I have been looking for a fast classic 35mm lens that I can adapt to the FUJI GFX and the Fuji X-T2. There are some excellent lenses like the Carl Zeiss Distagon 35mm F1.4 with Contax mount or the Leica R Summicron 35mm. The first one is unfortunately hard to get in a good condition and for Leica lenses the prices are slowly rising immeasurably...
When the Voigtländer APO LANTHAR VM 35mm F2.0 was announced in mid-February 2021, I was quite excited. The 50mm APO LANTHAR from Voigtländer was already on a par with the much more expensive Leica APO Summicron in some tests. When the 35mm APO finally became available, I ordered it immediately.
When unpacking the lens, the quality workmanship was immediately noticeable. The aperture clicks cleanly in half-aperture steps and the focus ring has exactly the right damping. The black varnish looks classy and the lettering is very neatly done - great!
As is typical for Voigtländer, no sunshade is included. This can be purchased for a little more than 100 EUR extra. Alternatively, you can get an inexpensive screw-in sunshade for 49mm thread - it also fits. However, I would prefer Voigtländer to supply the matching lens hoods with the lens. They not only improve contrast in certain lighting conditions, but also protect the front lens from mechanical damage.
More important than the processing of a lens, however, is the image quality. First I adapted the APO LANTHAR 35mm F2.0 to my Fuji X-T2. I don't do lab tests, yet I'm interested in the sharpness of the lenses at the edges. I live in the immediate vicinity of the Munich abattoir. There are some brick facades there that serve me as objects for a quick sharpness test. So I tried all apertures from F2.0 to F16 and evaluated them at home.
What I saw in the peripheral area, however, surprised me a little! Up to f/8 there is a clear blur at the edges. It should be remembered that the Fuji X-T2 only has an APS-C sensor, which is much smaller than a full-frame sensor for which the Voigtländer APO LANTHAR is designed. I initially thought it was a mistake on my part and repeated the test two days later. In the meantime, an LM-GFX adapter arrived and I was able to repeat the test - this time on a tripod.
Wisely, I arranged to meet a friend for the test, who brought his Leica M10 with him. On the tripod, the test was repeated this time in the 35mm full-frame mode of the Fuji GFX. Then the APO LANTHAR was screwed onto the Leica M10 and the same series of images were shot.
I had already feared it. The blurriness at the edges is also apparent when the lens is adapted to the Fuji GFX. On the Leica M10, however, the Voigtländer APO LANTHAR VM 35mm F2.0 can show its full performance. Even at aperture 2.0 it achieves almost the same sharpness in the outer corners as in the centre of the image!
The reason for this is quite simple. The rear lens of the APO LANTHARS projects quite far into the camera body and comes very close to the sensor. The light rays that create an image in the outer corners of the sensor therefore strike at a very acute angle. The light partially refracts and creates the blur. The sensor of a digital Leica M is constructed differently. The micro-lenses on the sensor of the Leica are aligned towards the centre of the image and the light beam therefore hits the micro-lenses at a much more obtuse angle. This micro lens arrangement is what gives the sharp image on a digital Leica M.
Here are some comparisons with apertures 2.0, 4.0 and 8.0. On the left the Leica M10, on the right the Fuji GFX in 35mm mode.
Left upper picture edge, aperture 2.0
Picture centre, aperture 2.0
Left upper picture edge, aperture 4.0
Picture centre, aperture 4.0
Left upper picture edge, aperture 8.0
Picture centre, aperture 8.0
Fazit
The Voigtländer APO LANTHAR VM 35mm F2.0 is a truly outstanding lens. It has a clean, high-quality finish and achieves excellent results on a digital Leica M. Unfortunately, this does not apply to mirrorless systems such as Fuji's X cameras, the GFX series or Sony's mirrorless A7 or A9 series (Voigtländer has released its own e-mount version for Sony, which was not tested here).
Despite the weaknesses of the lens at Fuji's mirrorless cameras, the APO-LANTHAR convinced me because of its image effect. When the image is cropped so that absolute sharpness at the edge is unimportant, it has a classic image look that I like very much. Leica photographers can be happy about the very attractively priced alternative to the Leica APO Summicron 35mm.
Here are three examples from the Old South Cemetery. All images at open aperture F2.0 on a Fuji X-T2.
