PhotoPlus The Canon Magazine – August 2019

The Canon Magazine 95

Fun lenses

£529/$590 http://www.lomography.com £459/$599 http://www.lomography.com

£189 / $ 250 http://www.lensbaby.com^ £149 / $160 http://www.lensbaby.com^

here we have a modular lens

system consisting of a base unit

that attaches to your camera lens

mount, which serves as the

foundation for three lenses. The

Thalassa lens is a 35mm f/3.5;

the Despina is a 50mm f/2.8; and

the Proteus is an 80mm f/4.

Each add-on lens is small, but

then they’re also very basic. The

add-on lenses are weighty and

well-made, but the base unit feels

crudely fashioned by comparison.

All produce exceptional detail

rendition, minute distortion and

hardly any vignetting and little

chromatic aberration. Manual

focusing is easy and almost

immediate, and the total lack of

electronic assistance means you

learn how under- and over-

exposure can produce creative

effects. It’s hard to make a case

This lens takes its design cues

from Joseph Petzval’s Hungarian

optic, which revolutionized

portraiture in Victorian times. The

new Petzval is a work of art, with

its brass barrel and a gear rack

focusing system that features a

protruding knurled thumbscrew.

The ‘Waterhouse’ aperture set

is similarly antiquated, relying on

different plates to be inserted

near the rear of the lens, so that

you can stop down from the max

aperture of f/2.2 all the way to

f/16 in single f-stop increments.

The number of glass elements

used in the lens isn’t specified,

but the secret recipe enables

a sharp area at the centre of the

image, with vignetting and a

bokeh effect at the edges.

Vignetting is subtle on

full-frame cameras and negligible

The 35mm Edge 35 is part of

Lensbaby’s Optic Swap System

and is designed to be used with

the Composer Pro or Composer

Pro II lens housings. Simply insert

the Edge 35 into the housing and

rotate clockwise. The Composer

Pro’s ball and socket design then

allows the Edge 35 to be tilted in

any direction; in doing so you

cleverly move the plane of focus

in the image – similar to the tilt

element of a tilt-and-shift lens.

The result is a sharp band

across the scene, with near and

far objects being in focus. Tilting

up or down creates a horizontal

slice of focus, whereas tilting left

or right gives a vertical slice, and

tilting diagonally produces

diagonal slices.

Build quality isn’t up there

with the Burnside 35, but you still

get a metal barrel and glass

The sol 45 harks back to

Lensbaby’s origins of simplicity

and creativity, and, unlike the

Edge 35, it doesn’t require

an extra like the Composer Pro.

The idea is that you pick a

subject within the frame and

bend the lens towards it, then

focus with the manual focus ring.

Behind this is a larger ring that

enables you to lock the sweet

spot of sharpest focus in the

centre of frame. Unlock this ring,

and focus can be shifted towards

the edges of the frame.

There’s also a pair of ‘bokeh

blades’ that can be pulled across

the lens to bring some interesting

texture into out-of-focus areas.

Mount the lens on a crop-sensor

body and the focus sweet spot

gets closer to the edges of the

frame, which can be handy with

certain compositions.

Lomography Neptune

Convertible Art Lens System

Lomography Petzval

85mm Art Lens

Lensbaby Edge 35 Lensbaby Sol 45

VE rDICT

Pros: Small add-on lenses;

creative shooting experience

Cons: Pricey for such simple,

crudely finished lenses

We say: If you want control, the

Neptune system delivers

VE rDICT

Pros: Lends genuinely useful flair

to portrait shots; exquisite lens barrel

Cons: Not cheap for such a basic

optical path; completely manual

We say: A stunning lens that gives

beautiful results

VE rDICT

Pros: Gives a highly customizable,

distinctive look; a pleasure to use

Cons: Not as versatile as some;

high outlay with the lens housing

We say: Great fun, and top value

if you own the required adapter

VE rDICT

Pros: A well-priced solution for

customizable, eye-catching shots

Cons: In-focus areas aren’t quite

as sharp as they could be

We say: For fun and creativity, this

is just the ticket, and it’s a bargain!

elements. With careful focusing,

you can get sharp results at the

point of focus, with steep fall-off

and gloriously attractive bokeh.

Sharpness is no match for the

Burnisde 35, but aberration is

minimal, and the Sol 45 produces

attractive, distinctive images.

for the Neptune system on price

and specs, but it does score more

highly on fun factor and helping

you maximize creativity.

on crop-sensor cameras. Similarly,

the surrounding area of swirly

bokeh is reduced on a crop-sensor

body, but still looks top.