Cosina
Encyclopedia
is a designer and manufacturer of camera
s and lens
es, and a glassmaker, based in Nakano
, Nagano Prefecture
, Japan
.
lenses in 1959. In 1966, it started to manufacture 35 mm
compact cameras and 8 mm
cine camera
s, in 1968 it started a glassworks, and a year later started the manufacture of 35 mm film SLR cameras
. Nikō changed its name to Cosina in 1973. (The first part of the name is a reference to the Koshi area within Nakano, where the founder came from; while the 'Na' represents Nakano.)
The name Cosina has previously appeared on compact and SLR cameras for 135 film
. The CS-2 and CS-3 SLRs were introduced in 1978, followed in 1980 by the CT-1, CT-7 (The world's first all—push-button SLR), CT-10 and CT-20, the CT-1G in 1982 and the CT-9 in 1986. Cosina SLR cameras used either the M42 (Praktica/Pentax) lens mount or the Pentax K (bayonet) lens mount. However Cosina is probably better known as a manufacturer of cameras and camera components for other brands. During the late 1970s, Cosina made a name for itself in 35 mm rangefinder cameras with a well-built, high quality fixed-lens camera using an aluminum body and a simple shutter-priority autoexposure system. This rangefinder camera was adopted as the basic chassis for several excellent camera models, including the Konica Auto S3, Minolta 7sII, Revue 400se, Prinz 35ER, and Vivitar 35ES.
In 1982 Cosina began to manufacture lenses in a variety of SLR manufacturers' lens mounts. In 1991 it started to produce glass molded aspheric lens
es, and in 1996 plastic molded aspherical lenses. It began producing digital cameras in 1997.
On April 26, 2010 Cosina joined the micro 4/3 group
At about this time, plans were started to produce a new 35 mm rangefinder camera, complete with wide and ultrawide lenses for the Leica screw mount, and also a basic camera — similar to a rangefinder camera
but without a rangefinder
or viewfinder
— for mounting these. Having obtained the rights to the name Voigtländer
from Ringfoto in Germany
, Cosina introduced a Voigtländer 15 mm f/4.5 and 25 mm f/4 lens (neither of them rangefinder-coupled) and the Voigtländer Bessa L body in 1999. It quickly followed with a wider range of cameras (starting with the Bessa R, with viewfinder and rangefinder; and the Bessa T, with rangefinder but no viewfinder); and a set of lenses including the Heliar 12 mm f/5.6 lens, which on its introduction was the widest rectilinear lens ever marketed for still photography.
.
The Voigtländer cameras and lenses have been of great personal interest to Kobayashi Hirofumi 小林博文 (b. 1953), the President of Cosina since the death in 1988 of his father (小林文治郎), the founder. The name Cosina now appears (conspicuously) on lenses for various SLR mounts, and less conspicuously on a widening range of cameras and lenses with the Voigtländer brand. Cosina manufactured a Rollei-branded
rangefinder camera, and is acknowledged to have manufactured (and to have helped design) an Epson digital rangefinder camera as well. Its manufacture of a new Zeiss Ikon, Leica bayonet mount, rangefinder camera and Zeiss lenses in Leica bayonet mount was announced in October 2004, and it is already (April 2006) producing these. All these cameras use film showing Cosina's unique position in the market filling the gap in demand for high quality film cameras and support a technology that is still evolving.
TC-X, and various Vivitar
models. A Cosina design, the 1982 Cosina CX-2, was copied by the Russia
n optical firm LOMO
as the popular Lomo LC-A
.
Cosina manufactures manual focus SLR lenses for Carl Zeiss with Nikon (ZF), Pentax (ZK), Canon EOS (ZE), and M42 screw mounts (ZS).
