Voigtlander APO-SKOPAR 90mm f/2.8 SL II S lens for Nikon F-mount

[longzoom]

20160616-119 by longzoom, on Flickr.   Sorry. This is a third crop, from the previous image.  LZ

[David H. Hartman]

Those shots look very good.

[Snoogly]

Does the CPU play nicely with the ZFC adapter?

[longzoom]

Those shots look very good.

       Thank you, David!

[Roland Vink]

Minimal shooting distance is somewhat disappointing.

Yes that is the shame, no better than my AIS 85/2 (focus to 0.85m) or the Series-E 100/2.8 (focus to 1.0m). I will stay with my Tokina 90/2.5 macro for now. Not as pretty or APO, but a good lens regardless.

[richardHaw]

optical design looks interesting.

i didn't see any aspherical elements so the bokeh balls wont have onion rings (i assume)

[Roland Vink]

It looks like an Ernostar type of design, similar to that used by AI and Series-E 135mm lenses. The optical design is compact but is not symmetrical so performance drops at close range, which is likely the reason it does not focus very close.

90mm Skopar:


Nikon 135mm Series-E:

[Gone]

True macro lenses are one solution - the other that I use regularly is the mount the lens in reverse.

[Birna Rørslett]

Does the CPU play nicely with the ZFC adapter?

The existing Voigtländers of the SL range do work painlessly through the FTZ. Thus see no reason why the new 90 shouldn't.

By the way, the black-nosed version of the new 90/2.8 looks gorgeous. Imagine having such optics in native Z-mount will full electronic support. That would be a real dream come true. I like the optics and performance of the new Z Nikkors and have acquired most of them by now. Still, their handling and haptics hold no candle to a well-designed manual lens. Plus the long barrels make them look akward on the tiny Z fc. Thus I have ordered the Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 to complement my exisitng 23mm f/1.4. Haptics are so-so, but their small size is commendable and image quality is a real positive surprise at their fairly low price points.

[Nasos Kosmas]

The existing Voigtländers of the SL range do work painlessly through the FTZ. Thus see no reason why the new 90 shouldn't.

By the way, the black-nosed version of the new 90/2.8 looks gorgeous. Imagine having such optics in native Z-mount will full electronic support. That would be a real dream come true. I like the optics and performance of the new Z Nikkors and have acquired most of them by now. Still, their handling and haptics hold no candle to a well-designed manual lens. Plus the long barrels make them look akward on the tiny Z fc. Thus I have ordered the Viltrox 56mm f/1.4 to complement my exisitng 23mm f/1.4. Haptics are so-so, but their small size is commendable and image quality is a real positive surprise at their fairly low price points.

Excellent optics in a very nice package!
For the moment I am going to give some life to my z50 with  Viltrox 23 1.4 I do like the total compact size as you do

[Greg L]

What a beautiful compact lens !   Glad Cosina is making manual focus F Mount lenses. Nikon sure isn’t anymore. A beautiful compact lens with a styling and construction paying homage to the Nikkor mechanical lenses of the 1960’s.  And it’s already chipped !  So I can use it on my Df and F6 without having to add it to or remember to select it from a menu. Will also look great on my Nikon FE and FM3a. I see myself buying this and sticking it in my travel bag.

Close focus not an issue for me. It is a short tele after all.  I can always bring along my micro Nikkor 55mm 2.8 AIS if need be.  My only issue is deciding whether to buy the black or silver trim version.   

Too bad Nikon has given up on the F Mount and shamefully neglected yet again to outfit their FTZ adapter with a aperture feeler for MF lens guys like myself.  It would be pretty easy.  No EXIF aperture data. No exposure meter in the viewfinder. Stop down metering.  C’mon Nikon !  It is a major reason why i won’t go to Z.  That and I prefer an optical viewfinder.   Just a matter of taste for me. I realize the Z cameras are amazing machines. Not disputing that.

Anyway thank you Cosina for providing a path for buying brand new chipped mechanical manual focus AIS lenses.

