After capturing the bokeh-filled imaginations of Lomographers with the company’s first Petzval, Lomography has just released the second in its lineup: the Petzval 58mm f/1.9 Bokeh Control Art Lens. Available again for Canon EF and Nikon F mounts, this slightly longer-than-normal prime is based on the same classic Petzval optical design as before but adds a new, unique Bokeh Control Ring. This ring enables the adjustment over bokeh swirl intensity across seven distinct levels, ranging from a subtle swirliness to a surrealistic amount of blurry field curvature.
The 58mm f/1.9 shares many of the celebrated features of its 85mm brother, including the use of drop-in Waterhouse stops for adjusting the aperture from f/1.9 to f/16 in full stops. Russian optical glass is used again, too, to provide the distinct image quality with sharp central focus that slowly tapers off toward the edges, and a manual geared rack focus control permits working with subjects as close as two feet away.