Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO
50mm perfection
For as long a I have been a photographer the 50mm focal length has been my go to focal length. This lens is an easy decision if you are looking for a high performance 50mm lens. In a very short summary, it's incredible.
I bought this lens when I got my Leica Monochrom M246, since then the M246 replaced by an M10. I have also been using it more and more on my Panasonic S1. It's a fantastic lens with a lot of positives, A lot of reviews rave about how good it is. I agree with them, I have 1 negative that's not a negative. The main drawback of a lens this good is it makes it hard to justify buying more 50mm lenses.
Technical Stuff
It comes in the Leica M Mount which is the one I have here, it also comes in Sony E, and Nikon Z mount. Fingers crossed Voigtlander will continue expanding into more mirrorless mounts. We now have RF mount versions to go with the existing Z and E mounts. Can we please add Panasonic/Leica L to that list (I would love a 60 mm APO Lanthar macro in L mount, please Voigtlander!)
Moving inside the lens, you get 12 aperture blades that are circular not only at f2, but also at f2.8 and f5.6. There are 8 groups made up of 10 elements, 2 of which are double-sided aspherical and another 2 abnormal partial dispersion elements. Some of those elements are also floating, giving better performance throughout the focus range.
All this performance in a package that weighs under 300g (288g). Worth noting that the E and Z mount versions longer, wider and heavier than the M mount version. The M and Z mount keep the same 49 mm front thread, but for some reason the E mount goes up to 52 mm.
The physical nature of the lens you get something that is quite big for a 50 mm f2 in an M mount. Having said that it's not 'massive' and for the performance you get out of this lens the size is not a thing that would stop me buying this lens.
The minimum focus on this lens is 0.7m in classic rangefinder fashion. While I would have liked a closer focus for using in live view on the M10 or when mounted on the S1, 0.7m on 50mm is very usable for doing closer shots.
The real world
Now that the technical is out of the way we can talk about what it's like living with the lens. Attached to an M body you have a great combo with plenty of room for creativity. The size and weight are no bother to me having it on an M body carrying it around all day. When mounted to the front of a mirrorless body it is brilliant as well.
Moving past the physical you get a lens that produces some incredible images. It walks an impressive line of being sharp without going overboard and becoming clinical. The images have their own character, which would wouldn't expect from a lens that prides itself on pure performance.
On the M246 Monochrom it is perfect and shines on the dedicated black and white sensor providing plenty of contrast and detail. All the black and white shots in this review are from the M246. Moving over to a colour sensor and you get much of the same. Contrast, detail, excellent colour rendition, and out of focus areas are nice and smooth as well.
If you have made it this far you may be getting the idea that I like this lens quite a bit. That is a great way to simplify and summarise my thoughts on it. If we want to go more in depths I would say that I really, really like this lens and it's become one of my favourite 50mm that I have owned.
