Review: Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art Lens for Leica M
A comprehensive review of the Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art Lens for Leica M Mount.
Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art
Intro
Lomography is a company dedicated to analog and experimental photography. They’re primarily known for instant cameras, film stocks like Lomo Metropolis and Lomo 400/800, and vintage lenses.
It was to my surprise that this company forayed into creating premium ultra-wide optics with the Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art Lens. This lens was initially a kickstarter campaign that eventually became a full-time product on Lomography’s shop.
The Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art lens is specifically designed for Leica M-Mount rangefinders and mirrorless cameras such as the Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony FE cameras. The lens is a native Leica M mount lens so a separate adapter is necessary to use with your mirrorless camera, which is widely available and in-stock on Lomography’s shop. I used my Voigtlander M-E Close Focus Adapter for this review.
The Atoll Ultra-Wide 17mm f/2.8 is significant and quite unique considering that there aren’t any Leica M mount lenses that matches the profile of this lens. It’s rangefinder coupled, ultra-wide at 17mm, and has a max wide aperture of f/2.8. You won’t find a lens that has all these qualities for the M Mount and definitely not at the pricepoint of $499.00 USD!
Worth mentioning that the lens comes in amazing packaging. You’ll want to hold onto the box it comes with as it contains some very cool booklets. Rather than just supplying warranty or manual pamphlets, Lomography included a booklet containing photos by other professional photographers and even provided tips on how to effectively use this lens.
Specs
Focal Length: 17mm
Leica M Mount (Full Frame) Can be adapted to Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony FE with an adapter.
Minimum Focus Distance: 25cm/.25m (10cm/.10m with a Close Focus Adapter)
Max Aperture: f/2.8
Minimum Aperture: f/22
Optics: 13 multicoated elements in 10 groups; 8 Diaphragm Blades
Weight: 445.6g (Without Lens Cap)
Dimensions (Diameter x Length) 73mmx79mm
Filter Size: 67mm
Weather Proofing: None
Price: $499.00 USD
Build Quality
As with most wide lenses that can open up to f/2.8, the Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art lens is quite hefty. It’s not the heaviest ultra-wide lens I’ve ever used, but it’s quite large by rangefinder lens standards. The lens has an all metal construction consisting of anodized aluminum. It has a built in petal-style hood, clickless aperture ring, and a buttery-smooth focus ring. Overall, I’m quite impressed with the build quality that Lomography committed to here. They easily could have gone with cheaper material, but the construction rivals other Leica M rangefinder lenses out there.
There is a marked “hyperfocal point” indicator with a sharp red line that is intended to line up with f/5.6 to indicate hyperfocal distance. This just means that anything at .9 meters to infinity will be in focus. Quite handy if you’re doing street photography or just looking to get rapid shots without having to focus through the viewfinder. Personally, I kept this lens at the hyperfocal point for 75% of shots that I took , except for some late-night portrait shots.
The aperture ring is “clickless”, meaning that it won’t stop at each demarcated aperture number. This is useful for any video creators out there, but tends to get quite annoying since it’s very easy to accidentally bump the aperture ring without noticing.
The focus ring is incredibly smooth and dampened. The lens hood is built in (like many ultra-wide lenses) and seems to do a decent job at preventing flaring.
There is a slim 67mm filter thread for any filters you might want to use, but I don’t think it’s of any practical use. The filter threads are very thin and none of my 67mm filters could fit within the diameter of the lens hood. Even if you manage to fit a filter in there, it might be impossible to unscrew or turn your filter if you’re using a VND or CPL. I’d advise against using a filter with this lens. The filter thread is there as an option but it seems like it wasn’t built with the idea of proper spacing for a filter.
Overall, surprisingly well built and not too many complaints here.
Since most rangefinder cameras don’t have framelines as wide as 17mm, Lomography was kind enough to supply an external viewfinder that comes with the lens. If you’ve read other reviews about this lens and viewfinder, you’ll hear some complaints that the viewfinder is cheaply made. It definitely doesn’t have the premium build quality of the lens itself, as it’s build out of cheap plastic. I don’t have too many comments here as I think it gets the job done in terms of providing a field of view. I had the lens on my Voigtlander Bessa R4A, which can go as wide as 21mm in the rangefinder window, so I just guessed the approximate frame lines without the external viewfinder.
Performance
This lens is best used for dramatic architectural shots or environmental portraiture. Focal lengths below 20mm will naturally have abnormal distortion in all areas of the frame, so you have to be a bit more cognizant of your composition and subject matter.
I took this lens to The Metropolitan Museum in New York as the museum has very dramatic architecture and incredible open spaces. The lens performed quite well and I wasn’t disappointed with the shots I was getting. I shot with my Sony A7IV and a Voigtlander M-E Close Focus Adapter and turned on Focus Peaking to aid manual focusing.
I also attempted some environmental portraiture in the evening which proved to be a bit more difficult. At f/2.8, the aperture is wide and great for relatively low-light situations, but I still had some noise in my images. Struggling to focus at f/2.8 informed me that peak sharpness is most likely achieved at f/4 or f/5.6 as there was quite a few soft and out-of-focus images wide open.
