A couple of things came up yesterday that are tangent to actual news that need some commentary.
First off, we have Intel buying Tower Semiconductor. I received quite a few "does this make Nikon a customer of Intel?" emails. My response was that "this remakes Intel a Nikon customer."
In actuality, Intel was already a Nikon customer (for Nikon Precision steppers). However on the CPU side process size has gotten beyond what Nikon is able to support (below 10nm), so Intel recently opted to go with ASML steppers for their new Ohio plant, as well as other fab updates. Tower Semiconductor, on the other hand, still primarily makes larger process size chips—including image sensors at the 45nm size—and is a Nikon Precision customer.
Intel buying Tower, therefore, means that Intel will have even more Nikon steppers in their fabs (they already have a number for non CPU chips). Which is sort of where Nikon is with Sony Semiconductor, if I'm not mistaken. So, regardless of whether Nikon is sourcing image sensors from Sony or Tower these days, there's a behind the scenes relationship where both are the customers of each other. That's led to all kinds of advances over the years, most of which don't really get talked about. Nikon has long been quiet about the part they've played in image sensor technologies, but it's clear they've been a player in them, mostly because any advance has had to be made on their equipment.
I see the Intel acquisition as actually being good for Nikon, as it strengthens a relationship that had weakened.
Meanwhile, Cosina announced the Voigtlander 35mm f/1.2 Nokton for the Z mount. In many reports I've seen words about licensing the mount information from Nikon. Cosina's press release does not say that, though it does mention that it has electronic contacts and supports EXIF information, sensor-VR, and focus confirmation methods. The words "under license agreement with Nikon" seem to originate with the dc-watch Web site, but that is not attributed. Indeed, the subhead for their article is "development and manufacturing under license agreement with Nikon." Update: oops. It's in a footnote on Cosina's site. Still unclear what that means, and the optical design is the same as the Fujifilm XF mount lens, so this would imply that Nikon is authorizing lenses for the Fujifilm cameras ;~). I suspect that it's as I noted: Cosina is buying glass from Nikon, and has some form of agreement to use mount communication, as noted below.
Cosina is a long-time manufacturing partner with Nikon. For years, they manufactured the FM-10 camera and some F-mount lenses for Nikon under an OEM arrangement, so it would be natural that they'd understand Nikon's basic mount communications, and they clearly have a relationship with Nikon (I suspect they source glass from Nikon, too). While it has been suggested by some sites that this is a unique lens to the Z mount, it isn't. It appears to be the same optical as the Fujifilm XF-mount 35mm f/1.2 version, but with different external attributes that more mimic the traditional Voigtlander lenses that were available for the F-mount.
Would Nikon have been involved with the development of this lens? Doesn't seem likely, unless dc.watch is implying that Cosina sourced glass from Nikon. But that glass would have been used in the Fujifilm version, too. Is Nikon involved with manufacturing this lens? Not that I know of. Is there a formal relationship centered around the lens between Cosina and Nikon? I can't say for sure, but it doesn't seem particularly likely, though I suppose Cosina could have asked for a mount license and been granted it by Nikon due to their long relationship.
From Nikon's viewpoint, Cosina is not really a competitor. None of the Voigtlander lenses are autofocus, and it doesn't really appear that Nikon has any interest in making lower cost manual focus lenses for the Z mount (I believe there will be another NOCT-type entry, but it will be high cost, high performance). A "normal" fast aperture lens that works with the Z50 and Zfc simply makes those cameras more interesting. Indeed, the 35mm f/1.2 looks like it belongs on a Zfc.
Update: Nikon Japan is showing off the Voigtlander lens on the Zfc body in social media. This gets back to my previous paragraph: it helps sell cameras, so Nikon isn't seeing Cosina as a competitor. However, the fact that a Fujifilm mount version of the lens exists should be troubling for Nikon marketing.
