Search Results for: cosina

Ep. 357: Bigger Is, Well, Bigger – and more



Episode 357 of the PetaPixel Photography Podcast.
Download MP3 -  Subscribe via iTunes, Google Play, email or RSS!

Featured: Photographer Rob Hall

What a New, Budget-Friendly Leica M 35mm Camera Might Be Like

In the eyes of many, 35mm film photography was snuffed out in the early 2000s. But a small, dedicated fan base has continued to smolder. For all intents and purposes, Leica launched the 35mm camera. And it seems that nearly a century later, they are still committed to fanning the flames that they themselves ignited.

The New Voigtlander Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Produces Gorgeous Swirly Bokeh

Cosina has announced the Voigtlander Nokton Vintage Line 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical II VM lens for Vessa and M-mount cameras, replacing the first version that was released in 2013. The lens is constructed nearly entirely out of metal and glass and features knurled rings for the manual adjustment of aperture and focus.

You Can Still Buy a Brand New Nikon F6

The Nikon F6 was first introduced by the Japanese camera maker in 2004. It was the sixth camera in the Nikon F dynasty, which began 60 years ago in 1959 and totally redefined 35mm photography. Today, the F6 remains the most technically refined, advanced and modern film camera -- not just 35mm camera, not just SLR, but camera -- ever built or perhaps ever imagined.

Voigtlander Unveils Full Frame Sony E Lenses: 10mm, 12mm, and 15mm

Voigtländer may have just tapped out of the film rangefinder game, but the brand will still live on through new product lines. The brand, currently manufactured by Cosina, announced today that it'll be launching a brand new line of Sony E-mount lenses in Spring 2016.

The first three lenses "are covering an extreme wide angle range and are perfect for landscape and architecture photographers." They are: a 10mm f/5.6, 12mm f/5.6, and a 15mm f/4.5.

Voigtlander Rangefinder Cameras Are No More

Sad news in the world of film photography: on Monday, the Japanese camera and lens company Cosina announced that it is discontinuing the Voigtlander Bessa 35mm rangefinder camera and a host of accessories and lenses for them. The Bessa R2M, Bessa R3M, and Bessa R4M are no more.

Brand Licensing and the Nikon Phone

By this point, the crippling blow dealt to compact cameras by the rise of smartphones is old news, but camera manufacturers are now mounting counterattacks. They've certainly suffered for long enough. Sales for compact cameras fell by 30% in 2011 alone, and kept on falling. They're at 102 million units for this year, compared to 144 million units just three years ago.

Review: The Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 Feels Un-Zeiss-Like. Don’t Touit

If you're here to read about the Zeiss Touit 12mm f/2.8 for the Fujifilm X-mount, you've probably heard words like "great", "amazing", "superb", "lovely" and "well damped" used to describe this lens. It's wider then the Fuji 14mm and maybe, just maybe, as sharp as the Fuji 35mm. These too are all things others will say about this lens. The jury, however, is still out for this guy.

Review: The Bessaflex TM is a Beautiful and Refined M42 Camera

Cosina-Voigtländer’s Bessaflex TM is one of my favorite cameras. It’s an incredibly beautiful and refined camera that was discontinued (2007) as suddenly as it was put on the market (2003). There are but a handful of in-depth articles on it online, and I felt compelled to publish my thoughts on it.

Voigtländer (pronounced ‘voihkt-lehnder’) is a loaded name in photography. Founded in 1756, it is essentially the oldest name in camera history. Its tradition of innovation is rich, including being the first to introduce the photographic zoom lens as well as the first 35mm film camera with built-in flash. Like many aging titans it was overtaken by more eager young companies and eventually closed its doors, the brand name being sold and used between various companies before end up at Cosina, a Japanese camera company.

End of the Road: Zeiss Ikon Rangefinders To Be Shuttered

After bidding farewell to the Super Wide and Silver editions of its Zeiss Ikon 35mm rangefinder earlier this year, Cosina is officially saying goodbye to the last of the Zeiss Ikons, relegating the whole line to the history books. The news, which began as a rumor based on this tweet by one of Cosina's retailers, has since been confirmed by The Phoblographer with the company itself.

Epson Patent Shows a Camera That Uses a Tiny Lens to Recognize Old Lenses

Japanese camera blog Egami found an interesting just-published patent by Epson that was first filed last year. The goal of the technology appears to be to make older vintage lenses more useable on newer cameras. Basically, it seems that the company wants to add a small camera/mirror/lens component to the front of camera that's designed to track the settings on old manual lenses. The photos in the patent show what appears to be Epson R-D1 cameras enhanced with special arms that are dedicated to spying on the lens' settings.

Interview with John Sypal of Tokyo Camera Style

John Sypal is the photographer behind Tokyo Camera Style, the "Sartorialist of the camera world".

PetaPixel: Can you tell us a little about yourself and your background?

John Sypal: I had a very typical middle class and middle American childhood. A semester followed by a year abroad at a university in Japan led me to the place I am today, namely a suburb just outside of Tokyo. I’ve been interested in photography since high school and upon studying and living in Japan have been enjoying the photographic scene of Tokyo and the people who make it all possible. In 2008 I was taking part in a weeklong photography festival and asked a guy if I could take a picture of his camera. And since there were lots of people around with film cameras at this event I asked a few more. I had just seen my first tumblr a week earlier, and so after getting a few more pictures Tokyo Camera Style was born.