Alex Cremers

Hence my Pentacon 29mm 2.8 recommandation! You can easily find one for 20 Euro. The Flektagon is indeed a little bit pricey but does the Meike (I'm waiting for the Meike 35mm 1.7 as we speak but customs got a hold of it) do macro?

All macro lenses are sharp. Look out for fast ones. The Vivitar 55mm 2.8 or the Vivitar 90mm 2.8 are good options. Nice to handle, good build quality, good IQ, 1:1 macro, affordable ...

The swirl is strong with these ones. Good colors, but unlike the one with the bird, the 'in focus' part is a bit unsure for me. You can see that these lenses are really designed for one particular thing and that is portraiture.

An adapter with aperture?

Is that with a 16mm? I've never seen anything like it! My first reaction was 60mm or the 90mm!

Hey, you already have a swirl and the center of the photo looks kind of sharp. I presume you are using the widest aperture plate here? Now that I see that photo of the two versions, you're right, the black one does look cheap indeed. Won't the brass one age like the original? I love the patina of those 100-year-old brass lenses. It looks better to me than the glossy new ones.

By itself, the brass version is beautiful but mounted on a black body, such as the X-T1, I think I would prefer the black edition. Have you already taken some pictures with it?

Most people do it with a Helios 44 58mm 2.0 and those can be found cheap. You can even get modified Helios 44 lenses that do the effect in overdrive. I've got two normal Helios 44 lenses but I never managed to take a decent photo that features a good swirl. You're right, the conditions have to be perfect. I've seen shots taken wide open with the Twist 60 and then you see that only the center is clear and sharp but everything else is strangely blurry or vague (without being swirly - not very pretty).

You could be right. Her other Twist 60 photos are taken with the Nikon D700 and the level of swirl is exactly the same.

A search on flickr is also very informative. Here's the Twist 60 on a X-T1: https://www.flickr.com/photos/anarosenberg/30752119462/in/photolist-GaFge1-GpFHdm-GrYZEn-FwwjQs-NRsDJf/

Sorry, it's 184 Euro for only the optical element. Because I have the Composer II, I only look at the prices for the optics.

I have a Lens Turbo II focal reducer (EOS-Fuji). It is true that the characteristics of Lensbaby lenses on a APS-C sensor are less pronounced with a regular adaptor but they are definitely still there. The nice thing about also having a focal reducer adaptor is that you have more options. 300 Euro? There's a shop in my city (in Belgium) that sells them for about 180 Euro!

I have a Lensbaby Composer II (the lens holder) for Canon EOS and adaptors that go from EOS to Fuji. If I want the Twist 60, I just need buy the optic. I already have the Sweet 35 and the Edge 50. Not sure about getting the Twist 60 since I don't really do portraits.

Lensbaby's alternative for the Petzval is the Twist 60. It's a 60mm f2.5

Optically, the Jena Flektagon 35mm 2.4 is a very good lens, whether it's used with a normal adapter or with a speed booster. Surprisingly good sharpness for a vintage 35mm lens and it has the ability to get really close to the subject. However, its weakness is that it can have sticky aperture blades. Many Flektagons suffer from it, including mine. An alternative would be the Pentacon 29mm 2.8, which is much cheaper, certainly when you live in Europe. X-T1/Pentacon 29mm 2.8/and probably Lens Turbo II X-T1/Flektogon 35mm 2.4/normal adapter