APO LANTHAR SL 180mm F4
Compact 180mm telephoto lens
A review and Photo example of the Voigtlander APO LANTHAR SL 180mm F4.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The examples were taken with the SIGMA SD9
Review
1．Overview
The Voigtlander Apo-Lanther 180mm is a compact telephoto lens.
The focal length of 180mm was the longest of all Cosina Voigtlander lenses.
Its main specifications are a lens configuration of 9 elements in 7 groups, a minimum shooting distance of 1.2m, and 9 aperture blades.
Two types of lens hoods can be attached: a round hood (LH-75S) and a square hood (LH-75).
This hood is common to the Color Heliar 75mm, Apo-Lancer 90mm, and Apo-Lancer 180mm.
2．Usage
I owned the M42 mount version, but sold it before I could use it on a full-frame sensor camera, so this is the only example with the SD9, which has a focal length of 1.7 times. The image on the SD9 was excellent in the center, and there were no problems with backlight resistance. Another strength of this lens is that it can get close to the subject with a minimum shooting distance of 1.2m.
The Leica Apo-Teleto 180mm F3.4, which has the same focal length, has a minimum shooting distance of 2.5m, so it is difficult to use because the lens alone cannot take about two steps closer.
As of 2024, the lineup of Voigtlander lenses only goes up to a focal length of 90mm. The long focal length of the Zeiss brand only goes up to 135mm, and Cosina seems to have completely abandoned the telephoto market.
The lens barrel is compact for a 180mm, and when focused at infinity, the overall length is shorter than the Macro Apo-Lancer 125mm, making it highly portable.
It is slightly difficult to operate, with the focus ring located closer to the lens mount than the Macro Apo Lancer 125mm, and the heavy lens located at the front of the lens barrel, which makes the weight balance poor when shooting. When focusing, you only need to put your finger on the silver ring at the base and use the entire lens barrel to focus.
This lens is manufactured in small numbers, so it maintains a reasonable price level on the used market. The LH-75 with its crepe-like hood has a nice texture, and can be found on the used market for around 10,000 yen, so I think the price fluctuation due to the attachment of a hood makes a big difference.
3．Add Info.
The following seven SL lenses were released at the same time as this lens.
The 12mm and 15mm lenses are used with the mirror up, so are not suitable for general photography. In effect, the lens series starts at 40mm. The later SL II series added the COLOR SKOPAR 20mm, COLOR SKOPAR 28mm, NOKTON 55mm, and NOKTON 58mm, a modified version of the Auto Topkor 58mm, increasing the variety of focal lengths.
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
Specification
| 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 |
- 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.
Reference links
Update history
- 2024.03.28:modified article
- 2023.11.08:firest post
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