The Lomography New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens

Bokeh Like a Boss – Using the Bokeh Control Ring on the New Petzval 58, you’re totally free to determine the strength of the swirly bokeh in your photos. You can now get the characteristic swirly bokeh effect in ways it has NEVER been possible before. This revolutionary component is the first of its kind on a Petzval lens!

58mm Focal Length and Maximum f/1.9 Aperture – The New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens has a maximum aperture of f/1.9 and is a 58mm lens, which is a fantastic all-round focal length for portraits, landscapes and photos of your cat doing jumping jacks. We promise you will love shooting every scene with your New Petzval 58 in hand.

Premium Russian Glass Optics in a Beautiful Brass Body – The New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens features the finest quality Russian glass optics. Available in a brass or black finish, it’s designed to perfectly mirror the look of original 19th century Petzval lenses.

Look Back to the Future – Joseph Petzval invented his revolutionary Petzval optic in 1840 — a hugely popular portrait lens that changed the world of photography. Now, 175 years later and building on our success with the Lomography New Petzval 85mm Lens in 2013, the New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Lens is here to join the growing Lomography Art Lens Family. The lens has been specially developed to work with modern analogue and digital cameras and is available in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts (it’s also compatible with multitudes of other cameras such as the Sony A7, Fuji X-Pro 1 and Micro 4/3 Cameras using adapter mounts).

Ⓒ Kevin Meredith

Ⓒ Lomography

Way back in 1840, Professor Joseph Petzval invented a Portrait Lens in Vienna, Austria. The lens design had a profound impact on the photographic world and went on to be one of the most widely used optical designs of the 19th century. Unfortunately however, older Petzval lenses are designed to work with larger format cameras and it’s hard to find good quality lenses which have stood the test of time. That’s why in 2013, based on our huge love for the distinctive, breathtaking look of Petzval photographs and with the amazing support of the Kickstarter community, we invented the Lomography New Petzval 85mm Art Lens. With over 3,000 backers, it was a huge success and renewed the world’s love for Petzval! Since then, we’ve had loads of people asking for another Petzval lens with more exciting features. So now, exactly 175 years after Petzval's original invention, we’re pushing the boundaries of Petzval photography even further.

The New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens has been designed from scratch and features a whole horde of exciting innovations including a newly developed bokeh control ring, 58mm focal length and maximum aperture of f/1.9. And since you have had to wait 175 years for a lens which offers all these fantastic possibilities, we have worked hard to get the lens ready and estimate delivery will start with the low serial number lenses in December of this year! But don’t wait around — while the first batch will likely send in December, we estimate that only the first 600 lenses will be shipped before the end of the year. Not only that, you can save up to 50% on the planned retail price of the New Petzval 58. Please join in by backing us now and secure a New Petzval 58 of your very own!

Pick from 7 Swirly Bokeh Levels

Ⓒ Lomography

One of the main reasons we love Petzval photographs is because of the fantastic and characteristic swirly bokeh effect the lens gives. The lens design produces images which are extremely sharp and crisp in the center and swirly and out-of-focus further away from the center.

In the past, the Petzval’s swirly bokeh effect has always been strongly dependent on factors such as the types of backgrounds you shoot against and the distance between you and your subject. So, in the two years since we first invented the Lomography New Petzval 85mm Art Lens, we’ve had plenty of time to mull over a different approach that would allow us to determine the strength of the swirly bokeh effect in our Petzval shots. And (insert drum roll here please), now we’ve found it!

The Bokeh Control Ring on the New Petzval 58 Lens

We developed a revolutionary mechanism for the New Petzval 58 that makes it easier than ever to adjust the swirly bokeh effect in your photos. This brand new component is called the Bokeh Control Ring and it gives you complete freedom over the signature Petzval swirly bokeh effect for the first time ever! You can now achieve purely sublime swirl in all kinds of environments and shooting conditions.

The Bokeh Control Ring is located on top of the lens and can be adjusted between levels 1 and 7. Simply by moving this ring, you can change the amount of swirl you get in your Petzval shots. For a subtle swirly bokeh effect, turn the ring to Level 1. But if you want to achieve a more powerful swirly bokeh effect than you’ve ever known before, turn it to Level 7 and watch the world transform right in front of your eyes. The way the Bokeh Control Ring works is deceptively straightforward. By changing the level, you are adjusting the distance between the lens elements and this then affects the strength of the swirly bokeh you get.

