Lomography is at it again...

[ahsanford]

FYI:
http://petapixel.com/2016/04/06/lomographys-new-lens-just-raised-190k-8-hours-kickstarter/

The money is rolling in to this kickstarter effort. I always wondered if the bigger KS projects have angel investors waiting in the wings to flood a kernel of cash to get good press going.

Not a fan of Lomography stuff in general, but this is the first lens with bokeh shape modifiers built-in to the design (that I've seen). You can do this with manual templates draped over the front element of any wider aperture lens, but this has decidedly less fiddle factor involved.

- A

 

[andrei1989]

i believe the lensbaby also has these bokeh modifiers and for some time now..

 

[ahsanford]

i believe the lensbaby also has these bokeh modifiers and for some time now..

You are correct, my apologies. (That would be here: http://lensbaby.com/usa/creative-aperture.php)

- A

 

[kaswindell]

Apparently a lot of people want this lens... lord knows why. Maybe I am just too old to understand.

 

[ahsanford]

Apparently a lot of people want this lens... lord knows why. Maybe I am just too old to understand.

The popular theory of the LensBaby / Lomography - Petzval product surge is that they are for neophyte photographers who hate to / have not learned to post-process --> i.e. hipsters / millenials / etc. This gear is effectively a hardware-based effects filter.

This is not (entirely) true, of course. Soft-focus lenses and bokeh shape templates were around long before instagram, selfie-sticks and lumbersexuals with SLRs hit the scene. I'm sure some people on this very forum find these nutty offerings as a fun side pursuit.

- A

 

[d]

It's all about finding your very own, "unique" retro aesthetic, just like every other hipster. What I find special about the samples from this lens is how the bokeh fights tooth and nail for your attention, screaming out "Look at me, look at me!". The individuals in the shot are nothing more than placeholders, giving you something to (roughly) focus on so that the background is thrown OOF.

It must be art.

 

[Ozarker]

Well, I'm an old guy, non-hipster who thinks the products are wonderful. I'd buy if I could.

 

[martti]

In the seventies I had a friend who had a perfectly fine Nikon F2S but who wanted to take pictures with a Russian Zorki-4 range finder camera that looks like a Leica from the thirties. The lenses were made according to the designs that were from the original Carl Zeiss factory in Germany. They even had the machines and some of the engineers and optical Schott glass.

I thought he was crazy. But he was nearly forty years before his time!


A couple of weeks ago I was watching clips from the Russian master Andrej Tarkovsky's film 'The Mirror' that was very much in the mode at that time. The feeling of nostalgia was overpowering, reeled the takes back and forth and admired the beauty of Margarita Terekhova and how Tarkovsky made her shine.


So guess what. I had to order the stupid lens of the stupid Zorki just because I wanted to take a similar kind of pictures of a girl I know...


Silly me. How easy would it be to grab my Canon with a suitable L-lens, take the shots paying attention to the lighting and then mutilate them in the post process.


Only that it just isn't the same thing. It has to be the 'Nostalgia' objective from Russia, Jupiter-3 50mm f/1.5.
Now I am waiting for the adapters...


What is so crazy about this? People want to see the time on a Rolex if they can afford it and it is exactly the same time that passes on a Timex!


Yeah. And the Lomo people have now reissued this same lens and they are asking 700 dollars for it.
I paid 150. Google up their ad, it is absolutely hilarious steam punk BS.

 

[Hector1970]

I got the Petzval 56mm at their last Kickstarter project.
It's quite a beautiful looking lens.
The aperture rings and focusing mechanism are really quite good.
The bokeh is quite interesting but needs green foliage or something like that to see the effect in any strength.
The lens isn't particularly sharp but sharp enough. Focusing is a little difficult as it's only sharp in the centre using large aperture rings.
The new lens brings a different sort of effect. It looks almost like a soft focus lens.
The sample images aren't as attractive as the Petzval images.
It's a homage really. I think its great Lomography are bringing back these old lens in a modern context.
The Petzval is very well made.
It was a pretty well run project.
It's a good way for Lomography to reduce their R&D expense risk. They are getting the cash up front.
At least they seem to have the infrastructure afterwards to get the lens made.

 

[d]

I've just had a look at the kickstarter page for this lens (I'd previously only read the write-up on PP linked to by the OP), and I'll admit that of the additional sample images shown on the KS page, there were actually a couple there that I quite liked. I actually think PP have done the KS campaign a disservice by choosing the crumby sample images they used in the article.

I love that there are plenty of lenses still available at the $450 rewards tier, yet many backers have opted to pay $50, $100, $150, and even $400 more, to secure a lens with a low serial number. Unbelievable!

d.

 

[Ozarker]

I've just had a look at the kickstarter page for this lens (I'd previously only read the write-up on PP linked to by the OP), and I'll admit that of the additional sample images shown on the KS page, there were actually a couple there that I quite liked. I actually think PP have done the KS campaign a disservice by choosing the crumby sample images they used in the article.

I love that there are plenty of lenses still available at the $450 rewards tier, yet many backers have opted to pay $50, $100, $150, and even $400 more, to secure a lens with a low serial number. Unbelievable!

d.

I've always wondered why a low serial number matters so much to some for many different products.

 

[9VIII]

At least you have to give Lensbaby credit for selling a very inexpensive Tilt Shift lens. I haven't bought one yet and haven't read too much other than not to expect very much shift, but it's a good start, and sometimes the Canon TS lenses can be hard to find in the first place.

 

[d]

I've just had a look at the kickstarter page for this lens (I'd previously only read the write-up on PP linked to by the OP), and I'll admit that of the additional sample images shown on the KS page, there were actually a couple there that I quite liked. I actually think PP have done the KS campaign a disservice by choosing the crumby sample images they used in the article.

I love that there are plenty of lenses still available at the $450 rewards tier, yet many backers have opted to pay $50, $100, $150, and even $400 more, to secure a lens with a low serial number. Unbelievable!

d.

I've always wondered why a low serial number matters so much to some for many different products.

The only benefit I can think of is the tiny amount of time saved when filling out the warranty registration card.

d.

 

[martti]

I've just had a look at the kickstarter page for this lens (I'd previously only read the write-up on PP linked to by the OP), and I'll admit that of the additional sample images shown on the KS page, there were actually a couple there that I quite liked. I actually think PP have done the KS campaign a disservice by choosing the crumby sample images they used in the article.

I love that there are plenty of lenses still available at the $450 rewards tier, yet many backers have opted to pay $50, $100, $150, and even $400 more, to secure a lens with a low serial number. Unbelievable!

d.

I've always wondered why a low serial number matters so much to some for many different products.

Whatever, but my Jupiter-3 arrived with a passport that has been signed by a laboratory opticist and a serial number that actually lacks one digit! This must be something absolutely priceless! From the specialist Soviet lens site I found out that my lens might be something they made when they introduced the 2040 series in 1967.
Makes me think of Bulgakov and Solzenitshyn...the thoroughly inferior products the Russians produced and of how we laughed when we made craft paper to send to the Soviets and we made all kinds of things to sabotage the production and delay the train.


Somewhere in the Soviet Union there were people who tried their best to do the best they could, facing the politrucks, the laws of physics and the famous Russian mentality....I cannot express the depth of my respect to their persistance and devotion.


So yes, my special serial number that is lacking a number is Greatly Significant to me.
One day, I might actually get to take a picture with this lens.
Now that would be great!