Buying guides 2015

News Reviews Articles Buying Guide Sample Images Videos Cameras LensesPhonesPrinters Forums Galleries Challenges

Lomography Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 Art Lens launches on Kickstarter

Published Apr 6, 2016 | Brittany Hillen

Lomography is seeking funds in its latest Kickstarter campaign to bring into production a Daguerreotype Achromat F2.9 to F16 65mm Art Lens, a recreation of the first photographic optic lens from 1839. The lens is designed to work with modern analog and digital cameras, and will be available in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts with support for 'multitudes of other cameras using adapter mounts.'

The 64mm Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens will be available with black and brass finishes, and will support Micro Four Thirds cameras, the Fujifilm X-Pro1, Sony Alpha cameras and others using adapter mounts. An array of special effects are produced via Waterhouse Aperture plates; they range from what is described as an 'ethereal soft focus' at apertures below F4 to sharper effects with deep contrasts at aperture F5.6 and greater.

The special effects are created by inserting Waterhouse Aperture plates into a slot in the lens, positioning the plate in front of the lens elements. Three sets of plates are supported: Standard, Lumière, and Aquarelle. The latter two sets, Lumière and Aquarelle, were created by Lomography for this particular lens to create different effects in out-of-focus highlights.

By pledging to Lommography's Kickstarter, supporters can reserve an early copy of the Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lens, though certain backing options have been sold out, such as the brass 'super early bird' launch deal. Remaining pledge options include $400 for a brass or black-finish lens, $500 for a low serial number Nikon mount brass lens and $550 for an earlier September 2016 shipment rather than the later December shipment, among others.

Tags: lens-news, lomography

Comments

Total comments: 91

Thin black cardboard $ 1,00/sheet
Hobby knife: $5,00 (you probably allready have one)
Rubber lenshood:$2,00 (Fleabay)
Imagination and creativity: Free (if you have any)

Cut any shape you want. Stick it somewhere in the lenshood>>>>Ready!
You have that special bokeh. Experiment with size of cut out shape and position in lenshood.

Want to use the same again and again? Place it between two UV filters or tape it on a sheet of clear acrylic. Use badly scratched UV filters/acrylic to get Daguerreo look. Vaseline also works.

It works. Do it since the 1970's, long before Kickstarter victims existed.
Once every 5 years, with star shaped bokeh at Christmas day. For fun. Next day, start making real photographs again. Believe me, it does not make a bad photograph any better.

Lock at this lens. Basically just a long brass lens hood with bad glass at the camera side of the tunnel. Hyped with smart marketing and fancy serial numbers.

So start with the cardboard trick before spending $500+

Edited 3 times; latest 11 minutes since posting

4 upvotes

Can't you just use an app to do the same thing for free?

2 upvotes

Everything is of course possible. But ... bokeh is not easy to simulate.

0 upvotes

Or use your photoshop skill set and have total creative control over the look you create. Depends if you put more value on process than product.

0 upvotes

How many photos with snowflake-like sparkles till you bore your friends to tears?
Prkhleaaaaahse.

3 upvotes

Yes, the snowflake part sux. Need better apertures.

0 upvotes

Come one...again? Seriously, the sample images look like they were created pix efx 1.0. I love new gear and all but Petzalish designs belong on large format cameras. Like the look go get yourself a 4x5 camera. So pointless IMO.

4 upvotes

Surely has more bling than the magnifying glass held by the gaffer tape to the toilet roll. Does the same, though....And that is all what I have to say about it.

2 upvotes

💩

1 upvote

I hope this lens does not suck as much as the Petzval lens they made. Biggest piece of garbage I've ever shot with.

2 upvotes

There's a small part of me that really wants to try this lens. The problem is there is a much bigger part of me that doesn't want to spend that kind of money for a niche item. I wonder what the resale values of these lomo retro lenses are?

1 upvote

LensRentals carried the Petzval when it came out. Not sure if they'll carry this one, too, but it might be worth watching their page.

0 upvotes

Why didn't the Lytro guys go down this route ?

1 upvote

Why would they? Lytro is a try to make a company around an invention made at a university. So ... they tried that route. Maybe the shouldn't. But, why should they go this route instead ... or any route?