Ⓒ Kevin Meredith

Ⓒ Kevin Meredith

Whilst our original lens in the Lomography Petzval Family had an 85mm focal length, the New Petzval 58 has a 58mm focal length. This is a much more standard focal length for the innumerable different types of photos we all like to take in our day-to-day lives. Now, the New Petzval 58 feels right at home with landscapes, architecture photography, street shooting, cityscapes, wedding portraits, fashion shoots, family photos and anything else you can think of!

Plus, with the New Petzval 58, we wanted to design a lens which would work even better on APS-C and other crop-factor digital cameras. On APS-C format cameras, it has an equivalent focal length close to 85mm, which is the focal length of our New Petzval 85mm Lens and absolutely perfect for everything from portrait photography to landscapes and daily life. So whether you are shooting using a full-frame or crop-factor camera, it’s never been easier to get terrific Petzval pics.

Ⓒ Issa Ng

Ⓒ Kevin Meredith

The New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens is available with either Canon EF or Nikon F mounts so it works straight off the bat with tons of different analogue and digital cameras. If the project is successfully funded, we'll send you a short survey soon after it ends where you can define which mount you want. The lens is also compatible with even more cameras (including the Sony A7, Fuji X-Pro 1 and Micro 4/3 Cameras) when you use dedicated adapter mounts, which you’ll have the chance to order in our Online Shop in the future. And since it works with loads of different digital cameras, you can shoot stunning videos with the Petzval swirly bokeh effect too. This is especially fun to do when you experiment with the bokeh control settings!

While the New Petzval 58 has been designed with today’s cameras in mind, it also has tradition at its core. Firstly, just like the New Petzval 85mm lens, the New Petzval 58 works using the same Waterhouse aperture system as lenses back in the 19th century did (please scroll down to see more about the Waterhouse Aperture Plates). Secondly, you focus using a gear-rack focusing mechanism which is how photographers shooting nearly 200 years ago would have done it. We love this manual, ‘hands-on’ feeling of shooting with the lens and hope you will too!

The New Petzval 58 works with tons of different analogue and digital cameras

The Lens features a classic Gear Rack Focusing Mechanism

Ⓒ Lomography

The Waterhouse aperture system is a unique and easy way to change the aperture on a lens. Simply by switching between different sized aperture plates, you can control the size of your aperture opening. And not only do they add a touch of 19th century charm to your photography, they also allow for even more creative opportunities by using specially designed aperture plates. By inserting a specially shaped aperture plate, like a star for instance, your swirly bokeh will be sprinkled with magical star shapes! What’s more, with a few household materials, you can design your own aperture plates for unlimited creativity.

The New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Lens will come with the following aperture sizes: f/1.9, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11 and f/16.

The New Petzval 58 Waterhouse Aperture Plates

Ⓒ Christopher Logan

Ⓒ Lomography

The splendor of the New Petzval 58 extends far beyond the photos it takes. We have worked just as hard on the exterior design of the lens as on the internal optics to deliver a lens which will grab the attention of you and everyone you meet on your photographic adventures. Available in a brass or black finish, every lens is handcrafted by a small, skilled and dedicated team of technicians at the Zenit factory in Russia. Zenit are master lens manufacturers and have the knowledge and experience for this complex task. Our success with Zenit on the New Petzval 85mm Lens further ensures a smooth production of the New Petzval 58. The New Petzval 58 lens body is made from brass and the lens elements are constructed from the highest quality Russian glass.

A close-up of the engraving on the New Petzval 58

Photos of the Lomography New Petzval Portrait Lens being manufactured in Russia. The New Petzval 58 will also be assembled by hand by a team of skilled optical technicians.

All the way from the eye-catching design down to the very smallest detail, the technical features of the New Petzval 58 have been fine-tuned to provide an incredible photographic experience.

• Focal Length: 58mm
• Aperture: Waterhouse aperture stops, f/1.9, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8, f/11, f/16
• Image Circle: 44mm
• Field of View: 41 degrees
• Lens Mounting Profile: Canon EF and Nikon F
• Electronic Contacts: No
• Closest Focusing Distance: 0.6m
• Focusing Mechanism: Gear rack focusing
• Filter Thread: 52mm
• Bokeh Control Levels: 1 (minimum swirl) to 7 (maximum swirl)

A diagram illustrating the Petzval Optical Design

A cross-section diagram of the Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens

Technical diagrams showing the lens design

This MTF Chart shows the New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens performance at f/5.6 using Level 4 Bokeh Control. Click here to see the full MTF charts covering all aperture levels and bokeh levels.

