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 p.2 #10 · New Voigtlander 35mm, 40mm & 50mm f/1.2 Nokton Review | |
Maybe Cosina felt that the SE line simply added too much choice and too little differentiation that perhaps didn't increase sales while simultaneously added production costs and complexity, ultimately unjustifiable for actual total sales volume for both versions.
Re-release for mirrorless IMO would only make sense on technical grounds for the 40mm given the improved bokeh performance. The previous version is currently available for all three mirrorless mounts, so maybe. But I'd speculate that this might not happen until Cosina clears existing inventory of the 40mm for each mount, which might be considerable if they make these in batches to last a while.
The other two lenses are either now entirely absent in mirrorless (35mm), or only for FE mount (50mm). With Nikon and Canon we don't know how much is due to licensing restrictions compared to Cosina's market analysis. Clearly, the most adopted system by enthusiasts, FE mount, has the most options, but compared to M mount remains quite limited in breadth. On one hand, one can adapt M to any mirrorless if one does not care about sensor stack optimization, which can suit niche 'character' lenses and simplifies matters for Cosina by making all mirrorless mounts accessible via M mount (though the new 75/1.8 Heliar for FE mount is an obvious exception, perhaps because the SA control feature is best manipulated via live view composition). But to me it suggests that mirrorless is a harder sell for Cosina because a likely majority of those systems' users have increasingly mainstream priorities and preferences (since the release of Sony's first FF FE mount cameras), particularly AF capability, and/or preference for zooms. And those preferences are amply addressed by the abundance of Sony and third party offerings, which continues to grow thanks to a number of recent brands out of China. My impression is Nikon Z and maybe Fuji, are mirrorless niches more complementary to Cosina, particularly the appeal of Nikon's retro designs that mesh well with Cosina's interest in 'classic' and 'vintage' releases, both in optical and design aesthetics. Sony has done nothing similar that places priority on retro design appeal. And I'd be extremely surprised if Canon ever does (being said as a longtime Canon user).
All that said, we're also talking about Cosina here, who are infamous (amongst us, at least) for being unpredictable. They're quick to discontinue a given lens for apparently no reason, release multiple variants of a single optical design, at least mostly in M mount, and randomly reintroduce updated versions of previously discontinued models. So really, we're totally speculating.
From my perspective, I would not be surprised if eventually the 40mm is updated for all mirrorless mounts once, as I suggested earlier, stock of the existing model sells out (Cosina might be sitting on a lot of inventory) in order to streamline manufacturing, at least of the aspherical elements in this design.
IMO, the next logical FE release should be the 28 APO for all three mainstream FF mirrorless mounts, if Cosina can negotiate licenses.
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