Canon gets new fast 40mm f/1.2 lens with Voigtländer's second RF mount Nokton

Cosina has announced the release of the Voigtländer Nokton 40mm f/1.2 Aspherical for Canon RF-mount cameras – offering a big aperture standard prime, for much less than Canon's own version.

Of course, Canon has still not opened up the RF lens mount for any third-party manufacturer to use Canon's autofocus, so the Nokton 40mm lens is a fully manual focus affair. As is the aperture, which is controlled by a de-clicked step-less manual aperture ring.

However, there is a silver lining, the Nokton lens does have the appropriate contacts to connect to the camera electronically, so it will be possible to use the usual focus peaking, enlarged display, and focus guide assists to help nail that tricky manual focus, especially at the super wide apertures this lens is capable of. The lens can also manually focus down to 0.3m.

The Nokon 40mm can also work in conjunction with the camera to record EXIF data, and if your Canon EOS R body has in-body image stabilization, it will also work with this Nokton lens (or any manual focus lens for that matter, but worth mentioning).

The lens configuration uses double-sided aspherical lenses for two of the eight elements in six groups, which enables the lens to produce what Cosina claims is the perfect optical performance that doesn't rely on any in-camera corrections, which is handy, as Canon restricts those to only first-party lenses anyway.

It is the second lens that Voigtländer has made for the Canon RF, with the new Nokton 40mm joining the existing Nokton 50mm f/1.0, which is already on sale.

The 40mm lens is the perfect general-purpose angle, suitable for landscapes, street scenes, and environmental portraits, and still life. The f/1.2 aperture is made up of a rounded 10-blade diaphragm and should allow the lens to achieve a very shallow depth of field, so it should make for some impressive creative shots or low-light image quality.

The lens has an all-metal construction although while durability is mentioned, there is no official mention of weather sealing. Previous Voigtländer lenses have been exceptionally nice to hold, featuring a timeless look.

The 40mm f/1.2 lens has a planned release date of January 2024, and although there is no official US or UK pricing yet, in Japan, the Voigtländer Nokton 40mm F1.2 Aspherical will cost ¥132,000, which is around $930 Stateside, which seems like a very reasonable cost considering the aperture and optical quality promised.

Read more: you can find more of the best Canon RF lenses in our guide or check out our top picks for the best Canon camera.