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that's interesting, especially interesting that nobody has done it before, considering the amount of money there are in specialty lenses.. This is somewhat an

by dusted 6y ago

that's interesting, especially interesting that nobody has done it before, considering the amount of money there are in specialty lenses.. This is somewhat an example of "if that was a dollar, someone would have picked it up already"

Arainach 6y ago
The money in lenses goes towards more predictability - sharper, wider aperture, faster to focus, smooth bokeh for portraits - or technical achievements like ultratelephoto lenses. The people who can pay are looking for those features, not random effects. The value here is in novelty - it doesn't look like anything else. If it was mass produced, demand for the effect would likely go down, not up. And it's certainly not without compromise - sharpness across the entire frame in those example shots is worse than your average plastic 18-55mm kit zoom.
- wlesieutre 6y ago
  There are lenses made for unusual effects rather than optical quality, but it's more of a niche market https://microsites.lomography.com/petzval-58-bokeh-control-lens/photos/ https://microsites.lomography.com/petzval-58-bokeh-control-l... https://lensbaby.com/products/composer-pro-ii-with-sweet-50-optic https://lensbaby.com/products/composer-pro-ii-with-sweet-50-...
Sebb767 6y ago
From the sample photos it seems like the lens is rather useless this way. While some bokeh is awesome, this looks more like someone applied an LSD-filter and called it a day; nothing that you could use for a portrait. It also seems the pictures are not too sharp. Therefore, there's probably not too much money to be made. If this could be a bit smoother in the background, on the other hand ...
- Applejinx 6y ago
  I dunno. I'd buy a micro 4/3 one like a shot. I'm already using lenses from SLR magic that aren't THE sharpest possible things, but have really good bokeh and pleasing departure from perfect focus outside perfect focal distance.
dylan604 6y ago
I'd be surprised if this is truly the first time. I'm guessing that there is someone that was assembling a lens and did this by mistake. After seeing the results, saw it wasn't right, and then went back in to see what needed to be corrected.
ska 6y ago
> especially interesting that nobody has done it before I'd be astonished if this hasn't been done before, at least several times in variations. However, someone having done it, and you and I finding out about it, are very different things. And the latter is much, much easier today than it was for most of the life of this lens.
lm28469 6y ago
> especially interesting that nobody has done it before I know a few people who toy with lenses and very often remove, invert or replace elements (with elements from other lenses) This is making the "news" because today everyone is looking for that sweet sweet internet karma Explore a few hobbyist forums and discords and you'll find plenty of crazy modifications that aren't talked about on petapixel

by dusted 6y ago

Arainach 6y ago

The money in lenses goes towards more predictability - sharper, wider aperture, faster to focus, smooth bokeh for portraits - or technical achievements like ultratelephoto lenses. The people who can pay are looking for those features, not random effects. The value here is in novelty - it doesn't look like anything else. If it was mass produced, demand for the effect would likely go down, not up. And it's certainly not without compromise - sharpness across the entire frame in those example shots is worse than your average plastic 18-55mm kit zoom.

wlesieutre 6y ago
There are lenses made for unusual effects rather than optical quality, but it's more of a niche market https://microsites.lomography.com/petzval-58-bokeh-control-lens/photos/ https://microsites.lomography.com/petzval-58-bokeh-control-l... https://lensbaby.com/products/composer-pro-ii-with-sweet-50-optic https://lensbaby.com/products/composer-pro-ii-with-sweet-50-...

Sebb767 6y ago

From the sample photos it seems like the lens is rather useless this way. While some bokeh is awesome, this looks more like someone applied an LSD-filter and called it a day; nothing that you could use for a portrait. It also seems the pictures are not too sharp. Therefore, there's probably not too much money to be made. If this could be a bit smoother in the background, on the other hand ...

Applejinx 6y ago
I dunno. I'd buy a micro 4/3 one like a shot. I'm already using lenses from SLR magic that aren't THE sharpest possible things, but have really good bokeh and pleasing departure from perfect focus outside perfect focal distance.

dylan604 6y ago

I'd be surprised if this is truly the first time. I'm guessing that there is someone that was assembling a lens and did this by mistake. After seeing the results, saw it wasn't right, and then went back in to see what needed to be corrected.

ska 6y ago

> especially interesting that nobody has done it before I'd be astonished if this hasn't been done before, at least several times in variations. However, someone having done it, and you and I finding out about it, are very different things. And the latter is much, much easier today than it was for most of the life of this lens.

lm28469 6y ago

> especially interesting that nobody has done it before I know a few people who toy with lenses and very often remove, invert or replace elements (with elements from other lenses) This is making the "news" because today everyone is looking for that sweet sweet internet karma Explore a few hobbyist forums and discords and you'll find plenty of crazy modifications that aren't talked about on petapixel