# Cosina Voigtlander 58mm f1.4 SL-II Lens



## ronfritz (Jan 10, 2008)

I bumped into this new fixed focal length lens today while looking at fixed focal length Zeiss lenses for Nikon bodies.

http://www.nikonians.org/cgi-bin/dc...nt&om=17180&forum=DCForumID17&viewmode=all#11
http://www.cameraquest.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kiksbalayon/

Cosina is a Japanese company that makes (some or all...I'm not sure) Zeiss lenses.  I haven't read up on it as much as I could but believe that Zeiss makes the equipment that Cosina uses to make Zeiss lenses to specifications provided to Cosina by Zeiss.  (You might have to read that twice.)  Zeiss lenses are supposed to be primo optically but none that mount to DSLR's are autofocus and none have the 'chip' to enable full use of the camera meter.

Cosina also makes other lenses and bought the Voigtlander name under which they market their own models.

With all that said, Cosina has just introduced two new models in either Nikon or Pentax mount - the 58mm f1.4 Nokton and the 40mm f2 Ultron.  They can be mounted to a Canon using and adapter but I assume the metering would be lost....don't quote me on that.  The unique thing about these is that they have 'chips' allowing full metering (on at least Pentax and Nikon) and it appears they work on D40's, D50's because many of the test shots I've seen on the internet were taken with those two bodies.  So that means all that is sacrificed is auto-focusing.

By now I'm sure Jason is laughing at all this talk of fixed focal length lenses....but anyway...

Zooms are convenient but I think its nice to have a fixed focal length or two or six.  Both of these are $379 at Adorama or CameraQuest.  CameraQuest appears to be the US distributor for Cosina and currently claims to have them.  Adorama appears to be waiting.  The 58mm focal length works out to roughly the equivalent of 85mm would make a nice portrait lens with the added advantage of the big f1.4 aperture to make shooting in low light easier...and would probably do a good job of rendering the blurred background bokeh thing.

I just thought I'd mention it because I know there are a few out there with bodies that would match up to one of these.  $379 is more than you'd pay for a basic 50mm but less than you'd pay for an 50mm f1.4 and it sounds like these perform at least as well as the name brand 'fast' primes.

I'd be interested in hearing if anyone has heard of these or has any thoughts.


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## FERAL ONE (Jan 10, 2008)

ron, i have not heard of these, but i admit my interest so far has been in zoom lenses. it will be interesting to see what kind of response you come up with. are there situations that you prefer to have a fixed focal length  ?  i have looked with interest at some of the fixed macro lenses, but my goose is already in hot water from recent purchases !!!


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## ronfritz (Jan 10, 2008)

Well...Optically they tend to be better and they're pretty much all at least f2.8 unless you're talking the big telephotos....so they're faster than zooms.  And, although they're not less expensive than consumer grade telephotos, they're certainly less expensive than those pro grade f2.8 zooms.


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## rip18 (Jan 11, 2008)

Looks very interesting...  The advantage of these is a "fast" lens with a wider (lower light) aperature than many of the zooms while being relatively inexpensive.


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## DRB1313 (Jan 11, 2008)

Ron, You are the research wizard.  Can you find a place giving away free $100 bills


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## Hoss (Jan 12, 2008)

Thanks for the info Ron.  When I go looking for additional fixed length lens, they will be worth a look.  

Hoss


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