Well this is a bit tasty. Camera kitsch-meister Lomography has revealed the Neptune Convertible Art Lens System, a package of fixed lenses and an adapter that allows them to be used with almost any modern digital or analogue camera.
The fixed lenses include a 35mm f3.5, a 50mm f2.8, and an 80mm f4.0, with the set coming in either black or silver, while the all-important adapter lens base is joined with a series of special aperture plates that, if desired, can sit between it and one of the front lenses.
The Neptune Convertible Art Lens System starts at $599 on Kickstarter - although there are limited numbers available at that price point - and for that financial outlay you get one lens base (you have to specify which lens base you need depending on what camera you are operating; there is no one lens base that fits every camera), the three fixed front lenses and the aforementioned special, I-want-to-get-creative, aperture plates.
Here's what Lomography says about its new system:
"By reviving and reinventing Chevalier’s convertible lens design for modern-day cameras, we’ve created an Art Lens System that will revolutionize the way you approach photography and videography. There’s no limit to the amount of new front lenses we can produce, and we’re already designing new lens components with unique effects and possible focal lengths ranging from an ultra-wide-angle 15mm to a 400mm monocular. Each new front lens will be just like the ones you can see on this page — small, handcrafted and compatible with the same lens base, meaning that you won’t have to break the bank by buying a whole new system every time you want to shoot with a new prime lens."
So there you go, if you're looking for a set of new lenses then the Neptune may very well be worth a shuft, no matter what type of camera you are currently using. There's no doubting that if the fixed lenses are good, then at $599 this system does seem to offer value for money and, despite you having to buy different lens bases, it is very cool that all three can be used with pretty much any camera.
So-hip-it-hurts Neptune image gallery
