Lensbaby has announced the Obscura, a new three-in-one lens with pinhole / zone plate / pinhole sieve optics that comes in 50mm and 16mm (pancake) options. The 50mm version is designed for Lensbaby’s optic-swap system while the 16mm version is a standalone lens.
Designed for mirrorless cameras, the Lensbaby Obscura effectively gives you three optics in one. You can select the setting you want by rotating the Obscura to the correct position.
The pinhole element is not technically a lens, but is a round hole in metal. The pinhole sieve is an array of pinholes, with the centre hole being the largest with increasingly smaller pinholes radiating away from the centre hole.
And the zone plate is a series of clear circular rings surrounding a centre hole, with each of the clear zones equaling the area of the pinhole in the centre. The zones become thinner as you move away from the centre of the zone plate.
The Lensbaby Obscura’s pinhole, zone plate and pinhole sieve elements are made of three layers of chrome, with a total thickness of 0.00014mm.
This chrome is deposited on 1.5mm thick glass and is applied with anti-reflective coating. Because the pinholes are supported by this glass, Lensbaby says you can clean the Obscura without worrying about damaging the elements.
The zone plate and pinhole sieve options produce more detail than the pinhole option. This underlying detail is surrounded by glow. Raising contrast and bumping up vibrance and/or saturation can bring a zone plate or pinhole sieve image to life.
The zone plate has a curved field of focus, creating a sweet spot while the pinhole and pinhole sieve have much similar resolving power at the corner of the image as they do in the centre.
You can read our Lensbaby Obscura review to see sample photos of the lens’s different effects.
Lensbaby Obscura price
The 16mm Lensbaby Obscura is available to buy now for $249.95 (approximately £180) while the 50mm Lensbaby Obscura is $179.95 (approximately £130) for the optic by itself or $279.95 (approximately £202) with the straight barrel housing.
Specification
- Product type: Creative lens
- Creative effect: Pinhole, Zone sieve and Zone Plate
- Focal length: 16mm or 50mm
- Format: Full-frame
- Available mounts: Optic swap (50mm) in all mounts, 50mm lens in Canon EF or Nikon F, 16mm Canon RF, Nikon Z, Sony E, Fuji X, Micro Four Thirds, L mount
- Construction: three layers of chrome on 1.5mm thick glass with an anti-reflective coating
- Focus: N/A
- Aperture range: 16mm: f/22, f/45, f/90, 50mm: f/32, f/64, f/161