Voigtlander 90mm f2.8 APO Skopar lens for Leica M mount makes an appearance. It gets a warm welcome.

 

Voigtlander makes a lot of very interesting lenses for M mount cameras and I'd be confident in saying that more M camera users end up buying Voigtlander's lens products for their Leica M cameras than they do actual Leica lenses. One of the reasons I circled back and started buying rangefinder digital cameras was due to the impulsive purchase of a stand out VM lens, the 50mm f2.0 APO Lanthar lens for M. Sure, I'd love to have acquired the Leica equivalent but the current cost of a Leica 50mm APO is $9095 USD while the Voigtlander is just $1,000. After having used the Voigtlander version on an SL2 and, as intended, on an M240 I can't imagine that the eight thousand dollar difference would be worth it considering how I use cameras and lenses (mostly handheld) and what my final targets are for the images I would generate (mostly web-centric). Both lenses are critically sharp at even the widest apertures and while I would guess that they have different "looks" I would also feel confident saying that the differences would be slim. At least to me.

When it comes to lenses I think a lot of the value lies in the subjective appreciation of the user. It's like the differences in discernment between various wine enthusiasts. Under perfect conditions I might be able to appreciate more positive flavors and characteristics from a $50 bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon but I'm certain that anything more expensive would be lost on me. And, with good food and good company I can be just as happy sharing a $12 to $15 bottle of wine. Like lenses the appreciation of wine is contextual and personal. ("Buy on bread, sell on cheese". -- tells you everything you need to know...).

If you've been reading here for the last year you'll know that I gave up any pretense of being logical and rational about camera and lens purchases and started tossing good money into a rangefinder system. I started with an inexpensive (?) used Leica M240 and really enjoyed using it. I worked with Leica film rangefinder cameras for fun in the 1980's (M3, M2, M4) and then, more seriously, for work in the 1990s (M6 .72, M6 .85, and M6 .68). When digital arrived, and digital Leicas didn't, I sold out of the film RF system and concentrated for the next twenty odd years on using digital Canons, Nikons, Sonys, etc. Along with some deep dives into 4:3 and m4:3 cameras. When I got my hands back on a rangefinder camera I felt like I was coming home to my earlier days in photography. It felt (and feels) nice. 

Until last week my "new" rangefinder system was barebones. Two identical cameras (who would travel for photography without bringing along a back-up camera???) and the usual complement of M mount lenses in 28, 35, 50 and 75mm. There's also a 40mm f1.4 M lens  in the studio inventory but I don't consider it to be part of this kit because neither of my Leica M cameras have frame lines for that focal length. And, when used on a Leica SL it does a good job of shrinking down that overall package to a more manageable size. So the 40mm camps with the SL stuff.

There was one focal length that I historically got a lot of use out of back in the 1990s that I didn't have for the new system. That was the 90mm. The longest focal length lens I would want to use with a rangefinder camera. As the focal lengths get longer the projected frame lines get smaller and less easy to use. You can get a 135mm lens for the Leica M cameras but good luck using the tiny frame lines for composition... (You could get accurate framing in live view but that slows down the camera a lot...).

I thought that the 75mm would work for me but memories of the old 90mm M Summicron lens kept popping up and poking at me. The 75 is a fine lens and I used it last month for some commercial cityscapes that turned out really well. But that extra 15mm on the 90mm is addictive. What finally pushed me to buy the VM90 was the realization that, with two adapters I could also use the 90 on both the Leica and Panasonic L mount cameras and the Fuji GFX 50Sii. I already had the adapters so all that was left was a trial run. 

When the 90mm VM lens arrived the first camera I mounted it on was not a rangefinder but was the Fuji medium format camera. When using the 4:3 format there is a bit of vignetting in the far corners but when using the 4:5 format crop on the camera the lens delivers good results with minimal-to-negligible vignetting and, at f4-5.6 a very sharp image. It's a "no brainer" on the SL cameras, especially with their easy "punch-in" magnification for fine manual focusing. A plus for both of those camera systems. 

I finally put the lens on one of the M240 cameras and first checked to make sure the camera and lens were well matched for precision focusing with the rangefinder. Yep! Check. 

Then I shot test frames all over the studio. It's a good performer. I can't wait for the current gray days to vanish so I can give the lens the workout in the sun light that it deserves. 

Three attributes of the 90VM lens that endear it to me are: When using it on a rangefinder and taking off the lens hood the lens doesn't protrude into the frame lines for 90mm lenses. Yay! Next, the lens is tiny. Absolutely tiny. Probably the first longer lens I could honestly describe as "pocketable" ---with a straight face. Along with its very small size is a commensurate very light weight. And, in the silver version, it is beautifully designed and constructed. 

One benefit of the Leica M240 and, I assume more recent Leica rangefinders, is the inclusion of live view. While I love rangefinder focusing and optical finder viewing sometimes, especially with longer or very wide angle lenses, it's advantageous to be able to compose across a three inch rear screen instead of trying to accurately assess what's in and what's out inside the frame lines in the optical finder window. Modern tech to the rescue. Live view actually makes the camera and lens practical for on tripod portrait shooting...

I seem to be hurtling in an ever accelerating trajectory toward having and working with a complete M rangefinder system. Why? Because it's fun. The process provides a bit of welcome friction to the process of taking photographs. The tiny size of the lenses makes it a perfect system choice for travel or one person-no assistant jobs. And the cameras are a joy to carry, hold and use. Why M240s? Because they are built like tanks, have massive battery reserves, and since the model was introduced in 2012 used camera bodies are plentiful and relatively cheap. Well, relative to newer Leica M products. I have one more body coming but I'll save that for a future blog post. 

For right now getting used to the 90mm VM lens on an M240 body is the top of my agenda. 

Swim notes: Drat. It rained today. We swimmers don't really care about the rain so the coach and 20 or so swimmers hit the water for the 8 a.m. Saturday workout. Coach Peter was on the deck. I was in my favorite lane and we'd just pounded through the warm up sets and were settling into the main sets when the weather intruded. The morning had been gray, rainy, dark and cloud covered but now, at 8:30 we started hearing distant thunder. A phone app showed the coach that lightning strikes were 14 miles away. Then the thunder picked up and started to resemble a tympani concert. The lightning strikes got closer and when the app showed them to be five miles out and heading our way Peter called it and ordered everyone out of the pool. Ten minutes later we had a thrashing downpour and lightning was dancing all around the horizon. With almost immediate and near continuous thunder. 

Most of us are so addicted to our endorphin rushes that we'll probably hit the pool in the afternoon for self-paced slogs. Depending on weather. Those who only want to get wet once a day will hit the soggy hike and bike trails for an hour run and some of us will give up on the great outdoors for the day and head to the gym for some weight work.

So sad when swims get truncated. Almost as bad as leaving the house and driving a long way for a bout of street photography only to discover that you forgot to pull the camera battery off the charger at home and put it in the camera. ...  Only it's worse because it's swimming. Or, more accurately,  not swimming.