Voigtländer relaunches 50+ year old Septon 40mm f/2 Aspherical prime lens

Cosina has announced a new manual-focus prime under its Voigtländer banner, unveiling the Septon 40mm F2 Aspherical for Nikon Z and Sony E mount full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The Septon name revives a classic Voigtländer standard lens originally produced for the Bessamatic and Ultramatic SLR systems in the late 1950s and 1960s.

The new release reinterprets that heritage design in a compact form tailored to modern mirrorless bodies.

The Septon 40mm F2 Aspherical uses a six-element 'Ortho-Metar' optical design with the addition of an aspherical element, allowing the lens to maintain a fast f/2 maximum aperture while keeping distortion and physical size in check.

The result is a notably small lens, measuring just 30mm in length for the Sony E-mount version and 32mm for the Nikon Z-mount.

Despite its all-metal construction, the lens remains lightweight, tipping the scales at 165g for E-mount and 205g for Z-mount.

The 40mm focal length sits slightly wider than the traditional 50mm standard lens, offering a more flexible field of view that suits everyday shooting, including street photography and general travel use.

A minimum focusing distance of 0.3 metres allows for close-up work, though the lens does not offer true macro reproduction.

And while it is manual focus only, electronic contacts are built in, enabling EXIF data recording, focus peaking support and compatibility with 3-axis in-body image stabilisation on supported cameras.

Additionally, a compact dome-shaped metal screw-on hood is included and designed to preserve the lens’s low-profile appearance. The lens accepts 52mm filters, with the front cap usable whether the hood is attached or not.

The Septon 40mm F2 Aspherical is expected to go on sale for Sony E-mount in March, with the Nikon Z-mount version following in April. Pricing is set at ¥93,500, which should mean an expected Australian price of around AU$950–$1,000, depending on where you buy it.

You can find out more on Cosina's website.