Edited 18 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

Everytime there's a post about alternative gear, the comment section fills up with people bemoaning those that are interested in the new gear. Why? Are you all that insecure about your gear selection and the money you paid for it that you have to prop up your own egos by belittling everything else that's different? So what if this is aimed squarely at the "hipster" demographic? So what if it doesn't produce images that rival the sharpness of your Canon L glass (or whatever it is that you feel they should be buying instead)? It's obviously desirable to a lot of people based on the commitment level of the campaign. Instead of seeking validation for your gear by complaining about different gear, why don't you try using it instead?

4 upvotes

People should call it for what it is, a junky copy of a junky lens designed in 1843 (by the way it 2016 now in case you missed it) sold for $400/$500 and hyped by Lomography as something groundbreaking, innovative, revolutionary and note worthy.
One more thing, just in case that comfort rabbit sitting on your lap crapped on you, before you dump it make sure it is not a pile of tiny Daguerreotype Achromat Art Lenses made by Lomography for new iPhone. Could be worth some serious money.

3 upvotes

Having a bad morning there, c45?

2 upvotes

More like borderline incoherent and irrelevant to your argument, CopCarSS.

1 upvote

If this lens is such a great idea..they should fund it themselves!

2 upvotes

So - you do not like kickstarter, and other fund raising initiatives?

2 upvotes

Another lemon from Lomography targeted at "dreamy" and "out of focus" pot smoking hipsters.

3 upvotes

The choice of stars and other fancy waterhouse stops makes the images less attractive IMHO. The Imagon look alike stops are much more effective on an Imagon soft focus lens. Here the stop pattern is by far too visible.

1 upvote

I would like someone to raise money to use a very good lens and replace the iris aperture with a waterhouse stop.

1 upvote

Someone has tried this, and failed. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/modulaoptical/cm33-compact-manual-focus-lens-for-mirrorless-with

0 upvotes

It seems that there is a lot of hipsters ready to spend some money: in less than 1 day they raised more than 300000$. From an economic (and marketing) point of view, that's a complete success.

I'm convinced that the big ones will look at that with some envy.

In the meantime, we can continue to discuss the technical disadvantages of this lens ;-)

1 upvote

More overpriced hipster lenses by Lomo? Just buy a Helios 44 for $30-40 and get the better OOF bokeh effects, sharper glass and all for a fraction of the price!

10 upvotes

Exactly my point, post liked.

Edited 11 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

One of the advantages of this lens is the waterhouse stop. Unfortunately it is almost always used to make fancy stuff, like heart formed bokeh. But - access to the aperture position is a nice thing.

2 upvotes

Yes, but the Helios won't be a conversation starter at some trendy Williamsburg gourmet cafe.

3 upvotes

I don't think the goal of those buying this lens will be served by the Helios 44. Bokeh is highly subjective, and something tells me that no one will be buying a simple doublet to obtain "sharp glass." Why does it bother you so much if other people are interested in buying this?

1 upvote

Doesn't bother me, but for those looking for an "effects" lens, the Helios 44 and other similar lenses can serve the same purpose at a fraction of the cost. Being serious about your photography doesn't mean having to part with your hard earned cash so easily!

5 upvotes

It's only overpriced if people aren't buying it. Given the responses to the Kickstarter campaign, I'd say it's probably not overpriced. I can't think of another company making new achromat doublets in brass barrels for small sensor cameras, so more power to them and to the people that are excited to try this lens.

0 upvotes

@CopCarSS
I can't think of any car company making a car with a hand-crank start either...

0 upvotes

@LensBeginner Why is this bugging you so much? If it's not your thing, that's completely understandable. I'm not buying one either! I may rent one if LensRentals picks them up like they did with the Lomo Petzval. But based on your responses, it seems like you have something personal against Lomo for producing this? Why is it such a bad thing, especially given then enthusiastic reaction it's gotten on Kickstarter?

0 upvotes

I find it mildly bemusing that some people are rushing to buy a modern knock-off of a vintage lens for a ridiculously high sum...

I don't have anything personal against Lomo, it could even be my thing to shoot with a vintage lens (I'm doing that just now BTW), it's just sad to notice that this world has become the hunting territory for enterprises with an m.o. bordering on scamming, and they are really successful in making big money, while real talents and serious commercial propositions often die in little time only because they don't spray dazzling words all over the place, but just offer something realistic at a realistic price.

People just prefer to fall for the talk and be scammed believing they are onto something mystical rather than buying something ordinary that (gasp!) works.