[Wannabebetter]

A nice tidy bundle of potential, that one. Oh, if only... Don't mind me, folks. It's past my bed time, so I'm setting myself up for pleasant dreams.

[Dane]

Would a close-up lens be an option ? I sometimes use the one delivered with the 40/2, and optical performance is not significantly degraded (and probably better than without, in the area where the focussing ranges overlap).

I guess there's a reason as to why they chose not to go this way. The predecessor 90mm 3.5 APO LANTHAR had this close up lens like the 40 did....
I tested the 2.8, but didn't see the point to give me 3.5 version away... Like others said, the close focus ability on the APO LANTHARs is a great welcomed feature I regularly use.

The only way I would part with my 90mm 3.5 APO LANTHAR SL II for Nikon mount would be trading for the first (chrome) version of it as I also have and love the 180/4 APO LANTHAR of this Version, so I could exchange the hoods

[Greg L]

Since I never owned a Voigtlander before, decided to try out the Voightlander MF experience with the 40mm f2 Ultron.  Beautifully crafted lens.  Handling is very nice.  Looks like it was made for the F6. (Or the Df)

I’ll probably buy the 90mm f2.8 APO-SKOPLAR SL II S as well and make it part of a travel kit.

And despite my grumbling about the Z system compatibility with MF Nikkors, I just purchased a refurbished Z6 from Nikon USA!   
At a sale price of $1099 I could not resist.

Very impressed with the look and feel of the Z6 body. Better than I expected. Bought a dumb F to Z adapter to see how I liked the adapted Nikkor MF lenses on the Z6. I’m very satisfied.  The Nikkor MF lenses balance well on the Z6 and adapter.

Here’s my 50mm 1.2 attached with an Urth F to Z dumb adapter.  Adapter is available from the Urth store or Amazon. $43.
Very nice adapter. I’ll probably end up buying the FTZ II as well eventually if only to get full compatibility with the chipped Voigtlanders.

I’m also impressed with the Z6’s EVF.  Very bright and stable. Being an optical viewfinder guy I was worried about this.  But composing and setting exposure is a pleasant experience and pretty intuitive. The combination of seeing the actual exposure and also having the exposure bar meter is a very nice combination. I can expose via the EVF and then the exposure meter immediately tells me if I am preferring its “perfect exposure” or whether my brain likes it compensated + or - a half stop for example. Very cool! (Us old guys conveniently exposure compensate with a slight movement of the aperture ring.)

I miss the green dot. I find composing, getting the exposure right and then focusing and getting the green dot is a nice, quick continuous flow  and I have my composition in view at all times.  I did set the Fn1 to 50% magnification and pressing the Fn1 button certainly allows you to nail focus but I don’t like leaving the scene, verifying focus and going back and verifying composition again before pressing the shutter.  I may have to give focus peeking a chance.

What i’m really looking forward to is adapting other vintage lenses. I have a Leica M3 and a Contax G2 whose lenses don’t get the love they should (i still shoot slide film but not as often as I’d like) and I can’t wait to marry the Z6 sensor with these lenses. Plus Nikon iTTL flash availability.  Should be awesome.  Have ordered Leica M to Z and Contax G to Z dumb adapters from Urth.

We really are spoiled by all the choices we have today.

Happy shooting !



 

[Dane]

I guess there's a reason as to why they chose not to go this way. The predecessor 90mm 3.5 APO LANTHAR had this close up lens like the 40 did....
I tested the 2.8, but didn't see the point to give me 3.5 version away... Like others said, the close focus ability on the APO LANTHARs is a great welcomed feature I regularly use.

The only way I would part with my 90mm 3.5 APO LANTHAR SL II for Nikon mount would be trading for the first (chrome) version of it as I also have and love the 180/4 APO LANTHAR of this Version, so I could exchange the hoods

Ok ok I found another reason to part with it, which is quitting Nikon 
So if you're interested in a comparison with the 90mm 3.5 SL II APO LANTHAR see classified ads here 
I'd be grateful if the lenses would come to good hands.