Lomography’s Revived Petzval Art Lenses

credits: Lomography

Lomography has revived its classic Petzval lens design with a modern twist, announcing the new Joseph Petzval Focus-Coupled Bokeh Control Art Lens Series. Designed for full-frame mirrorless systems, the new lineup spans five focal lengths (27mm, 35mm, 55mm, 80.5mm, and 135mm) and blends vintage optical character with modern usability. Inspired by Joseph Petzval’s 1840 portrait lens, the refreshed designs now feature mechanical bokeh controls tied to the lens’s focus ring, creating a more fluid transition of bokeh as focus shifts. Other upgrades include refined manual controls and native mirrorless mounts (Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z).

The standout feature of these lenses is the adjustable swirling bokeh, a hallmark of the Petzval look. Each lens now offers seven levels of bokeh intensity, controlled by a chrome ring near the lens mount. The swirl effect varies naturally depending on how far the subject is from the background, and thanks to the new focus-coupled system, this transition now happens smoothly during focus pulls. That’s paired with a fully de-clicked aperture ring, a 180° focus throw, and standardised 0.8 pitch gears across the series for use with follow-focus systems.

Three lenses (the 35mm f/2, 55mm f/1.7, and 80.5mm f/1.9) are available for preorder now at $499 each, while the 27mm and 135mm models are still in development. Each lens features a compact optical design, with the 35mm offering a five-element/four-group formula and the others using four-element designs. All three currently announced lenses share a 67mm filter thread. Lomography is also planning discounted multi-lens bundles for those who want to build out a full Petzval kit.

You can see full details on Lomography’s website here