1 upvote

I have no idea if this one would work http://www.edmundoptics.com/optics/optical-lenses/achromatic-lenses/vis-nir-coated-achromatic-lenses/49337/. But Edmund Scientific has a large assortment of dual achromats. And, the price is just below $100. Then you need the brass tube, etc. It is probably hard to make such a lens and sell it for much less than $400. That you can buy a used old lens for $50 is not relevant, other than it might destroy the market.

2 upvotes

@LensBeginner - Just because it's a simple lens doesn't mean that it's not expensive to get the tooling set up to build it. Honestly, $400 really doesn't seem all that crazy to me. I will say that when the MeyerOptik 100mm Trioplan came out nearing $2000 that I thought that was a bit much. But honestly, if it's something that people are interested in, then more power to them.

I just really hate seeing comments like, "Another lemon from Lomography targeted at "dreamy" and "out of focus" pot smoking hipsters." Yes, @c45, I'm looking at you. There's no reason for that level of vitriol just because this lens isn't something that calls to you or your style of photography. Likewise, there are a lot of cheaper used lenses out there that give interesting effects. They are not, however, an achromat doublet based on a design that has historical significance to craft of photography. Again, I say more power to Lomo and to those that are interested in this lens.

0 upvotes

They are leaving money on the table. Why don't they gold plate it and write "Trump" on it and say "It's the best."

8 upvotes

The most stupid lens I've ever seen

8 upvotes

So, the more crappy the image looks, the more artistic it is?

17 upvotes

Kind of. Go out and take a photo of a random flower with your sharp lens and good camera. Do it looks artsy? Probably not. Take the same with this lens or apply some kind of Instagram filter and some fake light leak. Does it look more artsy? Probably. Is the Instagram thing, maybe taken with a lousy lens more artistic? Maybe.

That said. Of course sharp, good looking images may be art. It is just harder.

Edited 2 times; latest 2 minutes since posting

2 upvotes

Exactly. Or take a picture of a water fall at 1/250. Nobody cares. take the same shot at 1/2 of a second with the smooth water effect and suddenly it becomes "fine art photography".

1 upvote

One can wonder if this is a good thing. Or just weird. It is a fact though that art, more often than not, both photo and paintings, is less figurative, and more fuzzy.

1 upvote

The original was probably around f/17 (22 times slower than the later f/3.6 Petzval lens according to several sources).
This lens is five stops faster! Even with modern materials etc. I don't think it is possible boost the original design to f/2.9.
Maybe the pictures look similar, but most likely it is a completely new design that has nothing to do with the historic original.

Christian

3 upvotes

But the old one was used on huge plates, so equivalent DOF was not slow by any means.

1 upvote

This is not a Petzval, is a dual achromat.

1 upvote

Perfect for the GAS addict with too much cash and time on their hands.

3 upvotes

Want a cheap and good achromatic doublet (like this lomo)?
Use a close-up lens or a screw-on "wide converter" and mount them on a clear bayonet. Use extension tubes accordingly.
Example:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/3681396

4 upvotes

Your link gives me an idea : making a kind of portrait lens for my aps-c mirroless camera using this :
- an old manual 50mm lens with the front and rear optical blocs removed
- a 10x close-up lens (100mm focal length) screwed on the filter thread
- play with the lens-to-body adapter and some filter rings to fine-tune the distance between the macro lens and the sensor to something around 100mm when the focusing ring of the 50mm lens is set to infinity.
Thanks to the 50mm lens body, one can focus and stop down.
I am going to try this one of these days...

2 upvotes

Or look for the old T-mount Sima 100mm f/2 lenses. You can even use the same trick with Waterhouse stops and custom aperture plates.

1 upvote

too hipster-ish

2 upvotes

It's like a distortion pedal for a camera. Jimi Hendrix would understand.

10 upvotes

It's like an old one with a tube in it. Some say it sounds better than modern digital effects.

3 upvotes

Bingo tkbslc!

1 upvote

I actually like the look. The last image particularly. I wouldnt shoot with this lens regularly but put to good use I can imagine prints selling in large numbers to the hipster crowd. I could make similar looks in post i suppose....but that feels like more work. I hate post.

2 upvotes

Lol.. most commenters are against the idea saying it's horrible and pointless and tacky. Meanwhile Lomo will make a million bucks doing this. Obviously there is a market for this type of stuff so any negative opinions from you lot are irrelevant to the matter.

6 upvotes

Wouldn't a paper cutout in front of a 80s' cheap lens have the same effect? I remember DigitalRev did something like this years ago.

4 upvotes

It's ideal if the aperture shape is cut like you want, but you get the same effect the way you say.

1 upvote

@LensBeginner:

Quoting from the news item, "positioning the [Waterhouse Aperture] plate in front of the lens elements"

Edited 18 seconds after posting

1 upvote

That is, where the diaphragm should be.
This lens doesn't have a diaphragm *and* then the slot-in apertures (it only has the latter), while the old lenses you were refering to already have some kind of aperture mechanism.

If you scroll to the second set of pictures there's a 3D render.

Edited 2 times; latest 1 minute since posting

1 upvote

Is it same idea as Lensbaby? OK, maybe different idea, but same effect:)

1 upvote

The main difference I think is that some lensbaby lenses exaggerate effects that would otherwise be considered a flaw, while the one presented here is a reproduction of a lens that in its day was state of the art. However, given that it's Lomography doing it, the motivation may have been to get a flawed lens.

2 upvotes

What a great idea!
Where can I sign up?

1 upvote

I would never buy this lens, but it can't be measured against conventional lenses and mustn't be judged the way some readers do. This is not about sharpness and colour accuracy - it's about creating a certain look for the pictures.
In the beginning of the 20th century, photographers like Edward Steichen, Alfred Stieglitz and Alvin Langdon Coburn would look for unsharp lenses - I mean, lenses that gave them the kind of slightly hazy images they sought after. It was a matter of expression. By today's standards those pictures are mushy and lack definition, but who can deny their importance?
This lens doesn't aim at pixel peepers. It's for people who want a certain look to their photographs. You should try to understand not everyone craves for accuracy and sharpness. Sure, I hate those effects as much as you do, but if people like them, why shouldn't they have it? Photography is a broad church and photographs are the offspring of the photographer's individuality.

9 upvotes

Because the same effects (except maybe the ones related to the slot-in aperture) can be had with lenses that cost twenty bucks.

3 upvotes

Looks like a SteamPunk coffee cup holder from out of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

4 upvotes

What a joke! This is from a chap who used to know quite well LOMO and some wonderful professionals working there. There was a LOMO chap, ethnically German by the way, who aligned spy satellites lenses. When he took long summer time-off (loved to work with kids in a summer camp), Soviets delayed satellite launches. But one has to remember, from its very early years LOMO consumer production was rip-off of mostly German designs - Leica, Exacta, Contax. But, wonderfully talented professionals, like Dr. Wernher von Braun, worked also in the Third Reich for Nazies.

Visited once, passing by, their store in NYC, laughed my head off: lenses they sell there could be purchased somewhere else easily for 1/5, sometimes for 1/10, of their price. This is from a happy owner of 20F5.6 Russar who was lucky to meet the lens' designer M. Rusinov.

Edited 1 minute after posting

4 upvotes

Plenty of really nice old lenses for pennies, and awesome glass too...
Something that you can use wide open to get unusual effects and stop down a little to get all the DoF and sharpness you need, all topped-up with nice and peculiar color rendition.

No need to dig much to find lots of good examples...

1 upvote

Lomography and everybody can be artist. Ok, noticed new lenses, amazign thing

1 upvote

Nice to see the zone plates, although they've used them in a gimmicky way in those samples. I hope they provide plenty of blanks, so we can drill our own!

0 upvotes

Go and feed homeless people instead...

5 upvotes

Shouldn't you be feeding the homeless instead of posting on DPR?

14 upvotes

"African children could have eaten that Kickstarter money!"

2 upvotes

darngooddesign, how do you know that I'm not?

1 upvote

Everyone knows you weren't.

1 upvote

Everyone = Only you. The world is not revolving around you. Now go and pay 500 bucks to some metal.

0 upvotes

Everyone knows that the person making the "you should do something charitable instead of the buying the thing I object to" argument usually isn't doing that charitable thing. You're just annoyed that you got called out on it.

Edited 2 times; latest 2 minutes since posting

0 upvotes

Want to know how I know you were posting on DPR instead of feeding the homeless?

0 upvotes

sheesh- horribly soft and tacky.

reminds me of amateurs that are looking for a creative gimmick because they cant create nice images otherwise

7 upvotes

" a recreation of the first photographic optic lens from 1839. The lens is designed to work with modern analog and digital cameras, and will be available in Canon EF and Nikon F mounts "

Well, that makes sense...

