Let’s get to the point, the reason for buying into an out of the ordinary lens is because it can do things other lenses can’t. This is the case with the
There are other unique features which we will dig into, but one of the main benefits is that it can be used on many different camera bodies such as Canon, Nikon, Fuji, and Sony. The lens also works equally well on film, digital, and crop sensor camera bodies. You just need the right adapter from Lomography.
Lomogon 2.5/32 Art Lens Design
The lens has been made in conjunction with Zenit and will be manufactured in China (understandably, to keep down production costs, but still keep the same level of quality as elsewhere). The lens is currently at the Kickstarter phase of its development and looks like it will hit its targets pretty soon. Aimed as a good companion for travel and street photography the design itself, especially in brass is definitely going to attract attention along with its unique way of changing apertures.
The Lomogon 2.5/32 Art lens has a focal length of 32mm, comprising of six multi coated elements in six groups. The widest aperture is f/2.5 which can be adjusted via a large dial on the lens going through f/4, f/5.6, f/8 and f/11 producing perfectly round bokeh. It’s all manual focusing here with a Helicoid focusing mechanism and features a 62mm filter thread. When eventually available, clearly you want to buy the brass version as it looks something like a 1800’s nautical viewing device, that’s if you want the cool antique look. The lens is also entirely assembled by hand.
Lomogon say the lense’s unique qualities center around enhanced colors, high contrast, a 32mm focal length best fitted for travel and street photography and a minimum focusing distance of 0.4m. Even though it’s all manual, the lens is designed for speed to quickly dial in the aperture of your choice and be as close or wide as you need.
The dial-styled aperture mechanism is the thing that’s going to attract the most attention. The idea is that it works by a click-and-stop feeling, which means that you can feel each aperture setting lock into place as you turn the wheel. Once you get used to the lens, aperture changes should be extremely rapid. Circular holes in the dial also mean circular bokeh, something you can’t get with regular blade diaphragms on other lenses.
The other benefit of changing the aperture in this manner is that you can get unique bokeh effects, moving from one aperture to another. In other words, it promotes you being creative with your aperture settings and getting some wild looks.
Videographers may also like the lens to create special bokeh effects, a unique way to change aperture and also get more of a cinematic look.
Image Quality
At such an early stage, we are just looking at the example images provided on the Lomogon Kickstarter page for what this lens can do. There’s a clear deep contrast to all the images, with rich colors. I could only find one night time shot which highlighted the round bokeh, more hopefully to come.
This is going to be one of those lenses where you definitely have to play with for some time, especially that aperture dial to find the possibilities of this lens. The results at this stage are very promising.
Conclusion
If this was a full camera review, we would give you links from where to buy the lens, comparisons and so on. However, the lens is still at the Kickstarter phase, but it should have an eventual retail price of $499.00 USD. Help them out with their Kickstarter campaign and you could save up to 40 percent when the lens is available. They are hoping to start delivery in November 2019.
As comparison lenses go, there are offerings from Canon, like the 16-35mm f/2.8 zoom or a Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Art lens, Sony FE 35mm f/2.8 or a Nikon AF NIKKOR 35mm f/2D at a comparable price. Some of these are zooms, some go wider with similar image quality, but a lens like the Lomogon 2.5/32 Art is to produce a unique perspective on the world in a way no other lenses can produce.
If you check out their Kickstarter page, it has loads of example images from portraits to travel photography, all giving a distinctive way to display colors, saturation and bokeh. That’s the point here, to do something optically knowable lens can. Sure, you can post edit images and add filters all day long, but it’s nothing like getting that exact look with a lens.
35mm is also a good choice over a 50mm lens as a standard prime, as the 35mm is not too long and not too wide. Some prefer the benefits of a 35mm lens with a slighter wider perspective than a 50mm and more room for creativity with cropping as a general use prime.
We will have to wait a little longer until we can get our paws on one of these unique lenses, but suffice to say at this point and considering the price, the lens could be an ideal way to set you apart from the rest. In today’s very busy photography world, it’s our own unique perspective of how we capture the moment which can set us apart and this lens may just do the job.
