p.4 #1 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Usually the lens diagrams that manufacturers release clearly show which side(s) of their 'aspheric' elements are non-spherical. I thought on the Septon it was the steeply curved front side. But I downloaded Cosina's diagram and the steeply-curved front side is perfectly spherical - so I guess the only slightly curved back-side is the aspheric side? https://www.cosina.co.jp/wp/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/E-Z-40_20-LDe-fghtr.svg
p.4 #2 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Fred Miranda wrote:
I just received this email. It looks very cool, but I haven't had a chance to look into it further yet. Is this a new design, or is it based on another M lens?
Back in the days the Pentax SMC/S-M-C/Super Takumar 50mm F1.4 had a similar focus ring design.
Funleader uses this focus ring design for its Contax Zeiss G45 to Leica M conversion kit. It's a 45/2 Zeiss Planar from the ContaxG AF rangefinder series. It's an excellent very sharp lens, Great micro contrast, punchy colors, but unfortunately it only has 6 blades.
p.4 #3 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
OscarF wrote:
The out of focus field curvature that has edges coming back into focus...reminds me of the Laowa 28mm f/1.2. Maybe they should have added another aspheric element to flatten the field?
Doesn't have to be curvature of field. Vignetting can cause a similar effect, when the effective aperture gets smaller towards the periphery of the frame (and thus DOF gets larger).
p.4 #4 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
I apologize if this has been asked before, but why are there two different designs for the barrel? I get that they might make changes, it why have both, and only offer the newer style to Sony and the old style for Nikon? Kind of annoying the new ones don’t match my other Voigtlanders.
Just curious. Also,this will be an instant buy for me.
p.4 #5 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
MagicNikon wrote:
I apologize if this has been asked before, but why are there two different designs for the barrel? I get that they might make changes, it why have both, and only offer the newer style to Sony and the old style for Nikon? Kind of annoying the new ones don’t match my other Voigtlanders.
Just curious. Also,this will be an instant buy for me.
I think the idea is that those on Nikon often use manual lenses like this on the Zf, where an old-school aesthetic is desirable. All of Sony’s bodies are modern in style, so the modern look pairs best with it.
p.4 #9 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Looking at the sample images that Cosina provides, the Septon
- is very compact
- LOCA correction appears good
- it has some vignetting (it appears more than other lenses like the 40mm Nokton)
- background is busier and double lined (compared to the Nocton)
- there is some coma, but only in the far corners
In summary a very nifty, walk around, all purpose lens that is unobtrusive, small and light.
The 40mm/f1.4 Nokton will keep its place as the artier lens. The Septon improves on LOCA correction.
p.4 #10 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
The new Septon 40/2 seems to be a variation of the double Gauss design. The E-mount version is nearly 10mm shorter than the already compact NOKTON Classic 35mm f/1.4 E-mount, itself a take on the Leica 35mm f/1.4 Summilux pre-asph.
The Septon adds an aspherical element alongside an APD special element, while the Nokton only had the single APD.
From the sample images, it looks like Cosina has improved axial CA even with a more compact 7-element design, though correcting f/2 optics is naturally easier than f/1.4. I still expect the classic rendering with some outlining and character, which I personally enjoy. A 40mm focal length is obviously easier to correct than 35mm, and I think it's smart of Cosina to introduce this pancake-sized lens for mirrorless systems, especially with the renewed interest in 40mm lenses.
I'm really curious to review the new Septon and see how it stacks up against other compact 40mm and 35mm lenses.
p.4 #11 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Looking forward to your review, Fred!
This lens may be another one that will be in short supply (like the 28/2 APO-Lanthar) as Map Camera already has labels stating that "Delivery will be after release date" for both listings (E&Z) which I think implies that they already got more pre-orders than what they expect to receive in terms of initial supply.
I didn't notice such label when I placed my pre-order, about 59 min after announcement, so I hope my order will be available from initial allocation... I'll try some other shops if it turns out that they couldn't ship mine by release date.
p.4 #13 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Fred Miranda wrote:
From the sample images, it looks like Cosina has improved axial CA even with a more compact 7-element design, though correcting f/2 optics is naturally easier than f/1.4
I actually think LoCA looks worse than the 35/1.4 Classic, at least when stopped down to f/2.
p.4 #14 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
When I bought the 28 APO, it was listed on the Camera Quest website the day of its official release, several days before B&H. Shipped the same day and great experience!
RoamingScott wrote:
Anybody here know if Camera Quest ever does pre-orders? Would prefer not to join the long B&H list.
p.4 #15 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
jrscls wrote:
When I bought the 28 APO, it was listed on the Camera Quest website the day of its official release, several days before B&H. Shipped the same day and great experience!
I ordered several days after official release but this was my experience with CameraQuest as well.
p.4 #17 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
I am really curious about this one, especially how it performs wide open at near focusing distances (which seems to be an area several manufacturers not optimizing more, e.g. Nikon Z 40/2 or Canon RF 45/1.2)
p.4 #19 · Cosina Voigtländer Septon 40/2 for Sony E and Nikon Z announced for March 2026
Seems that there was a Voigtlander "Skopagon" 40mm f/2, which was a better lens than the "Septon" which was a 50/2. I wonder how long CV debated the name.
