Odd Cosina/Voigtlander developments?

And according to their website, they make pretty much everything in-house, from a screw to a cam, from engraving to chroming process. I bet that enables them to be super flexible and bold. :D

http://www.cosina.co.jp/annai/index.html

And I believe they do lots of OEM stuff as well so they can have fun with their own stuff.
 
I'm not sure I would say 'odd', more fitting I think to say unpredictable and innovative. And I think that is something quite useful in a creative/design kind of business. I (foolishly?) ignored MFT until the 25/0.95 and cosina's involvement was announced.
 
I totally agree with you. Both new product are not intersting to me.
But this is the wrong forum to present such opinion:)

Jamie Pillers said:
I find the recent product releases by Mr. K is bit odd. I suppose I can see where the 25/.98 lens fills a niche, although are there THAT many 4/3 owners looking around for a $900 lens? I can understand the interest here on RFF... home of the Noctilux cognoscenti. But how many can he expect to sell here? :rolleyes:

The 75/1.8 M-mount is also a bit odd, don't you think? I mean, the 75/2.5 ltm is a VERY nice little lens. What the...??

Anyone have similar thoughts? Or am I missing something (which I often do here)? :confused:

Given that the K-ster has put these products out there, do you think this portends some new direction for CV? Or are they just trying to fill whatever niche happens along?
Click to expand...
 
Doing sub-contract work never earns one a reputation...NDA etc. etc.

Making LTM lenses was a stepping stone to M-mount lenses, after the Leica 50 year M-mount patent was over in 2004. The new M line is now just about complete, except for the 90mm FL...maybe there will be a Photokina surprise.

Building the Bessa to mount one's own lenses was a must...first for LTM then M-mount. Transplanting on old OEM RF was not that difficult.

Building the R-D1 for Epson and the ZM for Zeiss earned much experience for the next product...which has to be digital whether anyone believes it or not. [My prediction: watch for it when the Non-compete clause with Epson expires...likely 2012, 3 years after the last batch of 12,000 R-D1 had been delivered.]

There is nothing to stop CV building a RF or EVIL m4/3 soon. The market is now established...on Pany and Oly's backs. The Bessa RF eBL is long enough for likely focal lengths in m4/3, just transplant it. CV already has an M to m4/3 adapter in hand.

By now, the FF dRF market has also been bracketed...by the R-D1 and M9 pricing. dRF [M8/9] fans seem not to be too insistent on AF, multi-scene modes etc...all they want is higher ISO and non-vignetting pictures. The R-D1 post-processing approach works, amply assisted by some newer tele-centric ultra-wide CV lenses.

Kobayashi-San is not odd at all. He is simply preparing for an all out strike... Orientals take much longer views.
 
Last edited:
That would be great with small pancake lenses... Never done before, maybe? And a 50 (or 35 equivalent) fixed lens RF decently priced would be a hit and would sell for years...

Cheers,

Juan
 
Dear Cosina, I hereby order a Bessa R4d and a R3d. Please PM me for my credit card number.
 
That 25mm f0.95 convinced me to get into the M43 system. I expect a few more M43 lenses from Voigtlander in the near future!
 
I would take any digital RF from Cosina--FF would be nice, but not required if it put the pricing into the wrong place.
 
I think that for those of us in the U.S. it's not easy to comprehend the market penetrance of µ4/3 in Japan. But walk on the street in Japan and it seems like every other young person is carrying one, and not a few older ones.

Mirrorless cameras have, in just a couple of years, taken forty percent of the Japanese market space formerly occupied by SLRs, and a major fraction of those mirrorless cameras are µ4/3.

That's a big market, and Mr. K does not have to sell to a very large fraction of that market to break even. I'll guess that he moves 10 or 20 times as many 25/0.98's as he did 50/3.5's.
 
Last edited:
Wake me up when Cosina released a 17/1.4 in m4/3rd mount, the size of the old Summilux (read: tiny).
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom