"The best lens Lomography has ever made" turns heads at The Photography Show
Its Kickstarter campaign still has five days to go, but the Lomography Lomogon 2.5/32 Art lens made its public debut at The Photography Show – and the little brass beauty turned plenty of heads in Birmingham.
The Lomogon has a 32mm focal length with a maximum aperture of f/2.5. What's so special about that? Well, the aperture is controlled by a circular aperture disc that – the aperture doesn't have irising blades, but rather five fixed aperture settings: f/2.5, f/4, f/5.6 and f/11.
Because these are 'holepunched' onto the disc, rather than relying on aperture blades, this means that the apertures are perfectly circular – which translates to flawless "bokeh balls" rendered in the background blur.
The act of simply turning the aperture disc is an absolute joy, as is the tantalizingly tactile focus ring. The Lomogon is exquisitely constructed and using it rekindles the tangible joy of photography, making the experience of manually focusing and working with set apertures a true pleasure.
In addition to the lens currently at The Photography Show, a handful of Lomo Amigos (essentially Lomography ambassadors, handpicked from the community) have been testing the Lomogon, with the feedback being that "this is the best lens Lomography has ever made".
So far the Kickstarter campaign has already quadrupled its $100,000 goal, and with five days remaining it could potentially hit half a million dollars. The Lomogon is available in Canon EF, Nikon F and Pentax K mounts, with prices starting at $350 for the Black Aluminum version of the lens and $420 for the classic-looking Brass.
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Head over to Lomography UK's stand, B13, at The Photography Show to check out the lens for yourself.
The editor of Digital Camera World, James has 21 years experience as a journalist and started working in the photographic industry in 2014 (as an assistant to Damian McGillicuddy, who succeeded David Bailey as Principal Photographer for Olympus). In this time he shot for clients like Aston Martin Racing, Elinchrom and L'Oréal, in addition to shooting campaigns and product testing for Olympus, and providing training for professionals. This has led him to being a go-to expert for camera and lens reviews, photo and lighting tutorials, as well as industry news, rumors and analysis for publications like Digital Camera Magazine, PhotoPlus: The Canon Magazine, N-Photo: The Nikon Magazine, Digital Photographer and Professional Imagemaker, as well as hosting workshops and talks at The Photography Show. He also serves as a judge for the Red Bull Illume Photo Contest. An Olympus and Canon shooter, he has a wealth of knowledge on cameras of all makes – and a fondness for vintage lenses and instant cameras.