Soviet spherical lenses with a round front element — known for warm color rendition and soft contrast characteristic of the Lomo look.
Technical Details
The Lomo Round Front series includes focal lengths from 35mm to 150mm with a constant aperture of T2.8-T3.5. The flange focal distance is 52mm for PL mount adaptations; they were originally designed for Soviet cameras with 45.5mm. The lenses weigh between 2.8kg (35mm) and 4.2kg (150mm) and measure 140-180mm in length. The front lens has a diameter of 95mm across all focal lengths. Characteristic features include blue lens flares, resulting from special multi-layer coating, as well as oval bokeh circles due to anamorphic compression.
History & Development
LOMO developed these lenses in 1962 for Soviet cinema as an alternative to Western CinemaScope systems from Panavision and Bausch & Lomb. Production ran until 1985, with approximately 2,000 units produced. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, many lenses found their way to the Western market. Since 2010, specialists like Iron Glass Adapters have been adapting them for modern PL mount cameras.
Practical Use in Film
Alejandro G. Iñárritu used Lomo Round Front lenses in "The Revenant" (2015) to enhance the raw wilderness atmosphere. The characteristic blue flares and soft rendering at wide apertures complemented the naturalistic available light scenes. The workflow requires de-squeezing in post-production with a de-squeeze factor of 2.0x. The shallow depth of field at T2.8 allows for strong subject isolation, while the oval bokeh circles lend the image a distinctive aesthetic.
Comparison & Alternatives
Compared to modern anamorphic lenses like the Panavision C-Series or ARRI Master Anamorphic, Lomo Round Front lenses exhibit stronger optical aberrations and less corrected distortion. While Zeiss Supreme Prime Radiance or Atlas Orion offer controlled lens flares, the Soviet lenses produce more unpredictable, organic effects. For clean-look productions, modern systems are better suited, whereas Lomo Round Front lenses remain indispensable for character-driven, artistic image looks.