Glass Bodies a variant-level encyclopedia of vintage lenses and cameras by iwillpat

Nokton Vintage Line 35mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Cosina Voigtländer · Leica M · 2022

single source, unconfirmed via machine translation — corrections welcome

Also known as: Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 35mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Voigtlander Nokton 35mm F1.5 Aspherical VM · NOKTON Vintage Line 35mm F1.5 Aspherical · NOKTON 35mm F1.5 Aspherical Type I · NOKTON 35mm F1.5 Aspherical Type II · Voigtlander 35/1.5 Nokton · Nokton 35mm f1.5 Vintage Line black paint · Nokton 35mm f1.5 Vintage Line silver · フォクトレンダー ノクトン ヴィンテージライン 35mm F1.5 · フォクトレンダー NOKTON Vintage Line 35mm F1.5 Aspherical VM · ノクトン 35mm F1.5 アスフェリカル

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
VM Type I, aluminium (2022–) Leica M 2022 — —
VM Type II, brass (2022–) Leica M 2022 — —
  1. Both rows are one optical design in one barrel size; only the metal, the weight and the finish differ, which is why the family carries no single weight.
  2. Release date, prices and the Type I / Type II distinction come from Cosina's Japanese and English product pages, the Japanese one read through machine translation. The single release date for both types rests on Cosina alone; the specification is confirmed by phillipreeve.net's measurements.
  3. Cosina states no production figures.
  4. Unrelated to the Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical of 1999 and its Vintage Line descendants beyond the shared line name; the 35mm is a 2022 design.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Leica M bayonet only; brings up the 35mm frame, and at 36mm long and 39mm across the filter thread it leaves the finder clear
  • The smallest fast 35 Cosina makes: 39mm filter, 53mm across, 36mm from the flange
  • Twelve blades, f/1.5 to f/16, focusing to 0.5m by scale with rangefinder coupling to 0.7m
  • Type I is aluminium and matte black only; Type II is brass, in black paint or silver — the weight tells them apart at once

VM Type I, aluminium (2022–):

  • Aluminium barrel in matte black paint only, 188g
  • Engraved NOKTON 35mm F1.5 Aspherical with a Vintage Line barrel: scalloped focusing ring, tab, and engraved, paint-filled figures

VM Type II, brass (2022–):

  • Brass barrel, 284g — nearly a hundred grams heavier in the same 53mm by 36mm shell
  • Black paint or silver finish; the black paint wears to brass at the edges

Specifications

Formula
Nine elements in six groups, two double-sided aspherical elements
Construction
9 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/1.5–f/16
Diaphragm blades
12
Min. focus
0.5 m
Dimensions
53 × 36 mm
Filter
39 mm
Years manufactured
2022
Country
Japan
Coating
Multi-coated
Original price
¥110,000 before tax for the aluminium Type I and ¥120,000 for the brass Type II (2022) (today ¥117,000–¥127,000)

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

Aggregated from the reviews above — follow the links for the full picture.

Spherical aberration
glow at infinity
Vignetting
about 3.5 EV
Flare & ghosting
excellent resistance
Distortion
low, pincushion
Optical formula — Nine elements in six groups, two double-sided aspherical elements

History

The Nokton Vintage Line 35mm f/1.5 Aspherical is a real lens, current on Cosina’s VM page, and a young one: released on 24 November 2022 in Leica M bayonet only, nineteen years after the 35mm f/1.2 and fourteen after the 35mm f/1.4 Classic. It is Cosina’s answer to a question the other two left open — how small a fast, modern, aspherical 35 can be. Nine elements in six groups with two double-sided aspherical elements sit in a barrel 53mm across and 36mm from the flange, with a 39mm filter thread, twelve blades, f/1.5 to f/16, and focusing to 0.5m by scale with the rangefinder coupled to 0.7m. The Vintage Line name means the barrel, not the drawing: scalloped rings, a tab, engraved and paint-filled figures in the style of the 1950s, on a lens whose optics are entirely of 2022.

The two types are the same lens in different metal. Type I is aluminium, matte black only, 188g, at ¥110,000 before tax; Type II is brass at 284g, in black paint or silver, at ¥120,000. Cosina describes one as being for lightness and mobility and the other for a dense, heavy feel, and the product page gives a single release date for both. Nothing about the glass or the dimensions changes, so the weight in the hand is the only thing to check when a listing does not say which it is — and, on a black Type II, the brass that shows through where the paint has worn.

Reviewers agree on the handling and on where the lens falls short. Bastian Kratzke measured a Type I at 192g on a Leica M10 and found glow and a noticeable midzone drop at f/1.5 at infinity, very good centre sharpness at portrait distance, only a tiny focus shift between f/1.5 and f/2, about 3.5 EV of falloff wide open, low pincushion distortion, excellent flare resistance and some of the smoothest bokeh he has seen from a 35; set against the 35mm f/1.4 Summilux FLE it was smaller, lighter, a fraction of the price and better in most categories, and against Cosina’s own 35mm f/1.2 III very similar at the apertures they share. Fred Miranda ran it beside the same Summilux and came to a more even split — the Leica clearly sharper in the centre wide open, the two similar from f/2.8 down, negligible focus shift, smooth rendering, cat’s-eye highlights toward the corners — and summed it up as fast, light, well built and priced not to break the bank. Jack Takahashi was the least persuaded: exceptional build and a body the size of a Summicron, but a soft mid-frame at wide apertures, rearward focus shift and softening below a metre that need f/2.8 to clear up, and a recommendation that anyone who needs the sharpness buy the Leica. Kratzke’s one handling complaint was a mushy feel to the aperture ring; the vignetting is the fault all three record.

For a buyer the practical points are few. Every copy is M bayonet, brings up the 35mm frame, and clears the finder in a way the f/1.2 never has. Cosina sells no hood with it; Kratzke thought the lens looked unfinished without one. The 0.5m close focus is only usable by scale or on a digital body with live view, since the rangefinder stops coupling at 0.7m. Neither type has been discontinued, and Cosina states no production figures.

Expand Collapse

This history is AI-written, from the sources listed at the foot of the page. Where the record is silent it says so rather than filling the gap — but no human wrote these sentences.

Example photos

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nokton Vintage Line 35mm f/1.5 Aspherical? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $790 across 35 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $700–$950). First day tracked.

Asking prices from the listings scanned, not sales; junk-flagged rows and auction lots excluded; other currencies are not converted.

Show 44 more listings

Listings updated 2026-09-19. Links go to the shop or marketplace that carries the item.

Related: APO-Lanthar 35mm f/2 Aspherical · Nokton Vintage Line 28mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Nokton 35mm f/1.2 Aspherical · Nokton Classic 35mm f/1.4 · Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Nokton Vintage Line 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Ultron Vintage Line 35mm f/2 Aspherical

Sources (6)

Every page here is assembled from public sources, and the gaps are real ones. If you own this lens, know a serial number I'm missing, or can see where I have it wrong, tell me — corrections, serials and sample photos are all worth having.