In February of this year, Cosina showed the Voigtländer Nokton 50mm F 1 Aspherical lens for Canon RF at the CP+ 2023 exhibition , we talked about it in some detail. But this was a presentation version, and now the company has shared additional information about the lens, including price and release date.
This is the company’s first RF-mount lens. This is what Canon representatives regularly point to when asked whether the company plans to support the production of third-party optics. Canon likes to use this lens as an example because it is officially licensed by the company and communicates electronically with the connected camera. However, this example bypasses the crux of the discussion: autofocus. And, as you know, Canon still does not allow third-party manufacturers to produce autofocus optics for the RF mount.
We already covered what we covered earlier this year – the Nokton 50mm f/1 consists of nine elements arranged in seven groups and has an aperture range of f/1 to f/16 with a 12-blade aperture.
The optical design of the Nokton 50mm F1 consists of 9 elements in 7 groups, with a 12-blade aperture. The minimum focusing distance is 0.45 meters. Dimensions are Ø80 x 64 mm.
There’s a good chance Cosina used their 50/1.0 M and Z-mount designs as a starting point for this lens, but Cosina says it features an optical system optimized for Canon mirrorless cameras. It will work with both APS-C and full-frame systems.
The manufacturer adds that due to the optical design of this lens, when used with the EOS R, RP and R6 (earlier models), purple aliasing may occur in the image periphery depending on shooting conditions.
Cosina claims that thanks to its proprietary ground aspherical glass, it has been able to simplify the lens configuration while maintaining high performance given the high aperture ratio.
The lens is quite simple in terms of features: it has a manual focus system and an aperture control ring.
Optical design
What about the prices?
The Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 50mm F1 RF lens will go on sale next month for about $1,625.