Has anyone used the 90 3.5 APO Lanthar just intorduced by Voigtlander? It's in stock now at Cameraquest (grey market), but I haven't seen any others stores advertise this lens yet. It appears to be quite compact (although the metal hood adds a lot to the overall length), very light (260 gr.) and uses 39mm filters. Cameraquest is selling these for $375 (plus cost of screw mount to M mount adapter).

I'd love to know how it compares to the Leica 90 2.8 T/E, 90 2.8 Elmarit and 90 2 Summicron. If anyone has used (or even handled) this new lens, then please let us know! I'm especially interested to know how it balances on the M body, not an attribute of the Elmarit and Summicron designs.

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@att.net), May 03, 2001

Answers

It would also be much better on the CL than the Elmarit-M, which I currently use and is overkill on a camera the size of the CL.

-- Robin Smith (smith_robin@hotmail.com), May 03, 2001.

I was thumbing through the photo magazines at the local book store and there was a review of this lens in one of the British mags, (sorry, can't recall the title or date). The reviewer was gushing in his praise, and his accompanying photos were pretty good. The cosmetics of the lens made it look like it would be right at home on an old M2 or M3. There were several photos of various subjects, including a portrait at full aperture, and the background had a very nice blur... not too harsh. It will no doubt be another option for people looking for the best bang for the buck.

-- Al Smith (smith58@msn.com), May 03, 2001.

The magazine that Al is referring to is the Amateur Photographer and there's a review of this lens in the 7 April 2001 issue. The reviewer speaks very highly of this lens and from the strength of this article I'll certainly want to see one in the flesh. If anyone experiences difficulty in finding the magazine I'll gladly post them a copy of the review - in PDF format - if they care to contact me.

-- Chris Timotheou (nowayout@btinternet.com), May 03, 2001.

The 90 APO Lanthar surely looks like a great candidate for the Leica M6, based on the article in Amateur Photographer. Aside from the favorable pricing, it offers the Leica M user a lighter weight alternative that should result in much better handling than the current Leica teles available. It'll be interested to see how the Voigtlander quality compares with the Leica teles.

-- KL Prager (www.pragerproperties@att.net), May 05, 2001.