Just arrived on Kickstarter: Lomography’s first crowdfunding campaign of the year: the Ultra-Wide 17mm f/2.8 Atoll lens for Leica M-mount (as well as a few current digital mounts, too). It’s not a fisheye lens. Think more of the Voigtlander ultra-wides for Leica M-mount cameras instead.

Further details follow, but first, some gear shots:

I won’t be adding much commentary on it other than its Kickstarter price of US$399 is US$150 off the expected retail of US$599 for the first 24 hours and that deliveries will begin in August 2021. Fans of Lomography and past backers of their previous campaign will know that they always deliver and generally under-promise their delivery timescales.

…a mind-boggling closest focusing distance of 25cm /10 inches on M mount cameras and 10cm / about 4 inches (!!!) with Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E cameras

The lens has a 103º field of view with (according to Lomography) minimal distortion and strong contrast, and comes in a rangefinder coupled M-mount package and can be mounted to Canon RF/ Nikon Z/ Sony E cameras. An external viewfinder is included in each option.

The sample images below were taken on film and digital cameras follow:

Image credits (per Lomography): Jatuporn Pateepaparnee, Travis Emery Hackett

It has a mind-boggling closest focusing distance of 25cm /10 inches on M mount cameras and 10cm / about 4 inches (!!!) with Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E cameras. Full specs follow:

NameAtoll Ultra-Wide 2.8/17 Art Lens
BrandLomography
Focal Length17 mm
Format Coverage35 mm/ full-frame
Field of View103º
Lens HoodIntegrated lotus
Lens Construction13 multicoated elements, 10 groups
FocusingManual
Closest Focus Distance25cm / 10 inches (M mount)
1cm / 4 inches (Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E)

Aperture Construction8 blades, f/2.8–f/22
Aperture RingDampened
Depth of Field ScaleYes
MountM (native)
Canon RF/ Nikon Z/ Sony E (with Close-up Lens Base)
Electronic ContactsNo
M mount Rangefinder CouplingYes
M mount Frameline28mm
External Optical ViewfinderYes
MaterialsSandblasted anodized aluminum
Dimensions (including Lotus Lens Hood and Close-up Lens Base)87 mm (Canon RF) / 91 mm (Nikon Z) / 89 mm (Sony E) / ø73 mm × 79 mm (M)
Estimated Retail PriceFrom 549 USD
Delivery DateAugust 2021

What do you think? Interested? As someone who’s been tempted by the 15mm Voigtlander Heliars recently, it certainly puts a spanner in my thinking. The results look gorgeous to boot. Go check it out.

~ EM

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3 responses to “New M-mount lens from Lomography: The Atoll Ultra-Wide 17mm f/2.8 Art Lens”

  1. This lens is made in which country, please ? This is important for customer to know ! Thank you for this kind of information.

  2. I really like this lens from the pictures I’ve seen. I think Lomography has been doing lots for the film community for the past 20 years and welcome this new initiative! I have the Heliar 15mm so I didn’t back this up on Kickstarter. Not sure about the difference in definition, but what I can say is the following: The Heliar can be found for around £280 used which is a lot less than this new lens. Additionally it looks like the Heliar is much smaller mounted on the camera, and if you can get it with the external viewfinder it can make a huge difference. The viewfinder alone can cost around £100. The main advantage of this lens over the Heliar seems to be the max aperture which could come in handy. Would love to see a comparison side by side!

  3. Just one question, please : where it is made ?

 

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