I am getting a CV 50 2 APO. Are you too?

[raid]

I have placed an order with CameraQuest for a CV 50mm 2.0 APO Lanthar in M mount.

Who has placed such an order for this lens or who is planning to do so soon?

From what I have read online about this lens, it is an awesome lens overall. No other 50mm RF lens tempted me to consider for purchase except this lens. We have many amazingly good 50mm lenses available to us these days. They keep some of the negative thoughts on the COVID-19 virus "under control".

The CV Nokton II 50/1.5 comes to mind, and the ZM 50/1.5 and other fine 50mm lenses that we could get for our M cameras. I was unsure which lens to get, but then I went with the APO Lanthar lens.

It will complement what I already own and use. Brian S helped me over the past years to add special 50mm lenses to what I have.

My regular lenses include:
Rigid Summicron (two lenses plus a DR)
Elmar 50 2.8; Summar 50 2; Summitar 50 2; Summarit 50 1.5

Heliar 50 3.5 and Heliar 50 2.0
Hexanon 50 2.4
Canon 50 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.8


Still, I am looking forward to my CV 50 2 APO!

--------------

ADMIN EDIT:

Due to high demand for the new M 50mm f/2 APO,
Voigtlander was not able to supply our full Voigtlander M 50mm APO order.

Our initial January shipment is sold out. We estimate to start shipping about January 27th.

We are accepting orders for the next February 5th shipment CLICK HERE
-- which is filling up fast.
Place your February order before that shipment is sold out as well.

Due to initial short supply,
the 50mm f/2 APO LH-13 hood
is sold only with the lens at this time

This new lens seems very popular.

 

[Sonnar Brian]

It's probably my fault that you are getting one....

I am.

 

[Highway 61]

You were in need of another 50 indeed, Raid. You wouldn't be Raid if you weren't. 😉
I didn't even know that a 50 APO had been made by CV. Thanks for the heads-up. Will keep an eye at your results and impressions.

 

[raid]

It's probably my fault that you are getting one....

I am.

I value your feedback. How often in past years have I sent you a “panic email” in which my question would be “should I buy this lens”?

Often you told me not to buy that lens.

 

[raid]

You were in need of another 50 indeed, Raid. You wouldn't be Raid if you weren't. 😉
I didn't even know that a 50 APO had been made by CV. Thanks for the heads-up. Will keep an eye at your results and impressions.

CV has the APO lens in SONY mount since a year or so. Now, it is marketing a version of this lens in M mount.

Lenses used to be quite inexpensive many years ago. $300 would get you a solid lens.

If the Leica version costs $8000, then the CV version looks like a bargain. I add to this argument the fact that the Summicron 35 replica (made in China) jumped in cost from &500 to $1000. The lens maker is a stranger to us, while CV earned a strong following over the years with its products.

I can see myself traveling one day again and using only the M10 and the APO 50mm lens.

 

[Highway 61]

If the Leica version costs $8000, then the CV version looks like a bargain. I add to this argument the fact that the Summicron 35 replica (made in China) jumped in cost from &500 to $1000. The lens maker is a stranger to us, while CV earned a strong following over the years with its products.

I can see myself traveling one day again and using only the M10 and the APO 50mm lens.

I have no idea of the cost of this APO 50 lens made by CV but, yes, buying CV lenses sounds more legit to me than buying Chinese knock-offs of old Leitz lenses, and having unknown actual build quality.

I sincerely wish you can travel in Italy with Robert to show him that new APO 50 mounted on your M10, and this, very soon, Raid.

 

[Godfrey]

Looks like a nice lens! I have enough 50mm lenses, however, so others can have mine. 😎

G

 

[raid]

I have no idea of the cost of this APO 50 lens made by CV but, yes, buying CV lenses sounds more legit to me than buying Chinese knock-offs of old Leitz lenses, and having unknown actual build quality.

I sincerely wish you can travel in Italy with Robert to show him that new APO 50 mounted on your M10, and this, very soon, Raid.

Robert is a good guy. He is safe, and I wish him and his wife the best. We all would love to travel again over to Milan. I got the M10 after seeing his liking of his M10.

I was curious about the Made in China Summicron replicate. I own a Summicron V1 35/2, so I don't really need a replicate, but I got one. It is a very good replicate, by the way. If they have done this based on legally obtained information, it is not really a knock-off lens. The new CV APO is not a knock-off lens from the Leica APO. I think that companies do what they see is in their best interest.

