In the spirit of speculation about what lenses Cosina/Voigtlander should release sooner than later, let's put our opinions on the record. What do you think Cosina will announce at CP+ in February?
This could be any mount but my thinking is more along the lines of their VM offerings.
(P.S. this is cross-posted in Alt/Leica and Sony.)
My take: now that the VM90/2 APO is coming, IMO the only 'obvious' focal length gap remaining in the VM lineup that hasn't been updated in ages, is 24/25mm. In my mind, the only question is maximum aperture. With this being Cosina, it wouldn't be implausible for them to just blanket the full range from f/1.4 to f/2.8 or f/3.5. Maybe that's too easy an answer. So what would come first? I'd guess f/2 if only because a 'mainstream' 24 or 25/2 has never existed in M mount (AFAIK - the MS Optical 24/2 doesn't count ). Whatever comes, it will probably be compact with high vignetting.
Likely not for 2025, but I'd like to see a VM 35/1.7 v2. Yeah, I know there's already a ton of 35mm offerings in the VM mount, but it's Cosina. Anything is possible! I just feel that the 35/2 and 35/1.5 didn't really effectively replace the 35/1.7. The 35/2 has a harsh focus transition zone and busy bokeh quality while the 35/1.5 seems like a bit of a technical let down with its mid zone drop in sharpness/resolution. And it's so small, therefore high vignetting. The 35/1.7 seemed like a bit of a unicorn offering compared to more recent VM releases. It's pretty uniformly sharp across the frame from wide open without really any unpleasant surprises. It also has pleasant, relatively neutral (modern) rendering. The only real letdown was its design. The horrid sawtooth focusing ring and 'too long for 35mm' physical length. But I still have this lens and haven't really found a reason to replace it. Even if just a mild optical refresh that keeps all the good and replaces the housing with a design that conforms to Cosina's recent VM focus tab releases would be enough for me.
For other mounts, I'd like to see more for Canon RF, my other system of choice. But suspect this is strongly constrained by what Cosina can get Canon to approve. 50/2 APO Lanthar would be top on my list followed by the 21/1.4.
Your thoughts? Remember this is Cosina, so theoretically, anything is possible!
). Whatever comes, it will probably be compact with high vignetting.