Pancake lens ULTRON SL 40mm F2
A review and Photo example of the ULTRON 40mm F2 SL Aspherical.
Table of contents
Gallery
- The examples were taken with the SONY α900,FUJIFILM S3Pro,PENTAX K20D,SIGMA SD15
Review
1.Overview
The ULTRON SL 40mm F2 is a lens for single-lens reflex cameras (hereafter referred to as SL) that was released by Cosina under the Voigtlander brand in 2002.
It is called a pancake lens because the lens is relatively short and looks like stacked pancakes.
This lens is available in a variety of mounts, including M42, Nikon Ai-S, Canon EF (EOS), Minolta (Sony) α, Pentax-K, Yashica Contax, Olympus OM, Minolta MD, and Canon FD.
The early Voigtlander SL lenses did not have electronic contacts, and the camera barrel was the same, with only the mount replaced. It does not have electronic contacts and is used manually.
The minimum shooting distance is 40cm, and the lens follows the 10x focal length rule. Subsequent lenses include a close-up adapter to shorten the minimum shooting distance. The latest model has a revised barrel design, and the lens alone can get as close as 25cm.
The lens is a Gaussian type with 6 elements in 5 groups, with an aspherical lens at the rear.
Two types of bayonet lens hoods have been released: a cylindrical type (LH-40S) and a hemisphere with a square hollowed out (LH-40D).
The lens name Ultron comes from the fact that the original ULTRON lens specifications were 50mm F2, so Cosina Voigtlander lenses ignore focal length and use the Ultron brand for lenses with an aperture value of around 2.
2.Usability
I like the style of the lens barrel of the ULTRON SL 40mm F2, and have used it with various sizes of image sensors.
Although the image is compact, as you can see from the results of shooting with the Sony α900 equipped with a 35mm full-frame sensor, the image is well resolved even at the periphery of the image, and the image has a three-dimensional feel. This lens can express the characteristics of the sensor even with a smaller sensor.
It is not a lens with any major quirks.
As for the operability of the lens, the focus ring is narrow because the overall length of the lens is short, which makes it a little difficult to use, but once you get used to it, it is not a problem. The aperture ring is located at the base of the lens and has a solid click feeling, so it will not turn accidentally.
The focal length of this lens on 35mm film or full-frame sensors is 40mm, and on cameras with smaller sensors, it is cropped according to the sensor size.
The focal length of the camera used in 35mm format equivalent is as follows.
| Model name | Manufacturer | 35mm equivalent focal length |
| SD15 | SIGMA | 68mm |
| GF1 | PANASONIC | 80mm |
| FinePix S3Pro | FUJIFILM | 60mm |
| K20D | PENTAX | 60mm |
| α900 | SONY | 40mm |
| α700 | SONY | 60mm |
I first got the M42 mount version and used it with the above camera via a mount adapter. The M42 mount only has a real aperture, but it is a very flexible mount. As of 2024, there is no problem with a real aperture when using the EVF of a mirrorless camera.
The Fujifilm FINEPIX S3Pro cannot use the M42 mount due to the flange back of the mount, so I purchased the Nikon F mount version separately.
As stated in the specifications, the minimum shooting distance is 40cm, which is not quite enough. I’m glad that this shortcoming has been improved in the successor lens, but it’s unfortunate that the latest lens has a larger barrel and is no longer compact compared to the original lens barrel that I loved.
3.Summary
In conclusion, to sum up the ULTRON SL 40mm F2, as a lens for SLR cameras, it is safe to use with no quirks in its depiction. The minimum shooting distance of successive lenses has been shortened, but the lens barrel has become larger.
Specification and Competitor
This lens is a long-lasting lens that is still on sale today, with changes to its appearance and compatible mount.
This lens has been released repeatedly with a similar name, so it is difficult to follow the changes, so the specifications are summarized in a specification and comparison table.
The information was reproduced from the Cosina official website, the distributed leaflet (PDF), etc.
The release order is SL, SLII, SLIIN, SLIIS or B, and the main differences are as follows.
- SL is a fully manual lens with no electronic contacts.
- SLII has an improved version with a slightly cheaper rubber knurling, a reorganized lens mount, and is compatible with Nikon Ai-S (CPU compatible) and Pentax KA mounts and comes with a dedicated close-up lens.
- SLIIN is compatible with Nikon Ai-S (CPU compatible) and Canon EOS (with electronic contacts) mounts and comes with a dedicated close-up lens.
- SLIIS or B has a completely redesigned and larger lens barrel, but the minimum shooting distance has been shortened to 0.25m for the lens alone.
| Items | SL | SL II | SL IIN | SL IIB / SL IIS |
| Focal length(mm) | 40 | ← | ← | ← |
| Max aperture | 2 | ← | ← | ← |
| Min aperture | 16 | 22 | ← | ← |
| Leaf blade | 9 | ← | ← | ← |
| Lens Construction | 6elements in 5groups | ← | ← | ← |
| Min distance(m) | 0.4 | 0.38 | 0.25 | |
| Optional close-up lens | none | none | ||
| Lens length(mm) Nikon Ai-S mount | 29.5 | 24.5 | 37.5 | |
| Max diameter(mm) | 63.5 | 63 | 63.6 | 66.3 |
| Filter Size(mm) | 52 | ← | ← | ← |
| Lens mount | Many single-lens reflex cameras such as Nikon Ai-S | Nikon Ai-S Pentax-KA | Nikon Ai-S EOS | Nikon Ai-S |
| Built-in CPU (Nikon Ai-S,EOS) | none | exist | ← | ← |
| Weight(g) | 250 | 200 | 180 | 260 |
| Lens color | Silver plus black. | Black | Black | Black with two rim colors: black and silver |
| Lens hood | bayonet hood LH-40S LH-40D | screw dome hood | ← | Round screw type hood LH-40IIS |
| etc. | – | focus ring is rubber | – | Lens barrel is larger than others |
| Release date | Year 2002 | 2007.11.17(Nikon) 2007.12(Pentax) | 2012.7.14 | 2017.9.7 |
| Price(Yen/No-tax) | Yen 45,000 | Yen 50,000 | Yen 53,000 | Yen 60,000 |
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.
- Ultra Wide Heliar 12mm (for mirror-up use only)
- Super Wide Heliar 15mm (for mirror-up use only)
- Ultron 40mm
- COLOR HELIAR 75mm
- APO LANTHAR 90mm
- Macro APO LANTHAR 125mm
- APO LANTHAR 180mm
All of the lens designs are consistent except for the two that are designed specifically for mirror up. The black lens barrel with a silver accent on the focus ring is a pleasing combination of classic and modern styles.
| 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
- 2025.6.24
- 2024.8.13
- 2024.03.28:modified article
- 2023.09.22:firest post
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