Another Lomography Ultra Wide Angle Lens
Another Ultra Wide Angle Lens? OK. I’m all for more lenses. I’m also for more pizza. That doesn’t necessarily mean I should eat more pizza. I haven’t had a chance to use this lens yet. In fact, it’s not even released until August 2021. I guess the Lomography heads up is to secure your support before then, and get a kickstarter price of $399. (as opposed to a retail price of $549) Will it be better than a Nikon 17-35mm 2.8 Zoom or Canon 17-35mm 2.8 Zoom? I doubt it, since those are pretty stupendous lenses. It appears they’re probably geared for the,…. “all the rage” digital mirrorless cameras. (Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E) And, of course, the M mount film cameras out there. I don’t doubt, as per the examples shown, it will be a lens with a unique draw. Whether that fits into your vision or not is a very subjective personal aesthetic. How well built it is, how smooth the focus, how snappy the aperture,…well, we’ll have to wait and see. But I do like the effect of wide angle lenses. From landscape to fashion. Like Jeanloup Sieff. Although I think it can be overused when employed without some forethought or deliberate incorporation into a ‘style’. While there are other full frame 17mm lenses out there with Leica M mounts, I don’t know of any f/2.8 fast apertures. As far as the mirrorless cameras go,….I just don’t know. Nor do I want to know. (Uhhhh,….this is a film site) Which is not meant as an insult. I also don’t want to know how many megapixels your smart phone has. Don’t care. 😏 Also,…yes, Samyang, Rokinon, Sony and Canon make even wider full frame prime lenses for mirrorless cameras. But the only M mount one that’s as fast would be the Zeiss Distagon T* 15mm f/2.8 ZM Lens. But it’s $4600!! (like about $3200 used) 😲 $399 is starting to look pretty good.
Glide Between Photo and Film
The Lomography Atoll Ultra-Wide Art Lens has been designed with both photographers and filmmakers in mind – sliding between the two setups has never been so easy. Capture landscape, action, street and travel photography as well as breathtaking film from dynamic documentary to awe-inspiring action-adventure. Make your subjects the center of attention and lay their souls bare in every shot. With a modern helicoid focusing mechanism, dampened aperture control ring and short focus throw, you can seamlessly adjust focus and f-stop whilst the camera is rolling for quick, quiet creative control. Take the lid off your imagination, galvanize your versatility and let the magic of your mind’s eye pour out.
SPECS
- Focal Length: 17 mm
- Format Coverage: 35 mm/ full-frame
- Field of View: 103º
- Lotus Lens Hood: Yes
- Lens Construction: 13 multicoated elements, 10 groups
- Focusing: Manual
- Closest Focus Distance: 0.1 m (Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E), 0.25 m (M mount)
- Maximum Aperture: f/2.8
- Aperture Construction: 8 blades, f/2.8–f/22
- Aperture Ring: Dampened
- Depth of Field Scale: Yes
- Mount: M (native) & Canon RF/ Nikon Z/ Sony E (with Close-up Lens Base)
- Electronic Contacts: No
- M mount Rangefinder Coupling: Yes
- M mount Frameline: 28 mm
- External Optical Viewfinder: Yes
- Materials: Sandblasted anodized aluminum
- Dimensions: 87 mm (Canon RF) / 91 mm (Nikon Z) / 89 mm (Sony E) / ø73 mm × 79 mm (M)
- Estimated Retail Price: From $549 USD
- Delivery Date: August 2021
Soak Up the Close-Ups
With the Lomography Atoll Ultra-Wide Art Lens you can get impossibly close to your subject, whilst also capturing the action all around them in jaw-dropping detail. Render every pimple, dimple and wrinkle in the foreground as close as 0.1 m whilst keeping the beautiful, bustling background in piercing focus too. Use the optical viewfinder for accurate composition with analogue cameras and add charisma to every one of the 103º of view through the optic’s superb rendition of colors and lights. With the Atoll Ultra-Wide Art Lens comes a whole new way to see the world, a refreshingly expansive perspective, an invitation to blow your own expectations wide open. Your ultra-wide shots will exaggerate relative size and boast impressive depth for eye-catching, inspiring, immersive photography and film.
What does “Atoll” mean? In reference to photography,…I have no clue. Maybe the lens designer just came back from Fiji. 🤷♂️ If you would like to just “jump in” to save the $150, just go to Lomography’s pre-release on Kickstarter. Since I do not support Kickstarter, I will let you all find that link on your own.
In Essence…
“A lens designed for full frame mirrorless cameras and compatible with M mount cameras. Specifically, it was designed for full-frame mirrorless Canon RF/ Nikon Z/ Sony E cameras and rangefinder coupled for M mount analogue and digital cameras. This ultra wide 103º field of view lens has minimal distortion, true colors and strong contrast. With a close focusing distance of 0.1 m for the mirrorless cameras and 0.25 m on the M mount cameras, it sports a helicoid focusing mechanism, a damped aperture control ring and a very short focus throw.” It may just end up being the cats meow. Or not.
This is not Lomography’s first Ultra Wide Angle lens. But it may be it’s most rectilinear lens in their ultra wide class.
The header image is © Sunsern Poontavee