Apropos Apochromatic: Zeiss 135/2 APO-Sonnar vs Leica 100/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R and 180/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R
The Leica 100mm f/2.8 APO-Macro-Elmarit-R and Leica 180mm f/2.8 APO-Elmarit-R rightfully deserve respect for their outstanding performance. But now along comes the Zeiss 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar, for which I’ve previously had praise.
There is no agreed upon definition for what APO means in marketing. Zeiss doesn’t spell out the meaning of APO, nor does any other major vendor: it can be taken to mean “a high degree of correction for lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberrations”. And generally a high level of correction of spherical aberration and spherochromaticism (spherical aberration by color/wavelength).
So for those users out there looking for the best, including those shooting video and looking for that “look” that accrues to a lens superbly corrected for color, how does the Zeiss 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar compared to two of Leica’s finest APO “R” lenses?
In Guide to Zeiss.