Service Manuals

Cosina

Cosina is a major Japanese manufacturer of cameras and lenses, yet it is not a well known one. While Cosina has made cameras that were sold under their name, most cosina products were OEM manufactured for other companies that put their names on them. Many major Japanese camera companies, including Canon, Nikon, Olympus, and Ricoh, have put their brands on Cosina products.

More recently, Cosina bought the rights to the Voigtlander name and created a series of 35mm rangefinder cameras and lenses using the 39mm screwmount and the Leica M mount. These also use the basic Cosina 35mm chassis.

Most of Cosina's 35mm SLRs were variations on a couple of 35mm SLR models that the company designed. Most have the same shutters, wind mechanisms, chassis and mirror box. Other features, like spot metering and autoexposure were available for those companies that wanted them on the cameras they bought from Cosina.

Because most of the 35mm SLRs made by Cosina share a basic design, it is useful to know what camera models were really made by Cosina. We have a list of camera models made by Cosina for other brands.