I’m typically shooting landscape at ultra-wide focal lengths, but trying architectural shots and dramatic ultra-wide portraits was an incredibly fun experience. I’d highly recommend anyone that likes to shoot wide street or travel photography to try out this lens.
The images shown above are from the portrait session and there were many photos that surprised me (in a good way!). Although I was at a high ISO for the outdoor shots, the images very much exceeded my expectations. The image is sharp in the center and encounters blurriness and vignetting toward the edges but that’s to be expected when shooting ultra-wide focal lengths. The only optical performance that was “disappointing” was the flaring when shooting against backlit subjects. They aren’t the most egregious lens flares I’ve seen, but I’m mentioning them here since I should talk about some drawbacks of this lens.
You’ll see some flaring occurring in the corners of the frame. They only occurred in a few photos so I didn’t think it was much of a big deal. Overall, the lens actually has a decent coating on the glass elements.
Sample Images
Click on the photo to view a larger image.
Final Thoughts
This is the most unique Leica M Mount lens in the ultra-wide focal lengths. No other M Mount rangefinder lens in the 10-20mm range has the same qualities as the Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art lens. Most M Mount lenses in the ultra-wide range are f/4.5 or f/5.6 on the wide end and the closest lens to the Lomo Atoll is the Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8 ZM. This lens comes in at a whopping $4750 USD and isn’t even rangefinder coupled.
If you’re looking for an ultra-wide M Mount lens that provides an external viewfinder, look no further and pick up the Lomography Atoll 17mm f/2.8 Art lens.
Pros:
Focal Length
Rangefinder Coupled
All-Metal Construction
Dampened focus ring and aperture ring
Decent image performance
Built-in Lens Hood
Premium Packaging, supplied with helpful guides
Cons:
Focus might be hard to achieve at wide apertures
Clickless aperture ring means you’ll be accidentally moving your aperture
Large and metal so it’s heavier than standard rangefinder lenses
External Viewfinder is cheap plastic
Other Comments:
I love to test more affordable lenses and I’m quite serious about money spent on gear actually providing quality images. This lens is currently $499 USD on the Lomography store and the Close Focus Adapter is $120. This is a very affordable wide angle M Mount option considering the closest lens that can compare to the Lomo Atoll is the Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8 ZM which is almost $5000 USD.
Rating: 4.5/5
I give this lens a very high score due to it’s unique lens profile, premium build quality, and decent optical performance.
Review: Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR VM for Leica M
A definitive review of the new Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR VM for Leica M Mount cameras.
Intro
If you've been looking for budget friendly alternatives to classic Leica lenses, then Voigtlander is a brand you've probably come across. Voigtlander lenses (distributed by Japanese company Cosina) have been very popular choices for photographers looking to save a couple thousand dollars on Leica M glass. Most modern Voigtlander lenses have excellent optical and build qualities that rival Zeiss and Leica lenses. This 2021 release is no different and is quite possibly the best lens that Voigtlander has released to date. The Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR VM is finally here for the Leica M mount after appearing on the Sony FE system in 2019.
Specs
Focal Length: 50mm
Leica M Mount
Minimum Focus Distance: 70cm/.7m
Max Aperture: f/2
Minimum Aperture: f/16
Optics: 10 Elements in 8 Groups; 12 Diaphragm Blades
Weight: 288g
Dimensions (Diameter x Length) 55.6mm x 53mm / 2.2" x 2.1"
Filter Size: 49mm
Weather Proofing: None
Price: $999 USD on B&H Photo
Build Quality
This lens feels amazing to operate with. Modern Voigtlander lenses have a great build quality to them and the 50mm APO-LANTHAR is no different in this regard. The focusing ring is incredibly smooth and it creates a pleasant experience when obtaining focus on portraits. There is no focusing tab on this lens but personally I prefer a standard focusing ring on lenses of this length. Another thing to note is that this lens does not come with a lens hood. Purchasing a lens hood (Voigtlander LH-13) will cost another $129 USD.
The aperture has defined clicks and adjusts in half stops from f/2 to f/16. The markings and text on the lens barrel are a little difficult to read at times. The text is rather thin and the crimson font color they chose for the feet distance indicator is a bit too dark and might blend in with the black color of the lens barrel at times. It's a small complaint but it becomes quite noticeable how pleasant the distance indicators on the Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2 and Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron are in comparison to the Voigtlander.
In the following photos you’ll see that the Voigtlander is larger than the Leica Summicron and Zeiss Planar and the weight difference is noticeable. This isn’t enough to be cumbersome but it is something to keep in mind if you consider weight a priority when carrying your equipment around.
The optical design of this lens consists of 10 glass elements in 8 groups with 12 diaphragm blades which aid in bokeh quality. This lens has an APO classification in its name, indicating that the lens has an apochromatic design which drastically mitigates color fringing and chromatic aberrations. The RGB colored lines near the front element are a nice touch in tribute to its design. This overall glass construction is excellent and you can see the amazing performance of this lens in the next section.