Camera
A camera is a device that records and stores images. These images may be still photographs or moving images such as videos or movies. The term camera comes from the camera obscura , an early mechanism for projecting images...
s and lens
Photographic lens
A camera lens is an optical lens or assembly of lenses used in conjunction with a camera body and mechanism to make images of objects either on photographic film or on other media capable of storing an image chemically or electronically.While in principle a simple convex lens will suffice, in...
es, and a glassmaker, based in Nakano
Nakano, Nagano
is a city located in Nagano, Japan, located in the northern portion of the prefecture.As of April 1, 2008, the city has an estimated population of 46,114 and the density of 411.51 persons per km². The total area is 112.06 km²....
, Nagano Prefecture
Nagano Prefecture
is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of the island of Honshū. The capital is the city of Nagano.- History :Nagano was formerly known as the province of Shinano...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
.
History
Cosina is the successor to Nikō (or "Nikoh"), a company set up as a manufacturer oflenses in 1959. In 1966, it started to manufacture 35 mm
35 mm film
35 mm film is the film gauge most commonly used for chemical still photography and motion pictures. The name of the gauge refers to the width of the photographic film, which consists of strips 35 millimeters in width...
compact cameras and 8 mm
8 mm film
8 mm film is a motion picture film format in which the filmstrip is eight millimeters wide. It exists in two main versions: the original standard 8mm film, also known as regular 8 mm or Double 8 mm, and Super 8...
cine camera
Movie camera
The movie camera is a type of photographic camera which takes a rapid sequence of photographs on strips of film which was very popular for private use in the last century until its successor, the video camera, replaced it...
s, in 1968 it started a glassworks, and a year later started the manufacture of 35 mm film SLR cameras
Single-lens reflex camera
A single-lens reflex camera is a camera that typically uses a semi-automatic moving mirror system that permits the photographer to see exactly what will be captured by the film or digital imaging system, as opposed to pre-SLR cameras where the view through the viewfinder could be significantly...
. Nikō changed its name to Cosina in 1973. (The first part of the name is a reference to the Koshi area within Nakano, where the founder came from; while the 'Na' represents Nakano.)
The name Cosina has previously appeared on compact and SLR cameras for 135 film
135 film
The term 135 was introduced by Kodak in 1934 as a designation for cartridge film wide, specifically for still photography. It quickly grew in popularity, surpassing 120 film by the late 1960s to become the most popular photographic film format...
. The CS-2 and CS-3 SLRs were introduced in 1978, followed in 1980 by the CT-1, CT-7 (The world's first all—push-button SLR), CT-10 and CT-20, the CT-1G in 1982 and the CT-9 in 1986. Cosina SLR cameras used either the M42 (Praktica/Pentax) lens mount or the Pentax K (bayonet) lens mount. However Cosina is probably better known as a manufacturer of cameras and camera components for other brands. During the late 1970s, Cosina made a name for itself in 35 mm rangefinder cameras with a well-built, high quality fixed-lens camera using an aluminum body and a simple shutter-priority autoexposure system. This rangefinder camera was adopted as the basic chassis for several excellent camera models, including the Konica Auto S3, Minolta 7sII, Revue 400se, Prinz 35ER, and Vivitar 35ES.
In 1982 Cosina began to manufacture lenses in a variety of SLR manufacturers' lens mounts. In 1991 it started to produce glass molded aspheric lens
Aspheric lens
An aspheric lens or asphere is a lens whose surface profiles are not portions of a sphere or cylinder. In photography, a lens assembly that includes an aspheric element is often called an aspherical lens....
es, and in 1996 plastic molded aspherical lenses. It began producing digital cameras in 1997.
On April 26, 2010 Cosina joined the micro 4/3 group
At about this time, plans were started to produce a new 35 mm rangefinder camera, complete with wide and ultrawide lenses for the Leica screw mount, and also a basic camera — similar to a rangefinder camera
Rangefinder camera
A rangefinder camera is a camera fitted with a rangefinder: a range-finding focusing mechanism allowing the photographer to measure the subject distance and take photographs that are in sharp focus...
but without a rangefinder
Rangefinder
A rangefinder is a device that measures distance from the observer to a target, for the purposes of surveying, determining focus in photography, or accurately aiming a weapon. Some devices use active methods to measure ; others measure distance using trigonometry...
or viewfinder
Viewfinder
In photography, a viewfinder is what the photographer looks through to compose, and in many cases to focus, the picture. Most viewfinders are separate, and suffer parallax, while the single-lens reflex camera lets the viewfinder use the main optical system. Viewfinders are used in many cameras of...