 

[raid]

Looks like a nice lens! I have enough 50mm lenses, however, so others can have mine. 😎

G

Will you sell your APO lens?

 

[james.liam]

I can see myself traveling one day again and using only the M10 and the APO 50mm lens.

Years ago I was offered what was essentially a new Leica 50 APO (factory 2nd with a cosmetic nick on the barrel) at about 35% off the then-list and grabbed it in trade for a 50 Summilux and Voigtländer SLR APO glass. The 50 APO or the MATE became my travel lenses. Occasionally threw in a 21 SEM if the expectation dictated it.

Assuming the CV is similar, you're in for a completely different experience than you're used to and don't expect to dial in anything but f/2 most of the time.

 

[raid]

Years ago I was offered what was essentially a new Leica 50 APO (factory 2nd with a cosmetic nick on the barrel) at about 35% off the then-list and grabbed it in trade for a 50 Summilux and some unused SLR glass. It, or the MATE, have become my only travel lenses. Occasionally threw in a 21 SEM if the expectation dictated it.

Assuming the CV is similar, you're in for a completely different experience than you're used to and don't expect to dial in anything but f/2 most of the time.

I have always been a 50mm guy with SLR outfits in the past. Other lenses were added for the special circumstances where I would need a wider lens or close-up.

There are many online reviews of the CV APO in SONY mount, which should be similar or identical to the newly released CV APO in M mount.
Do you like the results a lot that you have been getting with your Leica APO?


Also. do you really "need" an M10-R with its higher resolution to capture what the APO lens can provide in details?

 

[james.liam]

There are many online reviews of the CV APO in SONY mount, which should be similar or identical to the newly released CV APO in M mount.
Do you like the results a lot that you have been getting with your Leica APO?


Also. do you really "need" an M10-R with its higher resolution to capture what the APO lens can provide in details?

It appeared from schematics that they were not identical and that the E version utilized more special glass. This may be needed because the sensor stack and micro-lens array on the Sony imposed different demands on design.

The 24 MP M10P I have is more than sufficient. The lens out-resolves both that sensor and the one on my M9M. Unless you're a crazy cropper or plan to fill your Florida manse with 6' x 4' portraits on every wall, not sure the extra change can't be used for something better. Like a trip to New Zealand, Slovenia or Petra & Wadi Rum when life resumes. Or paying a raft of new taxes come January 21.

The great thing about the CV 50 APO is that for reasonable cost, you can add a diversity of all possible design priorities to the kit you choose. Apparent from your list of 50s, that's what you've consciously strived for, Raid.

Perhaps the soon-to be announced Skyllaney 50 Sonnar to round things out?

 

[Highway 61]

If they have done this based on legally obtained information, it is not really a knock-off lens. The new CV APO is not a knock-off lens from the Leica APO. I think that companies do what they see is in their best interest.

In my mind, "knock-off" doesn't mean "counterfeit", but : "a perfect copy, marketed as such, at a lower price". This matches what the recent Chinese replica of the old "8-elements" Summicron 35 is. No other statement under my keyboard, Raid.

If you go to Milan with Robert, I strongly wish you can go to Santa-Maria delle Grazie and see Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. This is quite fantastic to be there and see that painting, if you think that there has been thousands of reasons why it should't be there any longer (chemical aging and fading of the color pigments used "a fresca", room used as a barn and a fire brigade storage space, WWII bombing all over the block, etc).

But, be prepared to be asked some questions there (see photo below I shot in that church with my Rolleiflex in 2015)... 😉

 

[james.liam]

In my mind, "knock-off" doesn't mean "counterfeit", but : "a perfect copy, marketed as such, at a lower price". This matches what the recent Chinese replica of the old "8-elements" Summicron 35 is. No other statement under my keyboard, Raid.

They've marketed it as a "replica", probably the most honest characterization. I do not, however, have much respect for the reverse-engineering, brazen copy-culture of PRC industrial policy. Predatory.
Nor do I respect LLL using this forum for priceless free marketing, stringing along hundreds for their "first run" editions at a bargain-basement price (that many have yet to receive), all the while selling v.2 in East Asia for triple the cost. Unethical.