Performance
I used the Voigtlander 50mm APO-LANTHAR f/2 on my Voigtlander Bessa R4A and my Sony A7c. I must preface that the quality of your image will be significantly better if you're shooting with a digital Leica M body since the Sony sensor is not optimized for M mount glass. However, you can see the relative difference in quality and performance when I compare the images of the APO-LANTHAR with other 50mm M lenses in the same category. Personally, I use most of my M mount lenses on my R4A and my Leica M5 and certain lens qualities aren't as pronounced on film.
The first impression you will receive from this lens is that it is incredibly sharp. It definitely has a more modern rendering but the sharpness of this lens isn't overwhelming. Contrast is strong and saturation is very bold at f/2. It's hard to deny the claim others have made that this is quite honestly the best performing Voigtlander lens to date.
One important thing to note is that vignetting is quite apparent at f/2 if you're adapting this lens to other digital bodies like a Sony mirrorless camera. The vignetting is less apparent with my film photos but it's definitely more noticeable compared to the standard Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron. Distortion is quite minimal and both vignetting and distortion are easily adjusted if you apply a Lightroom correction with the Sony FE profile of this lens.
Test Images
True to the apochromatic design of this lens, chromatic aberration is minimal or practically non-existent. The photos below have not been corrected for chromatic aberrations within Lightroom nor have they been adjusted with a profile to correct for vignetting or distortion.
If you're very strict about your preference in bokeh quality, you'll be happy to see just how beautiful the out-of-focus areas are with this lens. The rear bokeh quality of the Voigtlander has the smoothest transitions between out-of-focus elements in the image. No other 50mm f/2 lens that I tested against the Voigtlander came close to having such pleasing rear bokeh rendering. What's very odd is that objects that are in front of the focal plane have slightly distracting bokeh qualities compared to objects that are in the distance.
The images below demonstrate the difference in out-of-focus elements between the Leica Summicron (Top) and the Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR (Bottom). Click on individual images for a larger view.
Notice how smooth the out of focus area is in the rear for the Voigtlander compared to the Leica but the bokeh nearest to the camera is more defined and sharp on the Voigtlander. It's not the biggest deal breaker and to be quite honest I don't think most people will notice this unless if you're pixel-peeping every out of focus element near the camera.
Both lenses have a swirly cat-eyed bokeh with the Leica having more spherical shapes to its bokeh balls.
Here are shots of the Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR at f/2 against other popular 50mm f/2 lenses:
Something interesting to note is that the Voigtlander has a slightly wider field of view than the Leica Summicron. The Zeiss Planar has the widest field of view with very little vignetting at f/2. I threw my Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2 in the mix as a budget choice to compare to the other popular 50mm lenses.
Test chart images at f/2 for center sharpness, corner sharpness, and levels of chromatic aberration.
My order of rankings for performance purely from this test chart is:
Voigtlander APO-LANTHAR
Leica Summicron
Zeiss Planar
Konica M-Hexanon
The Voigtlander had superb sharpness and consistent image performance across the frame. The Leica is a little softer on the corners, but I’d expect the corner softness to disappear on a true Leica digital camera. The Zeiss Planar has some color fringing in the corners and the Konica has obvious chromatic abberation going on the edges of the image. Overall, the Voigtlander, Zeiss, and Leica produce amazing images and the Konica holds up relatively well. However, it does speak volumes when I can instantly spot just how much cleaner the images out of the Voigtlander are.
Sample Images
Click on the photo to view a larger image.
Final Thoughts
This is quite simply one of the most sophisticated Leica M mount lenses that has been released. Minimal color fringing, excellent sharpness, amazing bokeh quality, and solid build quality are all obvious signs that this lens is a must-have for any photographer looking for a Leica M mount standard prime lens.
Unfortunately I didn't have the Leica 50mm f/2 APO version to compare this lens to, but comparing a $9000 lens to a $1000 lens doesn't make much sense to me, personally. The differences in optical quality become so minute that a ~$8000 price difference is hard to justify unless if you're a purist who prefers Leica glass on Leica camera bodies. From my experience with the Voigtlander, it outperformed the Leica 50mm f/2 Summicron, Zeiss Planar 50mm f/2, and my Konica M-Hexanon 50mm f/2 in every aspect asides from the moderate vignetting. If you've come down to any of these lenses while deliberating on your next 50mm prime lens, then the difference in build quality is probably your main factor to consider.
Pros:
Sharpness
Bokeh quality
Near zero color fringing
Solid build construction
Well dampened focus ring
Cons:
Moderate vignetting at f/2
Slightly hard-to-read distance indicators
Larger than comparable 50mm f/2 M mount lenses
No included lens hood
Other Comments:
At $999 USD, the Voigtlander isn’t cheap but the Leica Summicron costs ~$2800 USD and the APO-Summicron costs ~$9000 USD. So you’re saving a significant amount of money for a lens that has image quality near the level of Leica glass.
Rating: 5/5
Providing a B&H Photo Affiliate link if you’d like to purchase the lens so I can use the funds to run my reviews. Thanks!
Voigtlander 50mm f/2 APO-LANTHAR for Leica M.
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