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 Voigtländer 180/4 APO-Lanthar mini-review | |
Well, Gear Acquisition Syndrome is real, and I recently fell victim to it (hopefully for the last time -- well, that's what they all say..)
I have what I consider to be a pretty ideal collection of lenses (at least for the type of shooting I do): Mostly Nikkor primes, but also a couple of Voigtländers. I have always lusted over the 180/4 APO-Lanthar, and I finally found one in excellent in-box condition, including the relatively rare hood, and all for about what it went for new back in the day. This lens is now my third 180mm lens (I both the AF-D and AiS f/2.8 versions), but after trying it out for a week, I think the Voigtländer may become my "only" 180mm lens.
The "biggest" thing about this lens is how incredibly small it is for a 180mm lens: In fact it is only 2mm wider and 1mm longer than the AiS 105/2.5, and weighs only 50g more. It takes 49mm filters rather than the Nikon standard 52mm. It is, perhaps not surprisingly, both shorter and lighter than the AiS 200/4. Compared to the f/2.8 180's, the Voigtländer is a LOT easier to carry around.
My three lenses for many years were the AiS 24/2, 105/2.5, and 180/2.8 Nikkors, but looking back I would say my shots with these lenses were 75% 20%, 5% respectively, and the reason for light usage of the 180/2.8 was the size/weight and difficulty of nailing focus a f/2.8. That's why I was considering the Voigtländer as it would be pretty indistinguishable from the 105/2.5 size/weight so I'd be more willing to carry it around. But how is it to focus? Lots of people (including Bjørn Rørslet) have complained that long-distance/infinity focus is challenging with the Voigtländer. It's true that the focus ring is weighted to the closer distances (the lens goes to 1:4 at 1.2m, and has 350 degree focus throw), but I didn't find it difficult to adjust near infinity (which for this lens is over a kilometre away, so not just a telephone pole across the road!).
Mechanically, the lens is excellent, very solid feel, nicely damped focus (though some have complained the focus grip is a bit narrow which seems like carping to me). I have read that the focus-damping will loosen up with use, but mine is just perfect right now. It has half-stop detents on most of the apertures, and the ring is much higher quality than my MF Nikkors. I did find the lack of anywhere to grip the lens when mounting it a bit problematic (you are best to grip the aperture ring). I like the small bayonet hood with its own lens-cap, but reviews have stated that it doesn't do much to prevent flare & ghosting. I could easily adapt my HS-7 hood with a 49mm to 52mm step up ring if that was a concern.
I'm still mostly just taking test-shots with the lens, but the results seem contrasty and sharp wide-open, even into the corners. Verdict: I am very happy with this purchase (if not for the price!). I paid less than the collector-frenzy prices that have been the norm, but given the small production numbers of this lens (somewhere between 700 and 1000 lenses in Nikon F-mount), you will doubtless have to open your wallet a little wider than might be entirely comfortable. In optical quality it easily eclipses the Nikkor 200/4, and the size/weight advantage over the 180/2.8 while maintaining high quality wide-open makes it a no-brainer for me. I held off buying this lens in the hopes that Cosina would release an updated (presumably chipped) version someday, but that doesn't seem likely. And Nikon is "focused" on fast-but-large lenses, so aside from a few pancake wides and normals is highly unlikely to consider the need for a medium telephoto "street carry" lens, so this Voigtländer is the only option for me.
My next trip to Iceland will doubtless see this and my 28/1.4D as the two main lenses, and I will be glad to leave behind the 180/2.8D that I took last time.
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