[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

Is there any qualitative difference between the brands - Cosina, Soligor, Voigtländer and Tokina zoom lenses ?? I have been looking at them (there are a few 19-35s) on ebay and from the descriptions, make, look as well as style they seem like twins/quadruplets (separated at birth ?! ) with different names to me.
Any light thrown on this is highly appreciated.
First hand experiences from anyone using any of these brand zooms ... (compatibility with new pentax DSLRs, output, etc) ?? sample pics anyone ??

[nater]

I am not aware of a Voigtländer 19-35mm zoom lens. Tokina had a few AT-X models (pro grade, all metal body) of 20-35mm lenses which I've read they adapted to their more affordable 19-35mm f3.5-4.5 variant, which is a mix of metal and polycarbonate. I have that Tokina lens, and on APS-C (I have a K-5) it's a good lens from an image quality standpoint - keep in mind it will be physically larger than the equivalent APS-C lens because it was designed for full-frame, so it has a 77mm filter thread. The only Tokina re-branding I'm aware of is 'Magnicon', which isn't that common. Cosina on the other hand has partnered with a lot of companies to re-brand their lenses, such as Vivitar and Phoenix. Soligor I'm not sure of, but it's possible. It's also possible that Tokina licensed the 19-35mm f/3.5-4.5 from Cosina, but I don't have another lens to test or compare my Tokina to.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

thanks a lot for coming in....could you give me a bit more low down about its performance.. positives, negatives, etc... I'll be using it on a K5 II.

[eyeswideshut]

thanks a lot for coming in....could you give me a bit more low down about its performance.. positives, negatives, etc... I'll be using it on a K5 II.

Have a look here: Cosina 19-35mm AF f3.5-4.5 Lens Reviews - Cosina Lenses - Pentax Lens Review Database

The lens, sometimes dubbed the plastic phantastic is good optically, cheap as chips but of course does not exude 'Quality'. I imagine that Voigtländer is the same thing, whereas Tokina must be different - at least I have never heard of Cosina manufacturing for Tokina.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

Thanks @nater & @eyeswideshut... I finally got the Tokina (pic attached) albiet its not the 'pro' version nor 19-35 like the others- (Cosina, Vivitar and Voigtländer) but a 20-35mm. The full metal body was the influencing factor over the plasticmakes - hopefuly it will last longer till pentax decided on a FF.

[JinDesu]

The Tokina should be pretty good.

Cosina and Soligar are below Tokina in quality. Voig is above all of them. I don't think Voig makes any AF lenses for Pentax, while Tokina does.

[eyeswideshut]

The Tokina should be pretty good.

Cosina and Soligar are below Tokina in quality. Voig is above all of them. I don't think Voig makes any AF lenses for Pentax, while Tokina does.

Voigtländer hasn't made any lenses (or anything else for that matter since ca. 1970). Cosina have licensed the name to use on their products.
You are right though, there never were any autofocus lenses from the original Voigtländer, but don't underestimate Cosina. Most of their lenses are specialty items and manufacturing quality is far superior to anything you can get from Tokina. Cosina have essentially done what Sigma are doing now - moving upscale.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

Voigtländer hasn't made any lenses (or anything else for that matter since ca. 1970). Cosina have licensed the name to use on their products.
You are right though, there never were any autofocus lenses from the original Voigtländer, but don't underestimate Cosina. Most of their lenses are specialty items and manufacturing quality is far superior to anything you can get from Tokina. Cosina have essentially done what Sigma are doing now - moving upscale.

I doubt that though.. Voigtländer still exists and makes lenses for, canon and nikon but only primes - here's their home page

Voigtlaender - Die offizielle Homepage - Home

perhaps Cosina made the early lenses for them and there are still some 19-35mms (AF and for pentax K) under voigt on ebay.de - i wish though that the voigt i was so keen on aquiring wasn't out of unimpressive plastic with tacky rubber rings - afar cry from what they produce now.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

here's one from their early AF zooms for K mount

[JinDesu]

Sorry that I wasn't familiar with the full history of Cosina. The majority of Cosina lenses I see on ebay are pretty much basic lenses, whereas the Voigts are much higher quality.

[eyeswideshut]

@summit
that's all Cosina, like I said pretty good stuff. Check their partners page:
http://www.voigtlaender.de/cms/voigtlaender/voigtlaender_cms.nsf/id/pa_partnerausland.html
and you'll see that their "partner" in Japan is Cosina. Actually, it works the other way around. Cosina licensed the name Voigtländer from an outfit called RingFoto in Germany wgho are now appointed agents for Cosina/Voigtländer.

@Jindesu
Cosina was always the El Cheapo in the past but they have turned the company around in the last fifteen years with some very special stuff.

---------- Post added 01-07-14 at 18:45 ----------

here's one from their early AF zooms for K mount

That's the one, the plastic phantastic.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

@summit
that's all Cosina, like I said pretty good stuff. Check their partners page:
Voigtlaender - Die offizielle Homepage - Partner im Ausland
and you'll see that their "partner" in Japan is Cosina. Actually, it works the other way around. Cosina licensed the name Voigtländer from an outfit called RingFoto in Germany wgho are now appointed agents for Cosina/Voigtländer.

@Jindesu
Cosina was always the El Cheapo in the past but they have turned the company around in the last fifteen years with some very special stuff.

---------- Post added 01-07-14 at 18:45 ----------


That's the one, the plastic phantastic.

@eyeswideshut - yes that's what I thought too that it was essentially a Cosina manufactured and just rebranded as Voigtländer... I checked, compared and relied on the reviews on the Third party lenses section in the forum and they only have it for Cosina, Vivitar and Tokina 19-35s and then decided on the Tokina because of its metal body. Lets now see how the results turn out !!

[ChristianRock]

The Cosina-made 19-35 is sold as Cosina, Voigtlander and Phoenix. There might be a few more but these are the common ones.

The Tokina is a different lens, as already stated. I have the Tokina and it's a good lens as long as you stop it down. I like it better than the kit lens, especially on the wide side, where my kit lens is really disappointing, even stopped down. The Tokina also gives the pictures a more "pro" look right out of the camera - as long as you're not shooting wide open -, and it's very wide on my film Pentax! I just use it outdoors, leave it at f8 and the pictures come out great. Inside, if I can use a flash, I might use it, otherwise I'll use a prime.

The colors are pretty pleasing I think, more so than the kit lens. I think you'll be pleased.



The Cosina, from what I've seen, is also capable of taking very good pictures.

[Sumit Floyd Chaterji]

Cheers Christian and thanks for the marvellous visual treat.. that's a great shot and awesome colour rendering !! Tripod or handheld ??

[GibbyTheMole]

I have been looking at them (there are a few 19-35s) on ebay and from the descriptions, make, look as well as style they seem like twins/quadruplets (separated at birth ?! ) with different names to me.

If it looks like a twin, it is. A lot of the Cosina lenses were also rebranded as Vivitar, Voigtlander, Phoenix, and Promaster (and probably other) names. A lot of them are so-so, but the 19-35 is pretty well thought of, and the f:3.5/100mm macro lens is an excellent performer that also appeared under the Pentax name.