Lomography is launching a Kickstarter today for a new creative portrait lens! The Nour Triplet F2.0 64mm Bokeh Control Art Lens, designed to give photographers control over spherical aberrations, was inspired by Egyptian scientist Hasan Ibn al-Haytham, an early pioneer of modern optical principles.
The lens comes in two versions, brass and black aluminium, and can be adapted to full-frame mirrorless Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony E mounts. It’s intended for creative portraiture but could be used for other applications and genres as well. Named after the Arabic name meaning “light” and “knowledge”, the Nour Triplet lens allows for control over the spherical aberrations but also comes with optional aperture plates for shaping bokeh bubbles.
“Our new lens draws inspiration from an extraordinary scientist whom you have probably never heard of, Hasan Ibn al-Haytham. Born in c. 965 CE and spending most of his life in Cairo, Egypt, he is referred to as the father of modern optics. Throughout his life, he made significant contributions to the principles of light and visual perception. Al-Haytham was the first to note the existence of spherical aberrations, which is the basis of our new Art Lens.” – Lomography
The campaign starts today and runs until November 3, 2023. Backing options start at 335 USD which is approximately 278 GBP. This will work out to be 25% savings for the early birds. Lomography aims to have the pledges delivered quickly too, with an option to deliver before December 24th, 2023.
Spherical aberration happens when the light coming through the edge of the lens focuses closer than the light coming through the centre. The controls on Lomography’s Nour Triplet lens give users three settings that alter how much the aberrations are corrected. Soft (undercorrected) results in a dreamy vibe, Classic (corrected) hits subject sharpness but maintains a blurred background, and Bubble (overcorrected) enhances the separation between subject and background, making the nature of the bokeh stand out.
Aberrations were studied by Hasan Ibn al-Haytham, also known as Alhazen. His influential book, Kitāb al-manāẓir (“Optics”), has been influential in the study of optics as we know them today. He contradicted the belief that the eyes emanate light themselves and stated that rather, the eyes receive light reflected from objects. In his writing, he studied all manner of optic principles and included laws of reflection and investigations into refraction, angles of incidence and deviation, etc. (Sources: 1,2)
At the 64mm focal length and F2.0 max aperture, Lomography notes this lens is ideal for portraits. It has a helicoid focusing mechanism and silent stopless aperture control which works well for videographers and filmmakers too. Based on the Cooke Triplet lens design, the optics include 5 multi-coated glass elements in 3 groups. The closest focusing distance is 0.6m and the filter thread measures to 55mm.
An additional bit of fun is the bokeh shape controls the Lomography has included as part of the lens package. There are six options, each one shaping bokeh in different ways. These can be easily dropped into the rear of the lens and are optional to use.
Find more information about the campaign on the Kickstarter, linked here.
Article References:
1: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6074172
2: https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ibn-al-Haytham
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