[Leica] cosina/voigtlander

[Photovilla@aol.com]

<<Cosina seems to have no ethics.  If they did, they would quit this hiding

behind the "Voigtl‰nder" name and would be honest enough to list their

products in their own name.>>


Marc,

I can't completely agree with you here.

While the use of the Voigtlander name is certainly a bit suspect, I think 
that they make a few interesting niche products of quality that is 
commensurate with the prices they charge.

Anyone who has used any of these lenses knows that they are pretty good...but 
not great. With the exception of the 50mmf1.5 Nockton, I don't think any of 
them are really in the same class as modern Leica gear.

However, I do think that some of them perform as well as some of the older 
Summarons & Summarits...especially those which are showing their age with 
haze and coating problems. Being that the Cosina lenses are priced in the 
same realm as the used lenses of these eras, and considering they fit on 
Leica cameras, I don't have a problem with them being talked about here. 

The bodies otoh, I just don't understand. I received a few Bessa-R's with 
problems that caused me to return 1/2 of them. With that fact, I decided to 
just not carry these as I personally found them to be a bit junky... I don't 
think I will carry the new body, unless it is a whole lot nicer than the L 
and R models. I don't have a problem with other dealers selling them here 
though, as in the end it just introduces more newbies to what is not exactly 
an exploding growth field. I don't think they are "unethical" for selling any 
of it, unless they are making untrue claims, which I don't think the 
mentioned people in your message are?

In the end, the reason not to buy some of the Cosina stuff isn't "ethics" (at 
least I don't see them as the Phillip Morris of the camera world, though I 
understand many do.) it is just that they make a lot of stuff that is not 
that good. Still, "different strokes" as they say...

One last note: on just about everything they have introduced prices have 
started high and then dropped like a rock. I think this  is testament to what 
kind of staying power these products will have. ;-)

cheers,
Rich