TecH Specs
| Lens | f | CF | ø | Weight | Sensor | Mount |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 55mm | 1.7 | 70cm | 77mm | 0,6kg | FF | Sony E |
| 80.5mm | 1.9 | 80cm | 77mm | 0,7kg | FF | Sony E |
The Lomography Petzval lenses are modern recreations of Joseph Petzval’s 19th-century optical design – brought into the digital age with Sony E-mount, cine usability and unique, manual bokeh control. Unlike conventional still or cine lenses, the Petzval lenses doesn’t aim for technical perfection. Instead, it embraces swirl, depth and emotion. It paints with light rather than merely recording it.
Wide open, the Petzval creates the signature swirly bokeh look – a sharp, centre-focused image that melts into rotating blur towards the edges. Highlights stretch and circle into the frame, giving portraits a dreamlike, three-dimensional quality. The falloff from focus to defocus is dramatic and almost painterly. When stopped down, the lens becomes sharper, cleaner and more controlled, but never loses its organic charm.
A standout feature is the Bokeh Control Ring (Mark II version), which lets you manually fine-tune the amount of swirl and edge distortion in-camera – from subtle vintage softness to full optical chaos. It’s one of the few lenses in modern photography and filmmaking that lets you control the shape and intensity of background blur so directly, without filters or post-production.
Equipped with Sony E-mount, modern coatings and smooth manual focus, the lens combines vintage character with digital reliability. Unlike rehoused cinema lenses, this is still a true art lens – ideal for portraiture, music videos, dream sequences, experimental filmmaking or anyone who wants to break out of the “perfect, clean, clinical” digital look.
The Petzvall is not about accuracy. It’s about atmosphere. It doesn’t ask you to capture reality – it asks you to sculpt it.
