaves well on extension. The size is nice. One should expect excellent performance though for a mid tele with modest max aperture.
I don't think Cosina ever released an official max magnification figure for the CV 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar M-mount, but based on its 1m MFD, I calculate it to be roughly 0.10x. The new 90mm f/4 APO has a stated max magnification of 0.28x, roughly 3x greater.
Jul 27, 2026 at 05:06 PM
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p.4 #11 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Fred Miranda wrote:
I don't think Cosina ever released an official max magnification figure for the CV 90mm f/3.5 APO-Lanthar M-mount, but based on its 1m MFD, I calculate it to be roughly 0.10x. The new 90mm f/4 APO has a stated max magnification of 0.28x, roughly 3x greater.
If I recall correctly, however (and I might not be), the 90 f/3.5 APO Lanthar came with a diopter that let you get a lot more magnification. I think it was about 1 to 3 with the diopter.
p.4 #12 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Steve Spencer wrote:
If I recall correctly, however (and I might not be), the 90 f/3.5 APO Lanthar came with a diopter that let you get a lot more magnification. I think it was about 1 to 3 with the diopter.
That's likely referring to the SL / SL II versions. We should compare apples to apples though - M-mount to M-mount.
Jul 27, 2026 at 05:47 PM
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p.4 #13 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Fred Miranda wrote:
That's likely referring to the SL / SL II versions. We should compare apples to apples though - M-mount to M-mount.
I don't really think there will be much of a comparison or at least I hope not. The 90 f/3.5 APO was not a very well corrected lens and is easily my least favorite Voigtlander lens. I expect and hope that the new 90 f/4 APO Lanthar is a much better lens and there is no comparison. The new lens ought to be a lot better.
I had the SL II version, but as I recall, which again might be wrong it was a long time ago, the optical formula was the same for the M mount version even if the shapes were dramatically different. The SL II as I remember it had a diopter. I am not sure if the Leica M version did, but if the optical formula was the same there is no reason it couldn't have. Although close focus with the rangefinder would need live view, an EVF, or a special viewfinder of some sort (e.g., goggles) and back then I'm not sure there was available in Leica M cameras of that day, so perhaps they didn't include the diopter for the M lens.
p.4 #14 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Steve Spencer wrote:
I don't really think there will be much of a comparison or at least I hope not. The 90 f/3.5 APO was not a very well corrected lens and is easily my least favorite Voigtlander lens. I expect and hope that the new 90 f/4 APO Lanthar is a much better lens and there is no comparison. The new lens ought to be a lot better.
Yep. It's a 25-year-old optical design, from when "APO" meant something different. It was well-corrected compared to other tele lenses of its time, but most modern 85-90mm lenses outperform it today. I'm expecting the 90/4 APO to be on another level entirely, likely one of the best in its class. Fingers crossed.
p.4 #15 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
The SL version of the 90/3.5 has an official maximum magnification of 1:3.5 which is 0.286x. That is very similar to the new lens (and higher than the M39 mount version, as Fred notes). I measured the actual magnification as .289x. The SLII is the version that came with the diopter. It has the same official magnification as the SL version without the diopter, and a magnication of 1:1.8 or 0.56x with the diopter.
Jul 27, 2026 at 06:06 PM
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p.4 #16 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
dan98 wrote:
The SL version of the 90/3.5 has an official maximum magnification of 1:3.5 which is 0.286x. That is very similar to the new lens (and higher than the M39 mount version, as Fred notes). I measured the actual magnification as .289x. The SLII is the version that came with the diopter. It has the same official magnification as the SL version without the diopter, and a magnication of 1:1.8 or 0.56x with the diopter.
Well if the lens was made 25 years ago, then it makes sense that the Leica M version would not have had the sort of magnification as that would have been hard to use with a rangefinder camera and I agree with Fred it is a bit apples and oranges to compare the SL or SL II version with the new Leica M version. I also think the lens despite that magnification and I guess I had the SL II version was a really weak performing lens. I never liked mine much at all, so it really isn't a relevant comparison to the new lens.
p.4 #17 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Fred Miranda wrote:
Yep. It's a 25-year-old optical design, from when "APO" meant something different. It was well-corrected compared to other tele lenses of its time, but most modern 85-90mm lenses outperform it today. I'm expecting the 90/4 APO to be on another level entirely, likely one of the best in its class. Fingers crossed.
I disagree that the 90/3.5 was well corrected compared to other tele lenses of its time, especially as regards LoCA and purple fringing. I have good-quality short teles from that era that were NOT labeled as APO lenses but which have less LoCA. I also have other teles from that era that were labeled as APO, and they are vastly superior to the 90/3.5 in terms of control of aberrations. I do not believe that it is historically accurate to suggest that the 90/3.5 met the standards for an apochromatic lens from that era. In fact, I recall reading at least one review at the time that ripped Cosina for labeling this as an apochromatic lens.
p.4 #18 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
dan98 wrote:
I disagree that the 90/3.5 was well corrected compared to other tele lenses of its time, especially as regards LoCA and purple fringing. I have good-quality short teles from that era that were NOT labeled as APO lenses but which have less LoCA. I also have other teles from that era that were labeled as APO, and they are vastly superior to the 90/3.5 in terms of control of aberrations. I do not believe that it is historically accurate to suggest that the 90/3.5 met the standards for an apochromatic lens from that era. In fact, I recall reading at least one review at the time that ripped Cosina for labeling this as an apochromatic lens. ...Show more →
We agree, actually. Cosina wasn't alone in this. Even the Leica 90/2 APO isn't as well corrected for axial CA as modern APO tele lenses, in fact it doesn't perform much better than the pre-ASPH in this regard. I had both for a while and tested this myself.
p.4 #19 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
Juha Kannisto wrote:
For me this lens impressed with great sharpness on the focus plane + surprisingly narrow plane of focus (even though it's f4), and nice fall-of in the out-of-focus areas in relatively close distance shooting when I tried it out at CP+. I didn't try it much at all at longer distances yet since the CP+ hall was not really suitable environment for long distance shooting, but I'm confident it will also be performing very nicely there, even when adapted on Sony.
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Currently my 90mm lens collection includes Sigma 90/2.8 DG DN,
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I‘m really looking forward to how this lens behaves on the thick Sony stack. Since you also own the 90mm Sigma I would be extremely interested in a comparison to this lens from you!
p.4 #20 · Cosina Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 90/4 VM officially announced for August release
dan98 wrote:
The SL version of the 90/3.5 has an official maximum magnification of 1:3.5 which is 0.286x. That is very similar to the new lens (and higher than the M39 mount version, as Fred notes). I measured the actual magnification as .289x. The SLII is the version that came with the diopter. It has the same official magnification as the SL version without the diopter, and a magnification of 1:1.8 or 0.56x with the diopter.
Curiously if one place 25 mm extension of the lens that should lead to a mag of almost exactly 0.56 as well. That is what I do. The lens seems to behave nicely with extension. I do not recall that the diopter was achromatic and I think it was not. Anyone know for sure? Diopters are extremely convenient but not a fan of non achromatic ones.
I don't like the 90 as much as the CV 180/4 but I still like it. I would be interested in an updated 180 mm.
