Digital Camera World - UK (2019-10)

116 DIGITAL CAMERA^

Verdict

The Lomography Petzval 55mm f/1.7 Mk II is a creative lens

that provides plenty of opportunity to experiment. We can see

this being a great secret weapon in the kitbag of any portrait

photographer, if you are happy to work within its limitations.

3.5 Ver y Good

4.0

Features

3.0

Image

quality

3.5

Value

nspired by Joseph Petzval, the inventor

of the first portrait lens and widely

considered to be one of the founding

fathers of modern photography, the

Petzval 55mm f/1.7 joins the intriguing

list of ‘arty’ Lomo lenses. Built for Sony E, Canon

RF and Nikon Z mounts, it’s the first Petzval lens

designed exclusively for full-frame mirrorless cameras.

The lens features a new bokeh control ring that allows

you to change the quality of the bokeh. The higher the

control ring number, the dreamier the bokeh. The lower

the number, the sharper it appears. Its waterhouse

aperture system enables you to insert plates into

the lens to change the shape of the bokeh. The

plates provided include snowflakes, stars and hearts.

The brass and black brass versions have a knob that

steplessly controls the aperture, but our review sample

was the black aluminium edition, which has an aperture

ring instead. The three rings on this edition (aperture,

focus and bokeh control) can be a little unwieldy at first,

especially if you’re used to having a single focus ring.

As a manual-focus lens, we’d expect the Petzval

55mm f/1.7 to handle well – and it didn’t disappoint.

Pleasingly hefty in the hand without feeling overly

weighty, we found this boutique lens easy to use.

Performance

One of the issues with the Petzval range so far has been

that most DSLRs aren’t typically built for manual-focus

lenses. However, mirrorless cameras are surprisingly

well-suited to non-autofocus lenses. This is because

most offer focus peaking, which visually shows you

which part of your scene is in focus via a coloured

highlight. Using the Petzval 55mm with focus

peaking was a game changer, allowing us to feel

confident in our focus when capturing portraits.

While we loved the creative effect the 55mm f/1.7

gave, our biggest gripe with this lens is its limiting

nature. The centre of the lens is the only place to

capture sharp detail: anything else outside of this

falls off into significant softness. While this means

you can capture some truly dramatic portraits, it

also limits your creative choices. Louise Carey

I

(^1)
The Dual Aperture
System includes
an eight-bladed
diaphragm.
2
The bokeh control
ring allows you to
change the quality
of the bokeh.
3
The aperture ring is
stepless, so you can
adjust your aperture
without experiencing
sudden jumps in
exposure.
4
The Petzval 55mm
comes in brass
(£399), black brass
(at the front above,
£449) or black
aluminium (£349).
Lomography Petzval
55mm f/1.7 Mk II
£349-£449 / $399-$499
Taking inspiration from vintage lenses
http://www.lomography.com
4.0
Build &
handling
2
3
4
116 DIGITAL CAMERA^ OCTOBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com
Creative lens Lomography Petzval 55mm f/1.7 Mk II
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