My next lens is Petzval portrait lens. Very special bokeh and sharpness
Aug 9, 2013 16:51:32 #
I have bought one of these new Petzval portrait lenses and very excited about it. It is not every day that we have the possibility in buying something so unusual as this lens. This lens is made to deliver sharpness in the middle of the frame, not all over the frame, and to deliver special bokeh where you can choose your different type of bokeh or even make your own custom bokeh. Hope to get it in 5-6 months or sooner. Have a look for yourself!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lomography/the-lomography-petzval-portrait-lens
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lomography/the-lomography-petzval-portrait-lens
Aug 9, 2013 17:19:05 #
Aug 9, 2013 17:55:42 #
JPL wrote:
I have bought one of these new Petzval portrait le... (show quote)
Spiraton tried for the look of these old portrait lenses with their 100 mm f/4 (only stop) sold for $14.95 in the early 70's. I bought one and used it on 35 mm Minoltas. When I went digital got a Nikon t mount and still use it. I like it on the crop frame better because it got "soft" too quick and I would have to crop to get the look I wanted. - Dave
Aug 9, 2013 18:21:43 #
We used to get a similar effect back in the '60/'70s by smearing petroleum jelly/Vaseline on the front of a standard lens, but keeping the center of the lens free of the stuff. This of course would result in the center of the pic being sharp, & the rest soft. These days, even free PP programs, such as Picasa, can do this without the mess. No doubt the Petzval lens does the best job, though. :-)
Aug 9, 2013 18:38:33 #
Aug 9, 2013 23:55:00 #
DOOK wrote:
We used to get a similar effect back in the '60/'70s by smearing petroleum jelly/Vaseline on the front of a standard lens, but keeping the center of the lens free of the stuff. This of course would result in the center of the pic being sharp, & the rest soft. These days, even free PP programs, such as Picasa, can do this without the mess. No doubt the Petzval lens does the best job, though. :-)
We used to do the same thing with white silk (not nylon) stockings. You could take a stocking, cut holes of varying shapes and sizes, slip it over the lens with the hole in place and soften the background. Degree of softening depended on how sheer the silk was. Some other fabrics will also suffice. Nylon and cheesecloth are difficuly to use because of their tendebcy to stretch and distort.
Aug 10, 2013 04:46:21 #
Pablo8
Loc: Nottingham UK.
A Petzval Portrait lens is nothing new. It was designed in 1840. The curved field was created by having the two negative elements facing inwards, with a large space between. That is what gives a sharp central image, with softness surrounding it. The design is also used in projection lenses.
Aug 10, 2013 10:33:07 #
JPL wrote:
I have bought one of these new Petzval portrait le... (show quote)
Whoopee! More bokeh!! I always order mine medium with a bit of cilantro. A nice tokay on the side enriches the palate. :thumbup:
Aug 10, 2013 10:41:52 #
Nikonhermit
Loc: In This Place
[quote=JPL]I have bought one of these new Petzval portrait lenses and very excited about it. It is not every day that we have the possibility in buying something so unusual as this lens. This lens is made to deliver sharpness in the middle of the frame, not all over the frame, and to deliver special bokeh where you can choose your different type of bokeh or even make your own custom bokeh. Hope to get it in 5-6 months or sooner. Have a look for yourself!
Very beautiful, but very expensive.
I did the same thing way back when with a Nikon bellows and a +10 diopter lens bought from an optician. The lens was plano-convex. I had the plane surface facing in, and pasted to that I had an aperture that I had cut out of black paper. I had stops for f/8 (VERY soft!) and f/11. Yes, it was not convenient to un-tape the lens to change the aperture, but it was very nearly free-and that effect really cannot be duplicated with Vaseline on a filter.
Very beautiful, but very expensive.
I did the same thing way back when with a Nikon bellows and a +10 diopter lens bought from an optician. The lens was plano-convex. I had the plane surface facing in, and pasted to that I had an aperture that I had cut out of black paper. I had stops for f/8 (VERY soft!) and f/11. Yes, it was not convenient to un-tape the lens to change the aperture, but it was very nearly free-and that effect really cannot be duplicated with Vaseline on a filter.
Aug 10, 2013 12:26:28 #
JPL wrote:
I have bought one of these new Petzval portrait le... (show quote)
Im sure you can achieve this same effect in post with any editing software.
Aug 10, 2013 12:32:24 #
jeep_daddy wrote:
Im sure you can achieve this same effect in post with any editing software.
Ahhh, but how many lenses do you know of with a brass finish?
Aug 11, 2013 04:17:18 #
Hi all and thanks for the comments. I know the results of this lens can be, at least partly, done by smearing a regular lens with a jelly or covering it with silk stockings or in post processing. But none of this is as easy and effective as putting on the Petzval lens and plug the type of bokeh you want in the slot. Not to mention not having to lick the jelly off your lens when you are done, waiving silk stockings at your customers or having to learn to use layers in PP which seems too difficult for many people here, and still only be able to get part of the results you can get with this new reinvented Petzval lens.
Plus we have a fully manual lens with no autofocus problems ;)
This is a kind of retro lens and beautiful bokeh effects combined in one lens. I think it is a great add on to all the bread slicing sharp lenses everybody is buying these days.
Plus we have a fully manual lens with no autofocus problems ;)
This is a kind of retro lens and beautiful bokeh effects combined in one lens. I think it is a great add on to all the bread slicing sharp lenses everybody is buying these days.
Aug 11, 2013 09:03:34 #
JPL wrote:
Hi all and thanks for the comments. I know the re... (show quote)
There is a lot to be said about getting it right in camera.
That's the way we did it when we used film.
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