Is Lomography's latest brass glass the best-looking lens of the year?
Lomography has launched a crowdfunding campaign for a brand new creative portrait lens inspired by an 11th Century scientist. The Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Control Art Lens is the thirteenth Kickstarter project from the manufacturer, and it is already on the verge of smashing its $100,000 goal (approximately £81,640 / AU$156,410).
• The best Lomography lenses enable you to get ultra creative!
The new lens is designed with inspiration from Egyptian scientist Ibn al-Haytham, and is set to become the world's first full-frame mirrorless lens fully dedicated to spherical aberration control.
Dubbed "the godfather of modern optics", al-Haytham's discovery of spherical aberrations led to the first camera obscura – and his work is still used for optical advancement today. The name Nour comes from the Arabic word for knowledge and light, another hat-tip to the scientist's contributions.
The lens targets creative portraiture, and the Nour Triplet offers a difference for the photographer with adjustable spherical aberration. The 64mm focal length – coupled with the f/2 aperture – is a creative fit for portraiture, but where this lens differs from the norm is with the unique ability to control the softness and shape of the spherical aberration.
One of the three dials on the lens enables you to switch between three different effects: Soft, Classic, and Bubble. Each offers something different to the creator; Soft allows for a dream-like soft focus on the scene, Classic is (like the name suggests) classic bokeh with more of a typical portrait lens look, and Bubble creates spherical soap bubble-like bokeh balls.
The lens also comes with specially-shaped aperture plates in order to change the shape of the bokeh and background effects. The control of contrast between the sharp and soft sections of your frame provides the ability to really make your subject pop.
The experimental lens will be available for the Sony E, Nikon Z and Canon RF mounts. Although it is designed with the past in mind, it has been designed to be intuitive to modern-day shooters. The Nour Triplet is hand-crafted and available in ionized aluminum or brass, which I have to say looks beautiful (and straight out of a photography history book).
Although niche and highly experimental, this lens offers something that others do not and that may just be what you require. Other soft focus lenses on the market include the Lensbaby Velvet range and the Canon RF 100mm f/2.8L Macro, though neither offer as much control over the dream-like effects as the Nour Triplet V 2.0/64 Bokeh Control Art Lens.
If you like the look of the lens and wish to back it, see the Kickstarter page. The prices are:
Early bird pledge black aluminum lens: $335 / £276 / AU $528
Early bird pledge brass lens: $410 / £338 / AU $646
Final retail price black aluminum lens: $449 / £370 / AU $707
Final retail price brass lens: $549 / £452 / AU $865
Editor's note: As with all crowdfunding projects, there is no guarantee that the final product will match the early depictions in the campaign – or that the final product will be completed or delivered at all. DCW does not endorse this or any other crowdfunding campaign.
If you're looking for creative cameras as well as lenses, take a look at the best Lomography cameras.
