Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 ASPH First Look

Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 ASPH First Look:

The 35mm is one of the most popular focal lengths with good reason.  The lens is usually pretty compact, and easy to use.  The focal length is also versatile because it’s great for a variety of subjects from environmental portraiture to street photography.  If you’re a Leica M user or you use the M mount on your camera, there are plenty of great 35mm lenses out, and recently, there has been another added to the list: the Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical.  I’ve received one to review, and while I’m not a 35mm kind of guy, I have to admit, I’ve been pretty excited to get my hands on this one, and see how this lens shoots.  Here’s my first impressions of it.

I have to say, Voigtlander lenses just seem to get better and better.  I’ve been steadily using more and more of them, and I just love how they’re built, and perform all while also being what I feel is reasonably priced.  This APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 is no exception.  When I first opened the box to this new lens, I was seriously impressed.  This is a solid feeling lens that is clearly made of pretty much all metal.  There’s a nice dense feeling to the 35mm f2 that is often a characteristic of Leica or rangefinder lenses made in the 50s and 60s.  The APO 35mm f2 measures just 2.2 x 2.3″ / 55.6 x 58.1 mm, so it’s very compact.  It also weighs just 10.7 oz / 304 g but for something this small, it just has such a nice heft to it.  It really feels like a high quality product.

↑ I’ve been using the Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical with the Panasonic S1 quite a bit.  I’m also reviewing the camera.

↑ Here’s a picture of the APO-Lanthar 35mm f2 Aspherical on a Leica M body.  This one is my Leica M6 TTL Millennium.  I’m hoping to also add some film shots in my 35mm f2 review as well.

As for features, since the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical is a manual focusing lens, it only has adjustments for focus and aperture selection.  The focus ring is seriously one of the smoothest I’ve used, and this even includes comparing it with Leica lenses I’ve used before.  It has a buttery feel to it yet theres still a nice bit of resistance to help with fine adjustment.  As for the aperture ring, it is also one of the best that I’ve used.  It clicks solidly in half stops but there like this slightly dampened feel as you rotate it, which really adds to the high end experience.  Overall, Voigtlander did a wonderful job with this lens in terms of build.  This to me, really has that Leica lens feel, and the price only makes it more enticing, especially when you compare it to the Leica APO-Summicron-M 35mm f/2 ASPH, which currently retails for $8,195.  The price of the Voigtlander is just $1,149.

↑ This was taken right on Canal Street with my lens set at f8.  I used 125 ISO.

↑ Here’s a photo taken at f2 with 100 ISO.

↑ Here’s a photo I took at f8 with 125 ISO.  This was taken around Chinatown in Manhattan.

↑ This is another photo I took at f2 with 100 ISO.

It’s worth noting that the LANTHAR 35mm APO f2 has also been impressing me image quality wise so far as well.  I’m using it with a Panasonic S1 (which I am currently reviewing) but I also decided to use it with my Leica M6s.  On a side note, I have been shooting more film recently.  I’ve really started to get into it quite a bit more because I finally invested in a film scanner, and have been getting results that I really like.  I bought a Plustek OpticFilm 8200i AI, so I’m hoping to include some film shots in my Voigtlander 35mm APO review as well.  Getting back to the APO 35mm f2, since this is an apochromatic design, it should have better control over things like color fringing and chromatic aberrations.  Besides that, this lens is incredibly sharp, and photos exhibit not only great color rendering and contrast, subjects also have a beautiful depth to them.  There’s also a 12-blade diaphragm, which helps create beautifully smooth bokeh.  This is only a first impressions but so far, I am seriously impressed with this lens.  It’s one of the nicest 35mm lenses I’ve used.

↑ Here’s one more photo taken at f2 with 100 ISO.

↑ This was taken in the center of Chinatown using f5.6 and 160 ISO.

↑ Here’s another photo taken in Chinatown with 125 ISO.  The lens was set at f5.6.

↑ Here’s one more photo of the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical attached to my M6 TTL Millennium.

So, expect my full review of the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical soon.  As I say in what feels like all my 35mm lens reviews, I’m not a huge fan of the 35mm focal length but this is certainly one of those lenses that I want for myself :).  It’s really been such a pleasure to use so far.  Stay tuned for the full review, and thanks for stopping by!

For those interested in purchasing the APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2, you can check out the link below:

APO-LANTHAR 35mm f2 Aspherical at B&H Photo

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