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

Nokton Vintage Line 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical

Cosina Voigtländer · Leica M · 2019 · 7 elements in 6 groups, aspherical

Also known as: Voigtländer Nokton Vintage Line 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Voigtlander NOKTON Vintage Line 75mm F1.5 Aspherical VM · NOKTON 75mm F1.5 Aspherical · Voigtlander Nokton 75mm f/1.5 VM · Nokton 75/1.5 · Cosina Voigtlander 75mm f1.5 Nokton Aspherical Leica M · フォクトレンダー NOKTON Vintage Line 75mm F1.5 Aspherical VM · フォクトレンダー ノクトン 75mm F1.5

Variants & identification

Variant Mount Years Serial ranges Production
Silver, VM (2019–) Leica M 2019 — —
Black, VM (2019–) Leica M 2019 — —
  1. Specifications, price, release date and JAN codes are from Cosina's Japanese product page; the announcement date and the CP+ 2019 showing are from Digital Camera Watch's report of 3 July 2019.
  2. Rangefinder coupling runs from infinity to 0.7m, which Cosina qualifies as depending on the camera.
  3. The NOKTON 75mm F1.5 Aspherical sold for Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon RF is a separate product without the Vintage Line name, rangefinder coupling or the 0.7m limit, and is not in this catalog.
How to tell them apart (expand)
  • Engraved NOKTON 75mm F1.5 Aspherical in the Vintage Line's classic styling; VM bayonet, rangefinder coupled to 0.7m
  • 58mm filter thread, twelve aperture blades, f/1.5 to f/16
  • φ62.8 × 63.3mm and 350g — a fast 75 the size of a 50
  • Reversible slit hood in the box, silver on the silver lens and black on the black

Silver, VM (2019–):

  • Silver barrel with a silver reversible slit hood; JAN 4530076132382

Black, VM (2019–):

  • Black barrel with a black reversible slit hood; JAN 4530076132375

Specifications

Formula
7 elements in 6 groups, aspherical
Construction
7 elements / 6 groups
Aperture range
f/1.5–f/16
Diaphragm blades
12
Min. focus
0.7 m
Dimensions
62.8 × 63.3 mm
Weight
350 g
Filter
58 mm
Years manufactured
2019
Country
Japan
Original price
¥125,000 pre-tax, silver or black, at the August 2019 launch (today ¥136,000); £943.95 in the UK that autumn and $899 in the US per reviewers

What reviewers say

Optical Ratings

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

Chromatic aberration
bokeh fringing
Vignetting
heavy wide open
Flare & ghosting
rare arcs
Coma
gone by f/2.8
Distortion
very little
Optical formula — 7 elements in 6 groups, aspherical

History

Cosina showed the Nokton Vintage Line 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical as a reference exhibit at CP+ in February 2019, announced it on 3 July and put it on sale on 8 August 2019, in silver and black at ¥125,000 before tax. It filled the gap the Heliar Classic 75mm f/1.8 had left when that lens ended in April 2019, and it did so with a different idea: where the Heliar Classic was a six-element design Cosina described in terms of smooth rendering, the Nokton is seven elements in six groups with aspherical surfaces, twelve aperture blades, and Cosina’s stated aim of a large aperture combined with compactness and high optical performance. The numbers are the point. It is 62.8mm across, 63.3mm long and 350g, with a 58mm filter thread — a 75mm f/1.5 in the body of a 50 — and it is rangefinder coupled from infinity to 0.7m, which Cosina qualifies as depending on the camera.

The two finishes are the only variants: identical optics and weight, each with a reversible slit hood in its own colour. The lens is still current on Cosina’s VM list, so there is no end date to give. Buyers should not confuse it with the NOKTON 75mm F1.5 Aspherical that Cosina later sold for Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon RF; those carry no Vintage Line name, no rangefinder cam and different barrels, and a listing that mentions any of those mounts is not this lens. On an M body the 75mm frame is the small one inside the 50 lines, and the M6 and M7 show it; on a Bessa the R3A and R3M, with their 1:1 finder and 75mm frame, are the natural home.

The reviews agree on a shape and argue about what to call it. BastianK at phillipreeve.net rates it the best balanced fast portrait lens in M mount: optimised at around 2m, with a focus shift at f/1.5 that separates the plane of best contrast from the plane of best resolution and makes close focusing tricky until f/2.8; 2.4 EV of light falloff wide open falling to 0.4 EV by f/4; minimal lateral colour but visible bokeh fringing; coma that is gone by f/2.8. Against the Leica Summilux 75 it is smaller, lighter and a third of the price, and it has an entrance pupil ten percent larger than the Leica 90mm f/2 at far less weight. Ashwin Rao on an M10 found a subtle softness at f/1.5 that flatters portraits and Leica-level sharpness by f/2.8, and the same working range — it nails focus at one to three metres and grows less reliable beyond, which makes it a portrait specialist’s lens. Alik Griffin on an M11 saw the same soft, ghosty f/1.5 and the same transformation at f/2.8, praised the buttery, vibrant bokeh and the colour-fringing control, and named the costs: weight, vignetting until f/4, and the rare flare that arrives as an arc across the frame. Thomas Berger’s first impressions for Macfilos, at £943.95 from a London dealer, put the build quite up to Leica standards and called the lens a real highlight of the brand; the US price reviewers quote is $899.

What to check is what the reviews describe. The focus shift is real, so a rangefinder-focused frame at f/1.5 and one at f/2.8 will not put best sharpness in the same place; test the lens on the body it will live on, at close range, at both apertures. The quarter-turn throw is fast and, in Berger’s words, takes practice. BastianK also notes that the build feels less refined than other Voigtländer M lenses and that some owners report focus creep, which a few minutes with the lens pointed down will reveal. The hood should be in the box, reversed over the barrel; it is metal, it matches the finish, and on a used lens it is the first thing to go missing.

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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

More sample photos elsewhere

These photographers keep all rights to their work — enjoy it at the source.

Sample photo wanted — shot with a Nokton Vintage Line 75mm f/1.5 Aspherical? We'd love to feature it (with credit).

Live listings

Asking price, USD: a median of $830 across 21 fixed-price listings on 2026-09-19 (middle half $750–$860). First day tracked.

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

Show 24 more listings

Buying from Yahoo! Auctions outside Japan. It is a domestic marketplace: sellers ship within Japan, and most will not register an overseas buyer. A proxy service bids on your behalf, receives the item and forwards it, for a fee and a wait. Buyee, Jauce and ZenMarket each accept a Yahoo auction number directly. Listed alphabetically for information — none is recommended over another, and none of these is an affiliate link.

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

Related: APO-Lanthar 90mm f/3.5 · APO-Skopar 90mm f/2.8 · Color-Heliar 75mm f/2.5 · Nokton Vintage Line 35mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Nokton 50mm f/1.5 Aspherical · Ultron 21mm f/1.8 Aspherical · Ultron 75mm f/1.9

Sources (8)

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.