Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8 Lens – Live on Kickstarter

Lens News

by Jeff LochFebruary 12^th, 2021

Lomography, the company that successfully launched 12 products on Kickstarter, is back on the crowdfunding platform with a new wide-angle lens: the Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8. This lens has an ultra-wide 103° field of view with well-controlled image distortion. Let’s take a closer look at it!

Lomography is not a new-comer when it comes to crowdfunding campaigns, with 12 successful campaigns behind them, including the Lomogon 32mm F/2.5 and Daguerreotype Achromat. You probably guessed it: these are not your usual lenses with strong creative effects and unique purposes. This time, they are back with the Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8, a creative wide-angle lens.

Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8 – Features

The Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8 is a wide-angle lens with a Leica M-Mount. This lens is compatible with Full-Frame mirrorless cameras, both analog and digital. However, with the right lens adapter, you can adapt it to Canon RF, Nikon Z, and Sony E Mount cameras.

All lenses are assembled by hand, and the lens design consists of thirteen multicoated elements in ten groups. According to the company, the rectilinear optic design helps minimize image distortion, which is important if you want to avoid the “fisheye effect” on such wide-angle lenses.

The aperture range goes from F/2.8 to F/22, and for filmmakers, the aperture control ring is dampened/clickless.

If you want to use the Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8 with a follow focus, you’ll have to put a follow focus gear ring. However, the focus ring has a decent 88° focus throw. The minimum focusing distance is 0.1m on Canon RF/Nikon Z/Sony E Mount cameras and 0.25m on Leica M-Mount cameras.

The lens comes with a built-in non-detachable lotus lens hood, which makes attaching a mattebox impossible. But, you can screw 67mm to the front of the lens if you need to.

Finally, the Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8 comes with an external optical viewfinder for accurate composition with analog cameras.

Price and Availability

Kickstarter prices start at $399 as an early bird backer, and the lens should start shipping in August 2021. Be fast: the crowdfunding campaign ends on Friday, March 5th at 12:00 CET.

Please be aware that this is a crowdfunding project and not a retail shop, so do your research accordingly. CineD does its best to share only the projects that look legitimate, but as with any crowdfunded campaign, there’s always the risk of the product or service never coming to fruition.

For more information, please visit the Lomography Atoll 17mm F/2.8’s Kickstarter page here.

What do you think of this new Lomography lens? Do you often use wide-angle lenses? What is your go-to wide-angle lens? Don’t hesitate to let us know in the comments below!