Voigtlander APO LANTHAR SL 125mm F2.5
Review and Photo example of the Voigtlander APO LANTHAR SL 125mm F2.5.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The examples were taken with the HASSELBLAD X2D and SONY α7(Mirrorless digital camera).
Review
Voigtlander Macro APO LANTHAR 125mm F2.5 is a medium telephoto lens with a short minimum shooting distance of 18cm.
The focus part is thick (approximately 9cm) and the focus ring is close to the base of the lens, making it a little difficult to operate, but the smooth helicoid allows you to comfortably adjust the focus position. The lens barrel expands and contracts in two stages, and when it reaches its maximum macro position, the lens length approximately doubles.
The largest and heaviest of the early SL lenses, it feels like a block of steel and glass. It’s quite an excellent macro lens, with a good balance of bokeh and resolution, and among medium-telephoto macro lenses, it’s difficult to choose between Apo, Macro, and Elmarito 100mm. In addition, there are many unique medium-telephoto macro lenses such as Minolta’s 100mm and Tamron’s 90mm, so you should try using them as much as possible and choose the lens that best suits your style of expression.
When I owned the M42 mount, I used it with the SIGMA SD10 and SONY α900. After that, I sold the lens because I no longer used it as often. In 2014, I found a used OM mount at a cheap price, so I bought it and used it with my SONY α7 (ILCE-7). For my third purchase in 2023, I chose the EF mount version for use with the Hasselblad X2D.
That’s because I had the Hasselblad X and EF mount adapter TECHART TCX-01.
However, since it is a MF lens, I started using it knowing that the AF would not work, but the camera detected the lens as XCD125mm, and IBIS (in-body image stabilization) also seemed to be working, so some signals were coming from the lens. It seemed to be transmitted to the camera, but only the aperture did not move. It is thought that some information was not converted correctly in the X2D and TCX-01 that I owned at the time. As of 2024, the TCX-01 firmware has been updated to 7.0, so there is a possibility that it will work, but there is no guarantee.
I don’t want to sell it as is, so I used masking tape on the electronic contacts to insulate them for sample photography. In the end, I decided to give up on this combination because I didn’t know the timing of the firmware update for TCX-01.
Although I only used the X2D for a short period of time, I had no problem focusing using the magnification function of the EVF, but the focus position when the aperture is wide open is severe, and if I move the focus ring a little, it goes out of focus, so I ended up looking at the EVF for a long time. There were times when it was difficult to take pictures.
According to some CANON EOS users, I’ve heard that it’s difficult to focus on SLR-type EOS cameras, but I didn’t experience any particular problems with the SONY α900 and SIGMA SDxx series that I used.
The filter diameter is 58mm and can be hidden with a hood, but without the hood it looks like a small mouth, so I personally think the hood is essential. In the case of the M42 screw mount, there is no function to position the lens directly above, so the disadvantage is that the position of the square hood is distorted.
Lens accessories include a case, a square hood, and a hood cap.In the case of second-hand items, the hood may be missing and difficult to obtain later, so the completeness of this lens’s styling depends on the hood. I think it’s a must have, so I recommend checking to see if it has a hood before purchasing. .
Lens mounts have been released in many mount formats, including Nikon Ai-S, Pentax K, M42, Canon EF, Minolta A mount, Olympus OM, and Yashica Contax.
Other than the last Canon EF version, they do not have electronic contacts and only change the mount shape. The NIKON Ai-S is often seen on the used market, and I don’t think there are many other mounts available.
The Macro APO LANTHAR 125mm is one of the Cosina Voigtlander SL lenses for which no successor lens has been made. The Carl Zeiss brand APO-SONNAR 135/2 has a lens configuration that is relatively similar to this lens, but since the focal length, minimum shooting distance, and F value are different, I suspect that the usability of the lens will be significantly different.
I don’t know why, whether it’s because of manufacturing costs or because the lens glass material isn’t available, but I think it’s still a usable lens, so it’s strange that a renewed version isn’t being sold.
The lenses that have no successors are the 75mm and 180mm, and the 40mm and 90mm have successor lenses that have been made over several generations.
The following seven SL lenses were released around the same time as this lens.
- Ultra Wide Helier 12mm (for mirror up only)
- Super Wide Helier 15mm (for mirror up only)
- Ultron 40mm
- COLOR HELIAR 75mm
- APO LANTHAR 90mm
- Macro APO LANTHAR 125mm
- APO LANTHAR 180mm
The only single focal length lens with a focal length of 125mm is LEICA’s HEKTOR 125mm for VISOFLEX, so I don’t think it’s an appropriate target for comparing specs, but I’ll write it down for personal interest.
Specification
| Lens name | Macro APOLANTER | HEKTOR |
| Local length(mm) | 125 | 125 |
| Max aperture | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| Min aperture | 22 | 22 |
| Leaf blade | 9 | 20 |
| Lens Construction | 10elements in 9group | 4elements in 3group |
| Min distance(m) | 0.18 | 1.2 |
| Lens length(mm) | 76 | 77(VISO-M) |
| Lens Max diameter(mm) | 82 | 63 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 58 | 58 |
| Weight(g) | 690 | 726(VISO-M) |
| Release date | 2000〜2003 | 1949〜1960 |
| Price | ¥95,000 | – |
- The following is a list of early COSINA / Voigtlander brand lenses for SLR cameras. Two lenses, 15mm and 12mm, are excluded from the table below because they are special lenses that are used with the mirror up.
| Items | ULTRON | COLOR HELIAR | APO LANTHAR | Macro APO LANTHAR | APO LANTHAR |
| Focal length(mm) | 40 | 75 | 90 | 125 | 180 |
| Max aperture | 2 | 2.5 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 4 |
| Min aperture | 16 | 22 | ← | ← | ← |
| Leaf blade | 9 | ← | ← | ← | ← |
| Lens Construction | 5群6枚 | ← | ← | 9群11枚 | 7群9枚 |
| Min distance(m) | 0.4 | 0.7 | 0.5 | 0.38 | 1.2 |
| Lens length(mm) | 29.5(Ais) | 40.2(Ais) | 57.6(Ais) | 88.2(Ais) | 79(Ais) |
| Max diameter(mm) | 63.5 | ← | ← | 76 | 65.6 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 52 | 49 | ← | 58 | 49 |
| Weight(g) | 255 | 250 | 390 | 690 | 485 |
| Release date | 2002.05 | 2000.07 | 2002.03 | 2001.06 | 2003.08 |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | ¥45,000 | ¥50,000 | ¥55,000 | ¥95,000 | ¥65,000 |
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.03.28:modified article
- 2023.06.08:firest post
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