5 upvotes

Great, another Lomography lens that has absolutely no reason to exist, but does because people buy them for whatever reason. This is basically Instagram for Canon and Nikon DSLRs.

15 upvotes

Exactly. There are tons of free apps to achieve these tacky effects.

2 upvotes

I don't know you, guys, but I'm not impressed by the sample images. Firstly, they don't remind me of the daguerrotype look at all (of course, and assuming the optics are similar, they are only a part of the daguerrotype process). Secondly, I don't like those quirky aperture effects. So, even if I am keen on trying (and somehow collecting) strange and special lenses, I think I won't be tempted by this one...

8 upvotes

Basically, this is an even more questionable step in the direction of pretend emulation of old lenses. Basically, the defects of lenses don't really scale from larger formats to FF or APS-C. Actually, this lens is particularly funky in that 75% of the front is empty barrel... and I suppose having a built-in hood helps, but really. There is also the cute little comment about how the Waterhouse stops are better here because they don't go between the lens -- but how could they go between elements in a simple achromat?

Anyway, they've met their funding goal, so, I guess it will happen.

PS: Interesting how many of the "sharp" images missed focus. Oh well. I guess it is hard to precisely focus a smeary image on a DSLR without any manual focus aids. ;-)

3 upvotes

Putting the stop away from the actual element is the correct arrangement to eliminate coma, due to stop shift theory http://www.slideshare.net/operacrazy/stop-shift-theory

0 upvotes

AiryDiscus: Not familiar with stop shift theory (the slides didn't quite do it for me either), but I'm certainly aware that position of the stop can play a huge role in controlling aberrations. Is coma the primary cause of the off-axis smearing in the wide-open images? I wasn't sure, although there is definitely a lot of badness going on.... Then again, isn't f/2.9 a real push for this type of lens?

0 upvotes

The location of the stop controls some aberrations. In this case, coma is eliminated for the meniscus shape with a stop away from the lens.

f/2.9 is not absurdly fast for a doublet; a doublet over a wide FoV... it is very fast. Astigmatism will be undercontrolled, as well as petzval and spherical aberration.

Stop away from the lens should correct coma here, though.

0 upvotes

Silliness taken to new levels. Whoever pays 500 quid for this caricature should have his head examined.

17 upvotes

Yup... Another case of
"Never give a sucker an even break"

3 upvotes

Is this the most modern design they could find with drop-in apertures?

0 upvotes

They keep making more of these retro revival lenses, so they must sell. Not for me, but certainly an interesting option.

5 upvotes

Total comments: 91

www.dpreview.com

connect.dpreview.com

Editorial content

Product database

Community

About us Work for us Advertise with us FAQ Feedback Interest-Based Ads Privacy Legal

All content, design, and layout are Copyright © 1998 - 2016 Digital Photography Review All Rights Reserved. Reproduction in whole or part in any form or medium without specific written permission is prohibited.

Mobile site


Sony announces 50mm F1.8 and 70-300mm F4.5-5.6 full-frame lenses Mar 29, 2016	Leica announces price and details of its 35mm F1.4 lens for the T system Mar 23, 2016	New arrival: Tamron SP 85mm F1.8 launches later this week Mar 22, 2016	Field Test: Claire Bangser and the Olympus PEN-F hit the Mississippi Blues Trail Apr 11, 2016

86	*PART 3* This Week Through your m4/3 2016.04.09
80	Panasonic 100-400 vs. Nikon P900
73	Martial Arts (Leica Typ 109)
70	Panasonic Lumix LX100 - New User Issues.
69	Verboten topic?
63	example photo ruined by "unsharp corners"?
57	Things I'd like to see on a DSLR
43	Why does the D5 sensor have lower DR at low ISO than the D750/D810?
43	B&H photo used dept.
40	A7iii announcement overdue?
39	The Sunday BIRD Volume 11 Issue No. 36, April 10, 2016
38	Favorite FE Prime Lens?
34	Would you jump to Nikon if...
34	Are you going to "punish" Nikon if there is no V4 at CP+?
33	♣ ♣ Bootstrap's Sunday 'Scapes ♣ ♣ 10 April 2016
32	Building A New PC
29	Shooting birds with Pentax...
29	Base ISO confusion
26	Canon 80D Review - Tony Northrup
25	Pen F lenses


Feather in the Wind by Birdman50 from Random Items - Challenge 5	Fruit for dessert by Nik2 from Artistic Photo of a Feast