                              

Ⓒ Lomography

Ⓒ Coco Alexander

When we first revealed the Petzval 85mm Art Lens to the world back in 2013, we were totally blown away and thrilled by the reaction it received from you guys and girls in the Kickstarter community. Since then, the lens has been used, featured and reviewed by amazing artists and photographers, as well as some of the biggest photo press sources around the world. Below are just a few of the kind words they have said about the Petzval 85mm Art Lens. This helped spur us on to deliver a lens just as unique this time round with the New Petzval 58!

Wall Street Journal - “The Petzval Lens creates shots whose look is almost impossible to replicate with digital tools.”

Steve Huff Photo - “You are getting not only a unique lens for those times when you want that classic look and wild bokeh, but you are also getting a piece of art in the lens itself, which is a huge conversation starter.”

The Verge - “If you’re one of those for whom photography is as much about the journey as the destination, you’ll have a lot of fun with Lomography’s New Petzval lens.”

PopPhoto.com - “Although we love those high tech lenses, we still have love for gear that reminds us of photography’s roots, and Lomography’s Petzval lens does just that.”

Emily Soto -“I love the mood the lens gave with the bokeh and slight blur around the subject. I also love the gold color of the lens, I can’t wait to use it again!”

Alexandra Sophie -“It’s a really beautiful object, heavy, solid, which seems to come directly from the 19th century. The lens, along with all the accessories, packaging included, are done with great fineness.”

Basilio Silva -“The optical result of the Petzval lens is a real jewel…It’s pretty incredible. It renders crazy effects and sensations in the photos.”

Dallas Nagata White -“The Petzval is really fun to shoot with. Besides the striking bokeh, we were especially impressed with the contrast and saturation of the lens.”

Ever since we unveiled the New Petzval 85mm Lens in 2013, we’ve received tons of requests for a lens which offered more control over the swirly bokeh effect and a more standard focal length. Because of this enthusiasm, as well as your loyal support throughout our previous Kickstarter campaigns, we have decided to bring the New Petzval 58 project to Kickstarter! Just like we have done with our past Kickstarter campaigns, we are designing the New Petzval 58 from the ground up — meaning we are putting this lens together from scratch and developing entirely new optical calculations. The provisions for such an ambitious project require a considerable investment at the start. To continue our progress with the New Petzval 58, we would love for you to join us as we finalize this awesome lens!

Ⓒ Lomography

Ⓒ Lomography

It’s hard to get a full sense of the New Petzval 58 without burying our heads in a history book and learning a bit of background information about how Joseph Petzval first invented his lens and the photographic climate it grew from. Our story begins on January 9th 1839, when the French Academy of Sciences announced the invention of the daguerreotype photographic process, the brainchild of French artist and physicist Louis Daguerre. However, daguerreotypes (which involve a camera obscura and light-sensitized copper plates) proved to be problematic, especially when taking portraits. Each photo could take 10 minutes or more to create. With the invention of the daguerreotype came the race to remedy its shortcomings, particularly to revamp the optical work and reduce the exposure time. French optician and microscope-maker Charles Chevalier invented a lens for Le Daguerreotype, Louis Daguerre’s first photographic camera. However, aside from the spherical aberrations, its working aperture of f/15 was still not fast enough, especially since the original photographic materials were of low sensitivity. In 1840, Chevalier designed another lens, which he called Photographe à Verres Combinés, which was a combination of two cemented achromatic lenses. While he managed to bring down the aperture to around f/5.6 for portraiture, the lens lacked sharpness overall.

Historical Portraits of Petzval and his Optical Design. Please see our FAQ section for Image credits.

Joseph Petzval was contacted by his friend Andreas von Ettingshausen about these developments in the field of optics and was urged to develop his own photographic lens design. Petzval took to the challenge and was determined to improve these flaws in the Chevalier lens model. So he went to work, strenuously researching and experimenting with new possible designs. After around half a year, Petzval had found a solution. His lens design was a double achromatic objective lens that had four lenses in three groups. It had almost no distortion, had a focal length of 160mm, and with an aperture of f/3.6, was about a stop and a half faster than the 1840 Photographe à Verres Combinés. The Petzval Lens became known as the first fast photographic lens, and the first made on the basis of scientific calculation. With it, the field of portrait photography flourished. Much of what the world considers to this day as the best characteristics of lenses for portraiture are based on Petzval’s 19th century optic breakthrough!

