Juha Kannisto wrote:
If the key selling point is the thinness of the lens (30mm) and one really likes pancake lenses and that aspect of it, adding 10mm to that already feels quite long. I like adding just the bare minimum or could also use it without a hood but adding a ~3mm tiny hood is still a plus with the protection aspects. CV lenses are usually good performers shooting against strong light sources even without hoods and I also never felt like there was a problem with any sidelight when shooting with the Septon + LH-90IIS. Surely when shooting directly against the sun this lens flares a bit more than some, but any hood wouldn't really help there and those flares add some interesting character....Show more →
Ok, OK. Maybe it's just my negative view of the Septon coloring my thoughts about the hoods as shown here as well. I just can't help to think about the lens and now the hood also as a boutique thing. Nothing wrong with that as you like the lens and I probably shouldn't have aired my thoughts on this.
My bigger problem with the new design of the Septon hood (besides it just LOOKING dumb) is putting a reflective element past the hood in general. It's the same reason I wouldn't put a 39mm filter on the end of the LH-40.
In general, I like any filter I'm using just in front of the lens and then the hood beyond that. Of course you can do that with the LH-40, just by screwing the hood into the filter itself.
Jonas B wrote:
Ok, OK. Maybe it's just my negative view of the Septon coloring my thoughts about the hoods as shown here as well. I just can't help to think about the lens and now the hood also as a boutique thing. Nothing wrong with that as you like the lens and I probably shouldn't have aired my thoughts on this.
Yes, it does help block stray light. The hood reduces the effective opening from 52mm down to roughly 37-39mm, which reduces the light gathering area by about 45-50%. This makes it significantly harder for off-axis light from the sides to reach the front element and introduce flare. It's not as effective as a properly sized, deeper hood designed for the 52mm thread, but it's still better than no hood at all, especially considering Juha's point about the added protection.
It would make sense for Cosina to release a 28mm f/2.8 Color-Skopar for E and Z mounts next. Save that hood!
That's exactly what they did for Fuji, first the 27mm f/2 pancake, which is about 40mm full-frame equivalent, then the 18mm f/2.8, which is 28mm equivalent.
Fred Miranda wrote:
It would make sense for Cosina to release a 28mm f/2.8 Color-Skopar for E and Z mounts next. Save that hood!
That's exactly what they did for Fuji, first the 27mm f/2 pancake, which is about 40mm full-frame equivalent, then the 18mm f/2.8, which is 28mm equivalent.
Yes, that's exactly what I hope they will do with E and Z as well, and when I talked to them about making some FF mirrorless pancakes at 2025 CP+, I suggested both 40mm and 28mm, corresponding to their X-mount pancakes and what many other systems have as well. I think they had already been planning that as they seemed positive about the idea already then, but can't be sure about the follow-up before they announce something. I hope they don't get any wild ideas about making it a different focal length like 25mm instead I also wonder if they could make it a little brighter than f2.8 while keeping the same size (f2.4 or something).
Anyway, if Septon sells well I'm pretty sure they would also release a wider pancake to pair with it and if it has 7-element design I think it could also be called Septon (instead of Color-Skopar). The Color-Skopar that the LH-28N paired with seems to have a 7-element design too.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Yes, that's exactly what I hope they will do with E and Z as well, and when I talked to them about making some FF mirrorless pancakes at 2025 CP+, I suggested both 40mm and 28mm, corresponding to their X-mount pancakes and what many other systems have as well. I think they had already been planning that as they seemed positive about the idea already then, but can't be sure about the follow-up before they announce something. I hope they don't get any wild ideas about making it a different focal length like 25mm instead I also wonder if they could make it a little brighter than f2.8 while keeping the same size (f2.4 or something).
Anyway, if Septon sells well I'm pretty sure they would also release a wider pancake to pair with it and if it has 7-element design I think it could also be called Septon (instead of Color-Skopar). The Color-Skopar that the LH-28N paired with seems to have a 7-element design too....Show more →
I think it makes sense, especially since we already have the CV 40mm Nokton for E/Z-mount and the pancake 40/2 Septon. For 28mm, Cosina already offers the 28mm Nokton in E/Z-mount, so a more compact 28mm seems very likely. I'm not sure what they would call it, it could be Septon, but if it ends up being an f/2.8, Color-Skopar would make sense.
