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Voigtländer Apo-Lanthar adaptation to Nikkor Z mount question

D

Duff photographer

Active member
Howdo,

In the absence of a Voigtländer forum...

Voigtländer have always been on my radar, but were invariably set aside for the Zeiss ZF, etc. for my Nikon.

However, the recent arrival of the APO-Lanthars in 35mm and 50mm, both f2 aspherical, have got me interested again. Sadly, they're only available in Sony E (E) and Leica M (VM) mount, but both can be adapted for the Z mount (not the F mount obviously). Voigtländer produce an adapter for both mounts to be used on Z cameras*.

One thing I was curious about though. When looking at the MTF's, which appear to be real life measurements, not hypothetical (Cosina produce most of the Zeiss lenses, so presumably they have Zeiss testing gear), there is a difference between the VF mount and the E mount. Presumably this is because of the different sensor/filter set-up in these cameras (although it would depend on which model of camera they tested which confuses things a little) or could it be due to a slight fiddling of the lens design to make the most of the respective manufacturer's sensor/filter set-up. I've lifted the MTF's and attached them below for direct comparison. Any thoughts?

Cheers,
Duff.

*Update/correction: While announced by Voigtländer in 2019, it appears that the Sony E to Nikon Z adapter was never released.

1637104963844.jpeg

1637104997344.jpeg
 
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Jack

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
First, I agree the differences are probably inconsequential as the MTF's remain very close. The only thing I can guess is the E mount versions were revised slightly as they probably came after the M version? Perhaps due to availability of a specific refractive index glass or possibly some other minor optical design change, IDK...

That said, unless I owned an M camera, I would probably go for the Sony version simply for resale--I suspect there are more Sony E users that would jump on native mount VC than Leica shooters that would, but then I could be wrong in that assumption too. End of day I think the differences amount to splitting hairs...
 
Knorp

Knorp

Well-known member
Are you sure there is actually an adapter for E-lens to Z-mount ?
Scratching my head as I could only find one VM-lens to Z-mount adapter.
With the mount register distances in mind to me the VM-lens seems to be the only viable option for Z-cameras.
That said I don’t mind to be proven wrong … :)
 
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D

Duff photographer

Active member
Jack said:
First, I agree the differences are probably inconsequential as the MTF's remain very close. The only thing I can guess is the E mount versions were revised slightly as they probably came after the M version? Perhaps due to availability of a specific refractive index glass or possibly some other minor optical design change, IDK...

That said, unless I owned an M camera, I would probably go for the Sony version simply for resale--I suspect there are more Sony E users that would jump on native mount VC than Leica shooters that would, but then I could be wrong in that assumption too. End of day I think the differences amount to splitting hairs...
Click to expand...
Yeah, looking at the MTF's again, what one can see could also be seen in lens to lens variation so...

Good point about the Sony version coming after the Leica one. ...and yup, resale value is as predictable as an unpredictable thing. ;)

Knorp said:
Are you sure there is actually an adapter for E-lens to Z-mount ?
Scratching my head as I could only find one VM-lens to Z-mount adapter.
With the mount register distances in mind to me the VM-lens seems to be the only viable option for Z-cameras.
That said I don’t mind to be proven wrong … :)
Click to expand...
Oooooh, you had me go and check again 😊 . Oddly, I couldn't find anything on the Japanese or German websites where I thought I saw it so I may have read it in an older brochure (possibly). However, I did a search and came up with the attached info' below (from 2019). From my limited Japanese, it looks like a dumb adapter. However, I haven't seen one for sale, so maybe they abandoned it or it hasn't been released yet. It could be that within the 2 years after the info' appeared, Voigtländer decided it wasn't viable and that Nikon Z owners were better served with the VM mount instead?! ...or maybe the release of the Megadap ETZ11 killed it off?

So thanks Bart, nice call making me check again ;) . I'll update my opening post.

Cheers,
Duff


1637117180961.png
 
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D

Duff photographer

Active member
Darin Marcus said:
Not sure if you‘ve seen these about the 50mm:
- https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/64959293
- https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1722699
Click to expand...
Interesting. No, not seen those. Thanks for that Darin.

So basically, if you're going for a lens for the Z-mount, go for the Sony mount version.

...or maybe wait until a Z-mount version pops up ;)

----------------------

I must confess that I'm more than happy with the Zeiss ZF glass, but the thing that attracts me to the Voigtlander is the apparent true APO nature of the lens (as well as its character, but that's a moot point when comparing it with the Zeiss). While the (Classic) Zeiss ZF are at the top of the tree (or thereabouts), I do get a little frustrated at the purple fringing under certain circumstances, although that can be dealt with in the field by under-exposing a little where feasible, but, I digress.

