Cosina and the Zeiss / Voigtlander stuff

[LittleSkink]

I have to admit to wondering if there will be any more SLII Voigtlander lenses, certainly the 125mm Macro would be my no brainer next purchase at the right price

But some say Cosina is too busy making Zeiss lenses, especially with the new Canon/ZE mounts to make

Trying to understand the business side of things makes me think they could well do more Voigtlander SLR lenses though, as it must be more profitable for Cosina. Sure Cosina is making a bit of money with the Zeiss stuff - but its made under licence to Zeiss with Zeiss QC, so Cosina is just a supplier and Zeiss is making the real money. With Voigtlander there is a licence cost (already paid?) but the distribution network is pretty simple (and they are still seeking more) most of the design work is already done so even the tooling might be sat waiting

So as I see it entry costs are virtually nil, risk is negligible and margins will be quite high - so more SLIIs must be a no brainer to Cosina too ? Unless they have severe capacity constraints or licence restrictions . . . or the Rangefinder side selling to Leica owners is even more lucrative . . .

be interest to know what others think ?

[thePiRaTE!!]

Cosina still put out quite a bit of Voigtlander stuff, but its all rangefinder at the moment, cameras and lenses. They just did a 28/2, new at cameraquest. There is also a rare 35/1.2 of which only a couple of thousand were produced selling there I hope makes the jump someday to K-mount.

I've forgotten the source, but I read a forum a year back where a fellow had gone to visit the factory in rural Japan (where labour & facility costs were lower) and mentioned then that the Zeiss and Voigtlander stuff were produced in the same fashion at the same plant, but on a different production line. I hoped at the time that this would mean no interference with VL production, but who knows.

On the flip side of your toughts, with Zeiss charging a lot more, I think Cosina are probably well renumerated for their efforts, also they don't need to deal with customer service or repairs on those. In the end, they have no follow-up support commitments so it would seem to be fairly easy money for them with the Z line. I hope there are a lot more of both in the end, but certainly echo your feelings on more SLIIs.

[Damn Brit]

I'm pretty sure there will be more to come. Their lenses are becoming more and more popular (I am a recent convert). You only have to look at the resale prices of the used lenses to see how legendary they are becoming.

[roentarre]

Originally Posted by thePiRaTE!!

Cosina still put out quite a bit of Voigtlander stuff, but its all rangefinder at the moment, cameras and lenses. They just did a 28/2, new at cameraquest. There is also a rare 35/1.2 of which only a couple of thousand were produced selling there I hope makes the jump someday to K-mount.

Any canon mount for that?

I heard about it from a few internet friends. Sounds like fun to use

[k100d]

too bad these are all RF lenses P
whoever makes an affordable M-mount RF gets my money :P

[thePiRaTE!!]

Originally Posted by k100d

too bad these are all RF lenses P
whoever makes an affordable M-mount RF gets my money :P

Film ones are

[k100d]

Originally Posted by thePiRaTE!!

Film ones are

damn you caught me ... i meant "DIGITAL" :P
i was so close to getting a Film RF