 

[raid]

It appeared from schematics that they were not identical and that the E version utilized more special glass. This may be needed because the sensor stack and micro-lens array on the Sony imposed different demands on design.

The 24 MP M10P I have is more than sufficient. The lens out-resolves both that sensor and the one on my M9M. Unless you're a crazy cropper or plan to fill your Florida manse with 6' x 4' portraits on every wall, not sure the extra change can't be used for something better. Like a trip to New Zealand, Slovenia or Petra & Wadi Rum when life resumes. Or paying a raft of new taxes come January 21.

The great thing about the CV 50 APO is that for reasonable cost, you can add a diversity of all possible design priorities to the kit you choose. Apparent from your list of 50s, that's what you've consciously strived for, Raid.

Perhaps the soon-to be announced Skyllaney 50 Sonnar to round things out?

Has anyone compared the CV M version with the Leica APO?
If the SONY E version of the APO needed to include special glass, I wonder how/if the M version of the CV APO will be different.

Yes, the $999 cost of the CV APO is not too bad, but I also realize that $999 is not a small amount either. It is what it is.

I have several Zeiss Jena Sonnar lenses that Brian either put together or he adjusted them. I love old things. If I have the old lenses, I may not be too much lusting for a lens by Skyllaney. The guy there seems to be a very nice person. Who knows. I may one day get a lens from them.

 

[Highway 61]

They've marketed it as a "replica", probably the most honest characterization.

In my mind, a "replica" is made by the same company which made the original item, and signed as such. Of course, "Ernst Leitz Wetzlar GmbH" doesn't exist any longer, and the replica would have been made by "Leica Camera AG", but you get the idea. No big deal anyway.

I do not, however, have much respect for the reverse-engineering, brazen copy-culture of PRC industrial policy. Predatory.
Nor do I respect LLL using this forum for priceless free marketing, stringing along hundreds for their "first run" editions at a bargain-basement price (that many have yet to receive), all the while selling v.2 in East Asia for triple the cost. Unethical.

The same here. Well, back to topic, let's stop filling Raid's thread about the CV APO 50 with milanese scallopine, ethical stories, and the like. 😉

 

[raid]

In my mind, "knock-off" doesn't mean "counterfeit", but : "a perfect copy, marketed as such, at a lower price". This matches what the recent Chinese replica of the old "8-elements" Summicron 35 is. No other statement under my keyboard, Raid.

If you go to Milan with Robert, I strongly wish you can go to Santa-Maria delle Grazie and see Leonardo da Vinci's Last Supper. This is quite fantastic to be there and see that painting, if you think that there has been thousands of reasons why it should't be there any longer (chemical aging and fading of the color pigments used "a fresca", room used as a barn and a fire brigade storage space, WWII bombing all over the block, etc).

But, be prepared to be asked some questions there (see photo below I shot in that church with my Rolleiflex in 2015)... 😉

Thank you for this tip. It usually is a matter of how large the tourist crowds are on the day that you are there. On the day that we were in Milan with Rob and Simo and we walked to the Duomo (say), it was a very hot day, and many people have been standing in line to get inside the Church. We opted then to go to the top of the church.

Let's get vaccinated and let's hope people all over the world will do better with the COVID-19.

 

[raid]

They've marketed it as a "replica", probably the most honest characterization. I do not, however, have much respect for the reverse-engineering, brazen copy-culture of PRC industrial policy. Predatory.
Nor do I respect using this forum for free marketing, stringing long hundreds for their "first run" editions as a bargain-basement price that they have yet to receive, all the while selling v.2 in East Asia for triple the cost. Unethical.

The experience with a replica was new to most of us here. I am not excited about it anymore. Credit should always be given to the "inventor" or designer of the original lens. You should see the pride and excitement on the face of Peter Karbe as he went over many/all Leica lens designs in his presentation. You get extra respect for Leica.

 

[Godfrey]

Will you sell your APO lens?

I don't own an APO lens, Raid. I have several 50mm lenses, however, that do the job very nicely for me. None of them are for sale. 🙂

G

 

[raid]

I don't own an APO lens, Raid. I have several 50mm lenses, however, that do the job very nicely for me. None of them are for sale. 🙂

G

Understood! 😎😀

I also have the Nikon Millenium 50 1.4 that came with the S3 2000 set. I bought it after reading over a comparison review of this lens with the Summilux 50 1.4. I was "saving some money", I convinced myself then.