Lomography Joseph Petzval Series of Lenses Launched with Artistic Bokeh Control

Lomography has introduced a new lineup of manual prime lenses in the Joseph Petzval Focus Coupled Bokeh Control Art Lens Series. These lenses take the original 1840 Petzval optical formula and bring it into the modern world. They are fully manual, built with real character, and designed for full-frame mirrorless systems.

We’ve been following Lomography’s lens projects for years. That started with the Daguerreotype Achromat in 2016 and continued with the Nour Triplet V 2.0/64.

If you’ve seen Poor Things, The Northman, or Everything Everywhere All at Once, you’ve seen how a weird lens can completely change the feel of a scene. Personally, I think these lenses are incredibly cool. They’re a blast to shoot with and give you a look you’re not getting from typical modern glass. These new lenses are their most refined yet.

Each lens in this series features Lomography’s Focus Coupled Bokeh Control system. In previous Petzval designs, changing the swirl intensity or aperture often shifted the plane of focus. That meant having to re-focus every time you made an adjustment. This new system physically connects the bokeh control mechanism to the focusing system, so everything stays locked even as you tweak the effect. It makes the lenses much easier to use for video and helps with consistency during live shooting.

The bokeh control ring is the other key piece of the design. It gives you direct, physical control over how much swirl you want in the shot. You don’t have to stop down or swap anything out to change the look. Just turn the ring and keep shooting. It’s fast, intuitive, and lets you shift the mood of a scene without breaking your flow. Whether you’re going subtle or going full weird, it’s one of the few tools that actually makes dialing in a specific look feel fun.

Each lens also includes a dual aperture system. You can use the standard stopless diaphragm for clean exposure control, or drop in custom-shaped rear plates for weird, stylized bokeh effects. It’s a simple way to push the look even further without touching a single setting in-camera.

Joseph Petzval 35mm f2 Focus Coupled Bokeh Control Art Lens

• Focal Length: 35 mm
• Lens Aperture System: Stopless Iris Style Aperture, Drop-In Special Aperture Plates
• Closest Focusing Distance: 0.4 m
• Lens Focusing: Manual Focusing Ring, Mod 0.8 Follow Focus Gear
• Available Apertures: Stopless f2 to f22
• Filter Thread: 67 mm
• Lens Material: Multi-Coated Glass
• Lens Body Material: Anodized Aluminum
• Lens Family: Joseph Petzval Focus Coupled
• Mounts: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF
• Price: $599

The Joseph Petzval 35mm is the widest of the three lenses and opens up new creative options for Petzval users. It still gives you the swirled bokeh look, but in a broader field of view. With a close focus distance of 0.4 meters, it’s ideal for handheld work or environmental shots where you want distortion at the edges without switching to a specialty lens.

Joseph Petzval 55mm f1.7 Focus Coupled Bokeh Control Art Lens

• Focal Length: 55 mm
• Lens Aperture System: Stopless Iris Style Aperture, Drop-In Special Aperture Plates
• Closest Focusing Distance: 0.7 m
• Lens Focusing: Manual Focusing Ring, Mod 0.8 Follow Focus Gear
• Available Apertures: Stopless f1.7 to f22
• Filter Thread: 67 mm
• Lens Material: Multi-Coated Glass
• Lens Body Material: Anodized Aluminum
• Lens Family: Joseph Petzval Focus Coupled
• Mounts: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF
• Price: $599

The Joseph Petzval 55mm is a flexible mid-range lens that works great for portraits, interviews, and handheld work. It has a geared focus ring, stopless aperture, and accepts custom drop-in plates to shape the bokeh. Close focus is 0.7 meters, and it’s compatible with follow-focus systems.

Joseph Petzval 80.5mm f1.9 Focus Coupled Bokeh Control Art Lens

• Focal Length: 80.5 mm
• Lens Aperture System: Stopless Iris Style Aperture, Drop-In Special Aperture Plates
• Closest Focusing Distance: 0.8 m
• Lens Focusing: Manual Focusing Ring, Mod 0.8 Follow Focus Gear
• Available Apertures: Stopless f1.9 to f22
• Filter Thread: 67 mm
• Lens Material: Multi-Coated Glass
• Lens Body Material: Anodized Aluminum
• Lens Family: Joseph Petzval Focus Coupled
• Mounts: Sony E, Nikon Z, Canon RF
• Price: $599

A bit of an odd focal length, the Joseph Petzval 80.5mm is designed for portrait work and tight framing. It delivers strong subject isolation with heavy swirl and compression. It uses the same manual build as the others and is especially effective when you want a more dramatic, stylized background without digital tricks.

A Look You Can’t Really Fake

These lenses are not built for perfection. They’re for people who want a shot to feel different on purpose. The swirl, the falloff, the optical weirdness are all there to help you push the image toward something more expressive. Whether it’s a dream sequence, flashback, horror scene, or something that just needs a different tone, these lenses give you that option without relying on post effects.

If you’re tired of every shot looking the same, these are worth a serious look. Personally, I’m dying to know how or if these new lenses will work with the DJI Focus Pro. Imagine having that surreal look with auto-focus, too.

More focal lengths are also on the way. Lomography says five Joseph Petzval lenses are in development, including 27 mm and 135 mm. If you’re into keeping a consistent look across a whole project, that kind of range is going to be useful.

All three lenses are available for $599 in Sony E, Nikon Z, and Canon RF mounts. Lomography is also offering a Launch Bundle that includes the 35mm, 55mm, and 80.5mm lenses, three lens pouches, three Waterhouse aperture kits, and printed materials for $1,548. That saves you $250 compared to buying them individually. Ordering is open on Lomography’s website.

Head over to Lomography’s site for more information.

Have you shot with Petzval lenses before? We’d love to hear how you’re using them and what kind of look they bring to your work. Drop your thoughts in the comments below.