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 p.1 #17 · p.1 #17 · Cosina Voigtländer Nokton 40/1.2 Canon RF version announced today | |
In defense of Cosina, nearly everything they have released 90mm and wider has been in M mount, which is adaptable (ignoring major considerations of sensor stack compatibility) to other mirrorless systems.
I suspect the real answer for their recent mishmash of lens mount offerings probably isn't that simple. My own speculation is that Cosina, a smaller company with limited resources, is somewhat opportunistic, jumping to niches where it sees current opportunities and leaving areas where there is product saturation and mature lens systems. This would explain early interest in m43, which more recently seems to have fallen to the side, as well as Sony. Currently Cosina's focus, other than M mount, seems to be more on Fuji, Nikon and now also Canon. Sony FE is potentially a good example of where there was early opportunity for 3rd parties to address the needs/wants of more discerning, less budget sensitive photographers until Sony got it's act together and was able to produce a really attractive set of native lens options. In this respect I kind of feel that Sony's 'open lens standard' was a shorter term ploy to establish their system with the help of third party brands until they could dominate it with their own offerings. It's possible that Cosina now sees limited opportunities in the FE system due to the overwhelming user preference for autofocus lenses. My impression from the Sony board here is that many who were happy to adapt or use manual focus lenses on Sony early, have since switched to AF options. The losers here would seem to be Zeiss's Loxia line (made by Cosina?) and Voigtlander (Cosina again) due to pressure both from AF options across all price ranges and recent newcomers offering manual focus options in the lower price points. Canon would seem to be a major opportunity for Cosina given Canon's massive restriction of third party RF lens options. For Cosina to receive Canon's blessings would seem to be a significant advantage (though there is already manual focus competition in this space at lower price points from various Chinese brands, which is true for all mirrorless systems).
None of this is anything new from Cosina. They seem to discontinue lenses for reasons only known to them, then maybe re-release some of those as updated versions 5-10 years later. They also don't seem bothered by having multiple products of a given focal length, also in various finishes (eg 6 SKUs of the 50/1.5), while gaps exist elsewhere in their lineup.
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Though that is unlikely.