Is Cosina Asleep at the Wheel?

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Mrbessar4a

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How about some new CV products? Why nothing on the horizon? Rangefinders are probably more popular than they have been in years and Cosina is doing nothing about it... Kind of dissapointing...
 
What would you like to see?

Personally, I thought they've done rather a good job of re-freshing the product line by introducing some update lenses recently (35/1.2 v2, 28/2, m-mount versions of LTM lenses). I'm also not particularly aware of significant gaps in the product line - apart from a digital rangefinder perhaps.

They have also been busy producing lenses for other formats than rangefinders.
 
Which other rangefinder manufacturer is selling a line with 6 distinct camera configurations plus a line of lenses that they are constantly updating?
 
You can't look at Cosina in the terms you do all the other camera companies, as their products don't have the same technology life span. They don't make digital cameras which can be updated annually due to new sensor technologies which prove to be an improvement over the prior offering.

They do exist in a "gadget rich" marketplace, but they don't produce those gadgets.
 
Mrbessar4a said:
How about some new CV products? Why nothing on the horizon? Rangefinders are probably more popular than they have been in years and Cosina is doing nothing about it... Kind of dissapointing...
Click to expand...

Hmmm, they just released a new 35mm 1.2 lens, a 75mm 1.8 lens, and a m4/3 25mm 0.95 lens in the past year... that's a lot.

I'd argue that Cosina has done more for rangefinder photography in the last 10 years than Leica has... since they made it very affordable.
 
I understand the answers here.
Still, there are strange gaps in the line for a long time now:
50mm f/2 ish and f/1.4,
28mm f/3.5
 
sanmich said:
I understand the answers here.
Still, there are strange gaps in the line for a long time now:
50mm f/2 ish and f/1.4,
28mm f/3.5
Click to expand...

Well, they have a 50mm f/2 Heliar that's still available through its distributors and it hasn't been a hot seller.

A nice 1.4 50mm that is small would be nice. Also, Cosina makes the Zeiss lenses, so they have the 50 1.5 and a 28mm f/2.8.
 
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Yes I believe Cosina has a different business model than most. I like the fact that my CV 35/1.4 will still be relevant 30 years from now, at least I hope. The fact that they focus on lower cost, quailty RF gear is wonderful to us all at RFF. The RF community would really look different without them.
 
I can only guess the OP means bodies, not lenses. If so, I fully agree. I wish they'd offer a smaller body, their version of the Leica CL. But of course they won't, it would only take sales away from the current line-up.
 
sanmich said:
I understand the answers here.
Still, there are strange gaps in the line for a long time now:
50mm f/2 ish and f/1.4,
28mm f/3.5
Click to expand...

I suspect there is a non-compete agreement with Zeiss regarding some focal length/speed configureations.

No 35/2
No current 50/2
No current 50/1.4 ish

Assuming that the vast majority of lens sales are in these two focal lengths, the fact that the 35 Ultron and 50 Nokton were not replaced leads me to this speculation. Cosina holds the right to produce in their name fast 35s in exchage for the rights to a 50?

No slower speed 28 (though how well would that sell? May be a business decision in light of their 28/2 offering)

The 21 and 25mm focal length lenses pre-date the ZM line, so perhaps they are grandfathered in as acceptable.

In the end they do have all of these products as the manufacturer of the ZM lenses.
 
batterytypehah! said:
I can only guess the OP means bodies, not lenses. If so, I fully agree. I wish they'd offer a smaller body, their version of the Leica CL. But of course they won't, it would only take sales away from the current line-up.
Click to expand...

Cosina isn't really investing too much into their film body business... The Bessa series are basically marginally-modified different versions of a SLR chassis that Cosina has been building in the millions since the 1970s for various other manufacturers. What's different in the Bessas and between the models is mainly the rangefinder, partly the materials. Even the third-party bodies like the ZI or the R-D1 that Cosina has been making are clearly based on the same chassis.

If you have your entire camera production set up around building variations of that one body that you've become really good at building, then developing an entirely new body with the whole production and tooling is a risky proposition. For Cosina it would be a huge step, and the benefits seem quite questionable.

It won't happen. Even if they make another digital camera at some point, it will be based on the same chassis.
 
sanmich said:
I understand the answers here.
Still, there are strange gaps in the line for a long time now:
50mm f/2 ish and f/1.4,
28mm f/3.5
Click to expand...

I would suspect that CV has a deal with Zeiss to avoid directly competitive products as much as possible. CV wouldn't come out with a crippled 50/2 (performance wise), which would make the 50 Planar a tougher sell at $800 (assuming the CV is priced $550-650).

May be a reason the 50/1.5 Nokton has been discontinued and not updated, Zeiss doesn't want to cut in on Sonnar sales.

EDIT: Oops, I see this point has already been raised.
 
Mr K:
Just to let you know, most of us on RFF love your products and US distributors. OK, now that the PC/PR is out of the way, many of us would like to see more CV products (especially a 35mm/50mm f2 combo lens!).
Rover, you make an interesting point about possible non-compete agreements b/w manufacturers (CV, Zeiss, etc). How can we find out more about that?
 
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