— for mounting these. Having obtained the rights to the name Voigtländer
Voigtländer
Voigtländer is an optical company founded by Johann Christoph Voigtländer in Vienna in 1756 and is thus the oldest name in cameras. It produced the Petzval photographic lens in 1840, and the world's first all-metal daguerrotype camera in 1841, also bringing out plate cameras shortly afterwards...
from Ringfoto in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, Cosina introduced a Voigtländer 15 mm f/4.5 and 25 mm f/4 lens (neither of them rangefinder-coupled) and the Voigtländer Bessa L body in 1999. It quickly followed with a wider range of cameras (starting with the Bessa R, with viewfinder and rangefinder; and the Bessa T, with rangefinder but no viewfinder); and a set of lenses including the Heliar 12 mm f/5.6 lens, which on its introduction was the widest rectilinear lens ever marketed for still photography.
Voigtlander
Cosina's "Voigtländer" products are sometimes referred to as Cosina VoigtländerCosina Voigtländer
Cosina Voigtländer refers to photographic products manufactured by Cosina under the Voigtländer name since 1999. Cosina leases rights to the Voigtländer name from Ringfoto...
.
The Voigtländer cameras and lenses have been of great personal interest to Kobayashi Hirofumi 小林博文 (b. 1953), the President of Cosina since the death in 1988 of his father (小林文治郎), the founder. The name Cosina now appears (conspicuously) on lenses for various SLR mounts, and less conspicuously on a widening range of cameras and lenses with the Voigtländer brand. Cosina manufactured a Rollei-branded
Rollei
Rollei is a German manufacturer of optical goods founded in 1920 by Paul Franke and Reinhold Heidecke in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, and maker of the Rolleiflex and Rolleicord series of cameras...
rangefinder camera, and is acknowledged to have manufactured (and to have helped design) an Epson digital rangefinder camera as well. Its manufacture of a new Zeiss Ikon, Leica bayonet mount, rangefinder camera and Zeiss lenses in Leica bayonet mount was announced in October 2004, and it is already (April 2006) producing these. All these cameras use film showing Cosina's unique position in the market filling the gap in demand for high quality film cameras and support a technology that is still evolving.
Other manufacturers
Cosina is also well known for manufacturing 35 mm SLR cameras to the specifications of other manufacturers and distributors, such as the Canon T60, the Yashica FX-3 (1979), FX-3 Super, and Super 2000, the Nikon FM-10 and FE-10, the Olympus OM-2000, KonicaKonica
was a Japanese manufacturer of, among other products, film, film cameras, camera accessories, photographic and photo-processing equipment, photocopiers, fax machines and laser printers.- History :...
TC-X, and various Vivitar
Vivitar
Vivitar Corporation was a manufacturer, distributor and marketer of photographic and optical equipment originally based in Oxnard, California. Since 2008 the Vivitar name serves as Sakar International's photographic and optical equipment brand.-Products:...
models. A Cosina design, the 1982 Cosina CX-2, was copied by the Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
n optical firm LOMO
LOMO
LOMO or Leningrad Optical Mechanical Amalgamation is a manufacturer of advanced optical instruments, medical equipment, consumer still and movie cameras, projectors, lenses, film editors, splicers, professional sound recorders for motion-picture production based in St. Petersburg, Russia...
as the popular Lomo LC-A
Lomo LC-A
The LOMO LC-A is a fixed lens, 35 mm film, leaf shutter, zone focus, compact camera introduced in 1984. The design is based on the Cosina CX-2....
.
Cosina manufactures manual focus SLR lenses for Carl Zeiss with Nikon (ZF), Pentax (ZK), Canon EOS (ZE), and M42 screw mounts (ZS).
External links
- Cosina
- List of distributors of Cosina's products
- Cosina instruction manuals from www.orphancameras.com