Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 Aspherical

Cosina Voigtländer · Leica M · 2021

Also known as: Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 Aspherical VM · Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2 Aspherical VM · APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2 Aspherical · Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-Lanthar Leica M · Voigtlander Apo Lanthar 50/2 VM · Voigtlander 50mm f2 APO Lanthar M mount · フォクトレンダー アポランター 50mm F2 Aspherical VM · APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2 Aspherical VMマウント

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
VM bayonet (2021–) Leica M 2021 — —
  1. All specifications are Cosina's, from the Japanese and English product pages: 10 elements in 8 groups, two double-sided aspherical elements and two anomalous-partial-dispersion elements, a floating mechanism, f/2–f/16, 12 blades, 0.7m minimum focus with rangefinder coupling from infinity to 0.7m depending on the body, 49mm filter, φ55.6 × 53.0mm, 288g. The US price is CameraQuest's.
  2. Cosina publishes no finish for this lens on its VM page, so none is claimed here.
  3. The Nikon-mount S APO-Lanthar 85mm f/3.5 and the APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5 share the name and the apochromatic intent, not the optics; they are on their own pages.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Apochromatic correction with two anomalous-partial-dispersion elements, and a floating group that moves with focus
  • Twelve aperture blades, f/2 to f/16; 0.7m close focus, rangefinder coupled all the way in
  • 49mm filter thread, shared with the Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 and the APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2

VM bayonet (2021–):

  • Engraved APO-LANTHAR 50mm F2 Aspherical with the VM bayonet; φ55.6mm × 53.0mm, 288g, 49mm filter
  • Twelve blades cut to keep the opening circular at f/2, f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/16 — Cosina's own claim
  • No hood in the box: the vented LH-13 is a ¥10,000 / $129 option, shared with the APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2

Specifications

Formula
Apochromatic, 10 elements in 8 groups with 2 double-sided aspherical elements and a floating group
Construction
10 elements / 8 groups
Aperture range
f/2–f/16
Diaphragm blades
12
Min. focus
0.7 m
Dimensions
55.6 × 53 mm
Weight
288 g
Filter
49 mm
Years manufactured
2021
Country
Japan
Coating
Multi-coated
Material
All-metal barrel
Original price
¥120,000 ex-tax at the 27 January 2021 release (today ¥130,000); $999 in the US, with the LH-13 hood a ¥10,000 / $129 option

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Chromatic aberration
Near absent
Vignetting
Noticeable at f/2
Flare & ghosting
Minimal
Optical formula — Apochromatic, 10 elements in 8 groups with 2 double-sided aspherical elements and a floating group

History

Cosina’s APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 Aspherical reached VM mount on 27 January 2021, two years after the Sony E-mount lens of the same name that made its reputation, and it is a different lens: ten elements in eight groups with two double-sided aspherical elements, two anomalous-partial-dispersion elements and a floating group, but recomputed around a rangefinder cam, a 0.7m close focus instead of 0.45m, 288g instead of 364g, and a barrel 55.6mm across and 53.0mm long. Cosina calls it the ultimate standard lens and says it changes the sense of what a standard lens is worth; the price was ¥120,000 ex-tax in Japan and $999 in the United States, with the vented LH-13 hood — shared with the APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2 — a ¥10,000 or $129 extra rather than something in the box. Twelve blades are cut to hold a circular opening at f/2, f/2.8, f/5.6 and f/16, the filter is 49mm, and the rangefinder couples all the way to the 0.7m limit. The E-mount, Nikon Z and Canon RF lenses and the later Aspherical II are separate products with separate optics, and a listing for any of them is not a listing for this one; the name also reaches back to the Nikon-mount S APO-Lanthar 85mm f/3.5 and the screw-mount APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5 of the early 2000s, which share the intent and nothing else.

On the optics the reviews are unanimous to the point of monotony. Steve Huff called it the best lens Voigtländer has made — very, very sharp yet organic, detail without flatness — and a true bargain at roughly an eighth of what Leica asks for its APO-Summicron. Brian Cho, on a Bessa R4A, a Leica M5 and a Sony A7c, ranked it first in centre and corner sharpness among every 50mm f/2 he had tested, found the chromatic aberration practically non-existent and the background transitions the smoothest of the lot, and gave it five out of five; Jack Takahashi on an M10 found it perfect even in the corners at f/2 with almost no longitudinal colour against a Zeiss Planar; Michael Nguyen, shooting it on an M6 with JCH Streetpan and Double-X, called it ninety-five per cent of the Leica APO for a fraction of the money; Jörg-Peter Rau, across an M262, M10 and SL, wrote that if the focus is nailed the lens is perfect. Phillip Reeve’s tests of the E-mount lens — better across the frame than any other 50 he had tested, with 2.3 stops of vignetting at f/2 and no weather sealing — describe the sibling, not this lens, and are listed among the sources for that reason only.

The disagreements are about everything except the pictures. Vignetting at f/2 is moderate and everyone mentions it; Huff notes it is worst on bodies without lens coding, Cho and Takahashi both rate it stronger than the competition, and Takahashi adds cat’s-eye highlights at the frame edge and slightly lower transmission than the Zeiss. Size is the second complaint — larger than a Summicron or Planar, though not by much and, at 288g, much lighter than the Leica alternatives, Rau’s 326g being with caps and hood — and finder blockage is minimal. Build is where the reviews part. Huff and Cho found the barrel solid and the focus ring smooth; Takahashi rated the construction to Leica standards but noticed play in the bayonet hood; Nguyen thought the build merely on par with Voigtländer, with a focus ring that has the slightest play and is not as buttery as the competition, and wished for a focus tab. Cho’s other note is that the distance engravings are thin and hard to read, and Rau’s that the LH-13 is not all that helpful against flare.

For a buyer the practical points are few. The lens is current, so a used example should be near new; check that the focus ring has no more than the slight play Nguyen describes and that the aperture clicks cleanly through its half stops. Confirm the mount: a VM lens has a bayonet and a rangefinder cam, and the E, Z and RF lenses that share the name will not go on an M camera at all. Expect to buy the hood separately — no reviewer here got one in the box, and Rau thought little of it once fitted — and expect the 49mm filter, which is the same thread as the Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 and the APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2, so the three share glass. On a digital M without a coding for this lens, the f/2 vignetting is the one thing to correct in post; on film it is the one thing nobody minded.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a APO-Lanthar 50mm f/2 Aspherical? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $830 across 16 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $750–$1,300). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 25 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

Listings updated 2026-09-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2 Aspherical · APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5 · APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 · Heliar Classic 50mm f/1.5 · Nokton 50mm f/1.2 Aspherical · Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Sources (9)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.