Cosina Co., Ltd. is a Japanese manufacturer, founded in 1959 by Mr. B. Kobayashi, of high-end optical glass, optical precision equipment, cameras, video and electronic related equipment and the successor to Nikoh, a lens processing factory pioneering optical polishing and lens grinding in Japan.
Hirofumi Kobayashi
In 1969, it started to manufacture 35mm film SLR cameras. The name was changed to Cosina in 1973 but Cosina was probably better known as a manufacturer of cameras and camera components for other brands such as Contax, Nikon, Olympus, Vivitar, and Yashica.
In 1982, Cosina began to manufacture lenses and in 1999, Cosina secured partial rights to the German once Austrian classic camera brand "Voigtländer".
Lenses:
In 1982, Cosina began to manufacture lenses and in 1999, Cosina secured partial rights to the German once Austrian classic camera brand "Voigtländer".
Lenses:
In the UK - Cosina made cameras and lenses were sold by the Dixon's chain of camera shops in the 1980s under the brand name "Miranda" and sometimes "Petri" after those two companies went under (and I guess, Cosina bought the brand names as they did with Voigtlander). This is useful if you buy secondhand lenses toady - as a sought-after and expensive cosina lens may be had for a fraction of the cost as a Miranda/Petri - I rate the Petri/Cosina 135mm F3.5 manual lens with 49mm filter mount a great find - and optically just as good and small and portable as the famous Pentax SMC K-mount 135mm F3.5 while the Miranda 24mm F2.8 is a tiny lens and a good performer as well.
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