Cooke launches S4/i line with a vintage look and feel

Cooke Optics, the maker of the renowned eponymous lenses, has launched a variation of its S4/i line defined as something more “vintage” to its signature style.

The entire series is offered with uncoated front elements, resulting in an appearance characterized by lower contrast, milky shadows, flares, streaks and other aberrations.

The company decided to take this step in view of the current trend of using old glass to eliminate some of the sharpness inherent in digital cameras. However, it also warns that there are some factors to take into account, such as the loss of 10% of light due to the lack of coating, which means a maximum aperture of T2.2 instead of 2.

The S4/i series has 18 focal lengths, ranging from 12mm to 300mm. In the case of existing lenses, it is possible to change the front elements, but this process may require certain changes, for example in the focusing scales.