Unqiue lens tested: Petzval 80.5mm f/1.9 Mark II
Marc Alhadeff from SonyAlphaBlog tested this rare Petzval 80.5mm f/1.9 Mark II lens:
The Lomography Petzval 80.5mm F1.9 Mark II Bokeh Control (499 euros) is an very nice Art lens and an excellent complement to the Petzval 55mm F1.7 MkII
In general “Art lenses” have a very poor sharpness, a vintage color rendition and some re-edition of vintage lenses are sold for crazy price (Around 1000 euros for Meyer Optik Lenses)
Here Lomography has found a very good alchemy with
A superb soft and creamy background blur
A Swirly bokeh effect you can adjust
Very nice Bokeh Balls
A very good and natural color rendition
A good to excellent sharpness in the centreOf course the lens is not perfect
It is not available in E mount directly (you need an adapter) whereas the Petzval 55mm F1.7 MkII is available in E mount. Compared to it it is much bigger and heavier
It will very difficult to focus outside of the centre and only 25-35% of the image will be sharp
It is not a generalist lens you can use everyday
The Waterhouse aperture / and Bokeh control are options you will not play often withGlobally for portrait, object details (flowers..) the lens is providing superb and unique results plenty of poetry
Also for video the lens is capable of producing subtle dreamy atmosphere while retaining plenty of details on your main subject
Highly recommended