A collection of Antique Petzval Lenses owned by Geoffrey Berliner of the Penumbra Foundation.

We’re glad you asked! Simply put, Lomography is an active global organization dedicated to experimental and creative photography. But we’re also so much more than that — we have a community of millions of friends and fellow Lomographers around the world who approach and embrace the interactive, vivid and sometimes even blurred analogue lifestyle. First setting sail in 1992 after a chance encounter with the legendary LOMO LC-A, our team has been taking photography to new exciting and crazy levels with cameras, films and accessories ever since.

To date, we have had three extremely successful Kickstarter campaigns — the Lomography Smartphone Film Scanner, the original Lomography New Petzval 85mm Lens and last year’sLomo’Instant Camera. The support we have received throughout these campaigns was overwhelming — your generous pledges have always helped us exceed our goals and in turn, have allowed us to deliver incredible products every time. Additionally, throughout these campaigns, we have seen the passion for creative photography ignited and spread like wildfire. With these three campaigns under our belts, we are extremely excited to bring the New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens to Kickstarter!

From inspiration to design and beyond, the New Petzval 58 project has been tended to by our talented in-house development and design team while closely following the leadership of Lomography’s founders, Sally Bibawy and Matthias Fiegl. For more information about us, check out our website and follow us on Facebook, Tumblr, Instagram and Twitter. Also, feel free tosubscribe to our newsletter for exciting Lomography news!

Ⓒ Lomography

The New Petzval 58 will be available for delivery to most countries around the world. As shipping, handling and local charges (excluding customs fees) vary from country to country, please choose your reward to see specific details about your location. Lomography cannot be held liable for any additional customs charges that may occur in your location. We have logistics hubs in the following locations: Hong Kong, Japan, New York and Hungary (this means we can deliver to EU customers without additional customs fees incurred when you receive your lens). Please be aware there may be extra import costs to pay upon delivery, depending on your location.

For our backers in the USA, most people don't need to pay any additional shipping costs. However, backers who live in the State of New York do need to pay Sales Tax. For backers from New York, please add an additional 8.875% onto your pledge amount to cover local sales tax. For example, if you live in the State of New York and pledged for the $450 reward, please add an additional $39.94 onto your pledge amount ($39.94 is 8.875% of $450) to cover New York Sales Tax. If you forgot to add this, or didn’t know about it, don’t worry — it’s simple to add in even now. You can edit the amount you pledge right up until the project ends on the project page.

Here are the shipping and handling details for locations around the world:

USA, Canada: $0 USD. EU, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Macao, China, South Korea, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam: $20 USD. Australia, New Zealand, Papa New Guinea, Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Finland: $30 USD. Russia, Brazil, Chile, Argentina: $100 USD. The rest of the world: $40 USD.

If you have a specific question about shipping, handling or local charges, please don’t hesitate to contact us!

Ⓒ Filip Zrnzevic

Ⓒ Coco Alexander

Risks and challenges

With every new project comes new risks and challenges. Of course, we do everything we can to eliminate any possible interruption during production and delivery, but as is the nature of these types of projects, there is always the possibility of the unexpected. As you might imagine, an especially critical component for us is the mechanical design of the lens. One of the main challenges with the New Petzval 58 is developing the Bokeh Control Ring, which is a completely new concept. We want to allow more freedom to adjust the swirly bokeh than ever before, but we also want to maintain the quality and character of the New Petzval 58. Paired with the success of the New Petzval 85mm Lens and the amazing team at Zenit, we are confident in our ability to produce the New Petzval 58 to perfection.

So what’s the next step? Well, since our goal is to put this amazing lens into your hands as soon as we possibly can with everything working properly, we are moving forward with testing the first protoype here at Lomography HQ. From there, we plan on making any necessary adjustments to the New Petzval 58 to achieve the highest quality possible. Currently, we estimate that the first shipment of New Petzval 58 lenses will be making their way into your hearts and hands by December 2015. However, there is always the possibility of unanticipated twists and turns which could push the project back further than our estimate. We will strive to do everything in our power to maintain the estimated delivery date so you can bask in the glory of the New Petzval 58 Bokeh Control Art Lens ASAP!

We are now confidently moving full steam ahead with the New Petzval 58. With 20+ years of experience designing exciting and innovative projects, we hope you will join us on yet another historic adventure. We can’t wait to start shooting with the New Petzval 58!

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