THE LOOK of early portrait lenses

What is the Petzval design and what makes it extremely unique? Essentially a swirling effect in the out of focus areas of the lens.

Petzval lenses were designed in 1830 when exposure times were up to 30 minutes in daylight. A lens suitable for photographing portraits of people was needed. So the Petzval lens was designed to be faster than the earlier Chevallier designs, but it traded off having a corrected field curvature. This is an interesting lens that has some interesting "swirling effects" in the bokeh areas.

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Ted Forbes
The Art of Photography
2830 S. Hulen, Studio 133
Fort Worth, TX 76109
US of A

[Webpromotions]

Perfect timing. I'm just starting to build an 8x10 Wetplate camera and was actually looking at original Petzel lenses last night. Many, many thanks for explaining characteristics of 'portrait' lenses.

[paulstillwell]

Love these lenses and will have to take a look at them! When I switched to the Fuji X-T3 all of a sudden I discovered the magic of older "vintage" lenses. Not only are they less expensive, when I shoot the same image with "same" focal length on both a modern and a vintage lens I tend to prefer the image made with the vintage lens. This whole thing led me back to film - first in 35mm then medium format, and now I have begun large format 4x5 and I am looking for a decent, not too expensive, Petzval for that :-)

[stefanhansen]

I'm back to photography after a hiatus, and your videos are still the best.

[rhondamoore]

Beautiful lenses. I think they would be a lot of fun to use.

[PatrickBorel]

Hey Ted, I could really feel your fascination and excitement for such lenses, well done. Quite a contrast to conventional modern digital fotography, yes, creativity does not necessarily require perfection.

[mlk]

I love that this company is doing this!

[fedvvvv]

I love these lenses. So happy Lomography came out with these despite those photography snobs calling them for "hipsters". I have both the Petzval and the Daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64. My dad used to collect antique cameras so I grew up admiring these lenses and wishing I could shoot with them. Now I finally can!

I found that the Petzval's sweet spot is at f2.8 and getting your subject in focus at 2 meters. You get just enough swirly bokeh and it's sharp enough. At f2 it's a little too soft and anything past f4 is just a waste since you lose a lot of the character.

[birgitbuchart]

Thanks so much for testing them out Ted! Such a great and thorough review!

[thenickbw]

If you shoot on a mirrorless m43 or APSC camera and want to try a similar petzval look on a budget check out the fujian 35mm f1.7 I got mine years ago for $25 bucks new. It's a CCTV lens which comes with an adapter to your mount. Heavy vignetting, Not very sharp, the petzval swirly bokeh is strong and it has no lens coatings so it gives off a vintage look as well as very very flare prone in a fun way. It's a very fun playful/artsy lens at an artists budget. I definitely recommend playing around with one. Plus they are super small so its easy to include in your kit for those occasions that want to try something different. cheers!

[Bob-Horse]

I’ve seen these lenses and often wondered about trying them. I saw them quite a few years ago in the Photographers Gallery shop in London. Great video Ted.

[Gabi_and_Meredith]

I like these photography history videos. These topics attracted me to this channel years ago.

[gohb]

I own the first version of the Petzval lens, I really enjoyed shooting with it. The lens is very heavy. Love the swirly bokeh created by the lens. I used the lens for a book cover shoot.

[JDon]

That looks great. I bet it feels nice just handling that brass instrument, let alone shooting with it. Ive got an old 58mm 1.2 Minolta lens modded to fit my canon.
It has a look to it like none of my 'normal' lenses. So soft and dreamy down at 1.2

[gtcr_media]

I’m obsessed… and now that DJI has that new lidar auto focus I may need to pull the trigger on this even though I have a Helios 44-2. This is insanely beautiful and can see myself shooting a lot of things with it

[PhilKnall]

I've been interested in these for a while! Thanks for giving me a closer look. This was fun to watch! Also a bit of a throwback to your history lessons in the early days of AoP!

[gregs]

Very interesting and thanks for posting thee lenses on here. I have heard about these type of lenses but not seen them. Now you got me wanting one, maybe! I cn see having a lot of fun with one. Thanks

[alexshdvideo]

Thank you for posting. I have been experimenting with Lensbaby and soviet era Helios lenses. I think I'll get the daguerreotype Achromat 2.9/64 first. I think if someone jumps for the Limo Petzal the Bokeh Control is the one to get for all the options for a bit more than the standard version. I have heard the optics are better on the Mark II versions over the 1st. I'm also thinking of moving up from my recently acquired used Nikon D300s with my manual lenses with the focus assist (green down/box viewfinder method works pretty darn well)... but wanting to jump into mirrorless and full frame with a Nikon preferably.. (Z9 out of my range for hobby for a while..) so maybe a Z6II unless a Z6III comes out.. also running with Blackmagic Pocket Cinema 4K with cheap 0.71x focal reducer (Viltrox.. not bad but everyone says the Metabones is better) and will likely get the Metabones 0.64x focal reducer for the BMPCC4K.. would get me closer to a full field view... I'll check out your other videos and see if you have pics/footage of some of camera/lens combinations. Do you recomend the Z6II for stills/video? Z9 obviously but pricy.. or wait 6-12 months for a Z8 or Z6III. (might be longer) though getting a Z6II and use for a year and upgrade.. but yes.. I just a D300s... so I'm always waiting a long while. but looking forward to a mirrorless camera with vintage or vintage recreation lenses for stills and video.

[SatanSupimpa]

I have a lens with very similar weird field curvature, it's the Fujian 35mm f1.7. It's a c-mount CCTV lens, that also have a swirly bokeh, but not as intense as the Petzval and with some chaotic highlights. It's more like a toy lens, and can be a good entrance for someone that wants to experiment with some weirdness. It's comicaly tiny, and I paid only $25 on e-bay with free international shipping. I use it on an aps-c body with very noticeable vignette, won't cover full frame.

[BigMilan]

haha I went and impulse bought the 58mm for rf mount. I LOVE that look

[hemakesstuff]

Anyone who likes this look should check out the Helios 44-2. Good middle ground between modern and old lenses. Super cheap!!