Lomography Atoll Ultra-Wide 2.8/17 Art Lens

[Simone_DF]

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Lomography has just launched a campaign on Kickstarter for a new lens, the Lomography Atoll Ultra-Wide 2.8/17 Art Lens

TLDR: Available in M mount, rangefinder coupled, external viewfinder included, mfd 0,25m, and for the first 24h it's available for 399$ / 330€. 

The bad part: the hood seems not removable. Also it's a Lomo, I won't bet on corner sharpness wide open at 2.8. In fact, sample photos do not look particularly sharp, and you can see coma.  But for 330 it may be nice to have.

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[Cobram]

Maybe.

CV 15 4.5 iii is more expensive and slow but performs exceptionally. 

[jaeger]

it's funny brands claim they made art lenses, probably ultrawide-art-lens is the newest gimmick and funniest. 

be reminded, their lenses create arts, not you.  lol

[Simone_DF]

1 hour ago, Cobram said:

Maybe.

CV 15 4.5 iii is more expensive and slow but performs exceptionally. 

Agree on the 15mm, I had it and it was very good, apart from the vignetting.

But 17mm is very different compared to 15mm. 

Edited February 3, 2021 by Simone_DF

[Simone_DF]

29 minutes ago, jaeger said:

it's funny brands claim they made art lenses, probably ultrawide-art-lens is the newest gimmick and funniest. 

be reminded, their lenses create arts, not you.  lol

Sigma also has a line called Sigma Art, available also for the L mount

[Simone_DF]

Confirmed:

The lotus lens hood can not be removed and the lens is not taking round filters as the front element is too spherical.

[Ko.Fe.]

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I don't like metal hoods been not removable. And I don't like lens which can't accept filters.

I also think this focal length gives too much of distortions too often.  But some non-creative gearheads might call it as "art".

Personally, to me, 21mm is the right spot for UWA.

[Simone_DF]

Update: a Lomography rep said the lens has a 67mm thread and accepts filters.

[Simone_DF]

And now we have a MTF chart...

 

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[Ecar]

27 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Does anyone actually have this lens? I found one super cheap, mint. Looking for any sample images from anyone… (before I post mine 😊).

Yes, I have one. I even took a few pictures with it...🙄 Not too bad IIRC (the lens, not the pictures). I am currently on the road but can post when I'm back in a couple of days.

[Ecar]

On 11/1/2022 at 5:54 PM, Al Brown said:

Please do. Thanks.

Here you go. Besides a few family group pictures (which I like but won't post for privacy reasons), I could only retrieve a couple of test shots, both wide open on the M10P, pretty much SOOC (only lifted the shadows a bit). Not my favourite rendering, but it can sometimes be fun/useful to have an ultrawide fast lens in the arsenal.

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[Ecar]

10 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Thank you @Ecar, really not too bad for a cheapo f/2.8 M lens from "Central China".
It does seem to me from the first photo - how it unequally renders both the focal plane in focus and background on the left side - that your sample might be decentered.

Maybe. Or field curvature. Or whatever. As you say, it's a cheap one - I won't lose sleep over it.

[Ecar]

43 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

I have noticed you use a variety of very nice old lenses on your Leica(s), would you perhaps care to share a list of the "exotic" variety (Like Old Delft, Kern Switar, Som Berthiot etc.) that you post on the View through older glass thread? Can be private if preferred...

I'm afraid that compiling such a list for either public or private sharing would be impractical - and remind me that I suffer from acute, incurable GAS...😉

[Ecar]

39 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

You will really make me go through all the posts?

Why not? There are some great pictures in that thread (not talking about mine). Added bonus: you might spot more decentered lenses, which their owners might be grateful for😉

[Ecar]

2 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Ah, we are offended. All righty, my remark was in pure good will, something I would have been super grateful for if anyone would have pointed out to me. 

Not at all: as I wrote several times on this forum (possibly before you joined), I'm not a "proud owner". Any constructive comments or observations are always welcome. Just having a bit of fun before bed time. And it is indeed the case that I have no such complete list. Just ask questions about a specific lens and I'll answer if I can. Others may also be more qualified than me to provide input.

2 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

Anyway, thank you for your effort with samples and with the Delft thingy back then. Really appreciate it. Hope my 17/2.8 Atoll is spot on, otherwise it goes straightback. Don’t want to lose sleep over it at all ☺️.

You are welcome. As I wrote above, happy to help if I can. But building a full list of the lenses I own or have owned goes beyond the effort I'm prepared to make. I'll leave that to my children after I kick the bucket (hopefully not too soon - there are still many lenses out there I'd like to play with 😉)

[LarsHP]

On 11/7/2022 at 12:19 PM, Al Brown said:

The Lomography Atoll at close focus (0.25m), wide open at f/2.8.
It is very sharp in the centre, the edge sharpness disappears quickly due to the super strong upside-down U shape field curvature (seen on the image). If you position your elements right and use this field curvature to your advantage, you get a very nice vanishing point /\ sharpness across the frame even wide open.

Even though you probably did your best, I am unable to understand how the plane of focus bends, not even after looking at the picture. Let me ask this way:

If you put focus in the center at infinity, will the sides and corners have focus closer to the camera or beyond infinity? 

[LarsHP]

43 minutes ago, Al Brown said:

I think I have described it pretty well, it is also visible on the images... the corners go TOWARDS the camera. If it were the other way around, how would I be able to measure it beyont infinity 😊?

Let me illustrate the bend graphically. Focused at closest focus (depicted here) it bends less, focused at infinity it bends much more.

Thanks. This explains the shape of the focus plane perfectly.

Regarding how to find out if focus goes beyond infinity outside the center, you could focus at infinity on the extreme side or one of the corners, and then see where focus in the center is. If focus is closer to the camera, then you have what I call reverse field curvature. ("Reverse" since focus normally is placed shorter outside the center, just like the Atoll 17mm lens.)

As far as I can gather, this lens doesn't have floating lens element(s), so field curvature will be the same at infinity as at MFD. However, if it is quite marked, it may appear more pronounced at infinity. (When looking at the red line and comparing the focus in the image, it appears that you have exaggerated the bend?)

BTW: I expect this lens to have less field curvature on a regular mirrorless camera (Sony, Nikon Z etc.), since digital Leica M cameras has a much thinner sensor glass layer.

Edited November 8, 2022 by LarsHP