Anyways, by the time I have enough money for a Voigtlander 50mm. they may have come up with another mount version, and I'll have sat down, during which time my bout of GAS will likely pass. :) We shall see what develops.

Cheers,
Duff.
 
T

tcdeveau

Well-known member
I'd been curious about this lens for the M10 Monochrom (currently listed FS to make room for the Z9). If the M10M doesn't sell, I'll probably keep it and pick up an M-mount version of the lens at some point.
 
D

Darin Marcus

Well-known member
Duff photographer said:
Interesting. No, not seen those. Thanks for that Darin.

So basically, if you're going for a lens for the Z-mount, go for the Sony mount version.

...or maybe wait until a Z-mount version pops up ;)

----------------------

I must confess that I'm more than happy with the Zeiss ZF glass, but the thing that attracts me to the Voigtlander is the apparent true APO nature of the lens (as well as its character, but that's a moot point when comparing it with the Zeiss). While the (Classic) Zeiss ZF are at the top of the tree (or thereabouts), I do get a little frustrated at the purple fringing under certain circumstances, although that can be dealt with in the field by under-exposing a little where feasible, but, I digress.

Anyways, by the time I have enough money for a Voigtlander 50mm. they may have come up with another mount version, and I'll have sat down, during which time my bout of GAS will likely pass. :) We shall see what develops.

Cheers,
Duff.
Click to expand...
Never had Zeiss, but had/have Voigtländers in F mount, though not any APO.
I had the 40mm f/2 SL II in the D40-D700 time frame. I found it way too small and hard to handle on the D700 so I sold it.
I now have the 58mm f/1.4 SL II S which I enjoy using on the Df.
And I am expecting another Voigtländer to arrive from B&H today or tomorrow :)

If a 90mm APO is something that you'd be interested in, the newly announced 90mm f/2.8 SL II S APO-Skopar is supposed to be released around the end of November/beginning of December (B&H).

I have no idea if/when Cosina will start to release lenses for the Z mount...
 
D

Duff photographer

Active member
Darin Marcus said:
Never had Zeiss, but had/have Voigtländers in F mount, though not any APO.......
Click to expand...
Hi Darin. :)

I have been avoiding the newer Zeiss Milvus (except the 135mm), not that there's anything wrong with them at all, but I prefer the look of the older 'classic' Zeiss ZF. The downside to the 'classics' is that some lenses do suffer from purple fringing under certain circumstances, as mentioned before, which the Milvus range don't suffer from to any practical extent. Thought the new APOs from Voigtländer might be a good alternative, being less expensive (just) and lighter than the Milvus. However.....

...I'm not sure I'll wait for a Z-mount version of the 50mm Voigtländer APO. A friend kindly lent his Zeiss ZF 50mm f1.4 (I have the macro). I had read that it was a 'bad' lens so have been avoiding it, but since using it I think it's incredibly under-rated, so my lust for the Voigtländer has been greatly diminished. So looks like I'll have gone around in circles again :unsure: 😁

I'll keep an eye out for images taken with the Color-Skopar once it's out. I'll be curious to see how it compares with the Zeiss ZF 85mm.

I see you've posted a thread on your new Voigtländer 28mm, so I'll be keeping an eye on that to see what you can achieve with it. Maybe there should be a thread dedicated to Nikon-mount Voigtländer lenses (assuming I haven't missed it). ;)


Cheers,
Duff.
 
L

lecycliste

New member
Sony sensor glass stack is thicker than Leica’s in M-cameras (or SL / SL2 for that matter). That’s why the Leica MTF curves are different (slightly better at the periphery where light rays are more angled).
 
D

Darin Marcus

Well-known member
Good news - your wait is almost over! :)

It appears that Cosina had a live event for CP+ 2022 at which they announced they are working on more Z mount lenses.

To be used with your preferred translation engine:
- https://asobinet.com/info-cosina-new-lens-for-z-mount/ (HT: Ripolini on FM)
- https://dclife.jp/camera_news/article/cosina/2022/0223_01.html

Summary:

Cosina announced the development of several Nikon Z-mount lenses at their CP+2022 live streaming event (scheduled to be posted on their website on February 24).

For APS-C:
- NOKTON D23mm f/1.2 Aspherical Z-mount (will also be released in X-mount)

electronic contacts, classic exterior similar to the recently announced Nokton D35mm F1.2, and the F mount 28, 40, 58 and 90mm SL II S lenses
release date is undecided

For FF, they are working on several lenses in Z-mount, with the closest to release being:
- APO-LANTHAR 50mm f/2 Aspherical Z-mount
- APO-LANTHAR 35mm f/2 Aspherical Z-mount

electronic contacts, based on the Sony E-mount version but optimized for Z-mount, exterior appears to be similar to the Sony version
release date is undecided
 
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