Friday, Cosina announced the Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical lens for Canon RF mount. Coming in January, it will be the second lens it has produced for the mirrorless mount and only the second third-party lens officially authorized by Canon.
Canon has kept a tight lid on official access to its RF mount and, to date, only Cosina has been granted official permission by the company to develop optics for Canon’s mirrorless system. The first, a 50mm f/1, was announced last February and only came to market this past October.
While it was given the green light by Canon, that lens only features electronic connection with RF mount cameras to allow for the transfer of EXIF information, provides access to the camera’s focus assist features, and it allows the lenses to work in tandem with Canon’s in-body image stabilization system. It does not have autofocus capability.
That doesn’t change with Cosina’s new 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical. While it does also feature electronic connection that provides access to those same aforementioned benefits, it still doesn’t have autofocus.
Still, it’s officially authorized by Canon and thus Cosina was able to implement an optical system that is optimized for Canon’s RF mount. Of note, Cosina says that due to the optical characteristics of the lens, a magenta overlay may appear at the edges of the frame depending on shooting conditions when used with the EOS R, RP, and R6 specifically. It is not clear if this lens uses the same optical formula as the lens released for Nikon Z-mount in 2022 that has the same name.
Supporting both APS-C and full-frame image circles, the new lens is designed for use by photographers and videographers alike, as the manual aperture ring can be clicked and de-clicked.
The Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical features a construction made up of eight elements arranged into six groups, including — unsurprisingly given the lens’ name — two aspherical elements. It features an aperture range of f/1.2 to f/22 via a 10-bladed diaphragm and Cosina says it allows out of focus areas to be “rendered naturally” and makes point-light sources round and soft rather than polygonal in shape.
The 40mm f/1.2 lens weighs 400 grams, includes a lens hood, and features a 58mm front filter size. Below are a few sample images captured with the lens from photographer Tatsuo Hata, courtesy of Cosina:
The Cosina Voigtlander Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical for Canon RF mount is scheduled for release in January 2024 for 120,000 yen, or about $845.
Image credits: Cosina