Cosina tends to keep future developments very quiet. I've tried asking distributors, but they usually don't have any information until something is officially announced in Japan.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I think it makes sense, especially since we already have the CV 40mm Nokton for E/Z-mount and the pancake 40/2 Septon. For 28mm, Cosina already offers the 28mm Nokton in E/Z-mount, so a more compact 28mm seems very likely. I'm not sure what they would call it, it could be Septon, but if it ends up being an f/2.8, Color-Skopar would make sense.
Cosina tends to keep future developments very quiet. I've tried asking distributors, but they usually don't have any information until something is officially announced in Japan.
Septon naming convention might not have any strict connection to aperture range since there was just one example lens from the past and Cosina mainly linked the naming to 7-element design in their product introduction video (and highlighted that it was the first time for Cosina to use this naming convention), so I'm thinking they might want to use same naming for any closely associated other new lenses but I'm just guessing. They definitely didn't want to say anything about plans for a similar pancake 28/2.x when I talked to them again about it at this year's CP+, but if they had already rejected such plans they might have said something, so I'm optimistic.
I've been enjoying more shooting with my Septon 40/2 this week, during the weekend and on some lunch breaks earlier in the week (when weather was decent). I like it a lot for food & drink shots among other things.
Some more albums of A7CII samples with my usual processing through C1 Pro, which misrecognizes the lens as Batis 40/2 and renames it accordingly in EXIF. I think that'll only go away when they recognize and fix the issues sometime in the future (similar lens-recognition mismatches happened with C1 with some other lenses in the past based on same FL and aperture values). It's easy to change the lens compensation profile manually to Manufacturer Profile but that doesn't help with the lens getting renamed in EXIF when exporting images... No distortion or vignetting compensation were applied in post.
Juha, thank you for taking the time to share your images on this forum. I love Voigtlander glass like you, and always appreciate seeing your sample images before the lenses release in the US. And I wish I could be in Japan right now to see the cherry blossoms in full bloom. In my four trips to Japan, it’s always been in the fall, so I’ve not had the chance to see them in bloom.
Thank you again for posting the samples from the Septon. I love what I’m seeing from this lens, and can’t wait for my preorder in the Z mount to arrive soon.
I'm quite interested in this lens. I'm using GFX100RF as walk around camera, the total depth of the camera without filter ring makes really versatile for me, and with the high resolution tilting screen and EVF the shooting experience is uncompromised. I'd appreciate a tighter focal length with more separation ability though sometime. I find this lens quite appealing, almost same size/weight and depth with my A7RIVa as GFX100RF. The lack of AF is a limitation for sure, but this is the thinnest F2 lens, and based on this review I prefer the overall IQ compared to Chinese 40mm lenses, also it has Voigtlander's buld quality standards, provides excellent shooting experience, not just taking images.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
Today Cosina announced the official release date (at least applicable in Japan) for the Nikon Z version. It's 15th of April: Announcement
I prefer the Z-mount barrel and focusing ring design over the E-mount. It feels closer in style to the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.2 Nokton for E-mount.
Fred Miranda wrote:
I prefer the Z-mount barrel and focusing ring design over the E-mount. It feels closer in style to the Voigtlander 40mm f/1.2 Nokton for E-mount.
I've been ranting about this for a while now, it just doesn't make sense. The E-mount version is just ugly
I prefer the E-mount version. It also matches the camera body much better visually.
In the case of the Septon, I find the Z version downright ugly.It looks like it's been sawn off.
I personally like the new diamond-knurled E-mount (and RF-mount) styling better than the traditional E-mount styling or the Nikon styling, especially on small lenses including Septon and both 28mm lenses. The diamond-knurled focus ring also feels very pleasant in use with a good grip. I think it also helps keep the lenses smaller in overall volume.
I haven't tried the Nikon version (since I have no Nikon cameras) but the smaller dimensions and weight of the Sony version are also preferable in my view.
I also didn't find anything negative about the SE versions of E-mount Nokton f1.2 trio while many said that they preferred the looks of the original versions (of 40 & 50). I moved to SE versions for the smaller size & weight without any regrets.
Anyway, there seem to be quite strong opinions about which stylings looks better.
RoamingScott wrote:
It matches the design language of the alpha cameras perfectly, though you aren’t wrong
If the camera bodies bore the Leica logo instead of the Sony name, one would definitely rave about traditional German industrial design. That much is certain. I can't think of any equivalent to the Z design philosophy, except that the viewfinder design reminds me of Darth Vader. Fortunately, the oversized lens mount and the large lenses somewhat distract from that.😄
