New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Voigtländer is one of the oldest names in photography. These days licensed by Japanese lensmaker Cosina, the Voigtländer brand is still going strong. We’re at Photokina, where we got our hands on the company’s newest lenses.
First up is a lens that was quietly released earlier this year for Leica M-mount. The Nokton 50mm F1.2 Asph is a fast standard prime lens designed for high-resolution digital imaging on modern Leica rangefinder cameras.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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While at 1,099 Euros ($ 999) it’s not exactly cheap, it’s a good deal more affordable than Leica’s 50mm F0.95 Noctilux. The all-metal Voigtländer doesn’t have quite the same high-quality feel as the Leica, but it’s very nicely built. The focus and aperture dials rotate with a lovely smoothness and crisp clickiness (respectively) that set this lens apart from most of today’s polycarbonate lenses.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Unlike Leica’s own lenses, the Voigtländer doesn’t offer 6-bit coding for Leica’s digital rangefinder bodies.
The Nokton 50mm F1.2 is priced at 1,099 Euros ($ 1,059) and is available now. A companion lens, the medium-wide Nokton 35mm F1.2 Asph II is also available now, for 1,299 Euros ($ 999).
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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In addition to M-mount lenses, Voigtländer was also showing off its new primes for the Sony E-mount. This is the new 110mm Macro APO-Lanthar, also first announced earlier this year at the CP+ show in Yokohama Japan.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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The 110mm offers 1:1 macro capability and a closest focusing distance of 35cm (13.7 in). It uses three floating lens groups for focusing to ensure optimal quality at all distances – according the Cosina – and apochromatic correction to satisfy the resolution requirements of 40MP+ sensors.
Electronic contacts on the mount communicate the lens’s focal length, focus distance and aperture settings to Sony E-mount cameras.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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The 110mm is a beautifully-made lens, but at 771g (27 oz) it’s fairly weighty and as you can see in the previous image, it gets fairly long at its minimum focus distance, too. As well as effective macro photography, the APO-Lanthar could provide a useful portrait capability for Sony E-mount shooters.
The 110mm Macro APO-Lanthar will be available soon for 1,199 Euros ($ 1,099).
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Voigtländer’s Nokton 40mm F1.2 Asph for Sony E-mount is an E-mount version of the M-mount Nokton that Voigtländer has been selling for many years. It offers a minimum focus setting of .35m (13.7 in) in a body weighing 420g (14.8 oz).
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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The Nokton 40mm F1.2 features a 58mm filter ring, and a ten-bladed aperture.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Like the 110mm, the 40mm has electronic contacts to communicate lens settings to Sony E-mount cameras. First announced last year, it is available now for 1,099 Euros ($ 1,099).
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Voigtländer’s new 21mm F3.5 Color-Skopar is another E-mount prime. The lens is constructed of nine elements, including one aspherical element and one anomalous partial dispersion element, in eight groups.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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The 21mm F3.5 Color-Skopar has a minimum focusing distance of 20cm/7.87in and uses a ten-blade aperture diaphragm. The lens will start shipping soon for 749 Euros (US price TBD).
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Also on show are two ‘concept’ lenses, which may or may not enter production, depending on feedback from the market. This is the first one, an ultra-compact ‘Ultron’ 35mm F2 for Leica M-mount. Finished in a classic-looking combination of black and chrome, the Ultron could be a very attractive option for users of film and digital rangefinders looking for a compact and lightweight medium-wide prime.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Next up is another 21mm F3.5 Color-Skopar, but again in Leica M-mount. Much smaller than its E-mount equivalent, this tiny prime is almost a pancake lens.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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Despite its size, the 21mm F3.5 is very nicely made. It features a large, nicely-machined aperture dial and a pegged focus ring for one-finger focusing.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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The third and final concept lens is an E-mount version of the new Nokton 50mm F1.2 Asph.
New Voigtländer lenses for M and E-mount
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We believe that optical construction is the same as the M-mount version, but the addition of electronic contacts will ensure that the SteadyShot stabilization systems in Sony’s E-mount cameras work properly with this lens, as opposed to an M-mount version fitted via an adapter.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)