Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f/1.8 Lens Officially Announced, Price $500

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Lensbaby officially announced a new Velvet 85mm f/1.8 lens with 1:2 macro capabilities for DSLR and mirrorless cameras. Available in Canon EF, Nikon F, Sony A, Sony E, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Pentax K and Samsung NX mounts, this new Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f/1.8 lens produces a mid-20th century-inspired image quality that is well-suited to portraiture.

The US price is $499.95 and it is now available for pre-order at B&H and Adorama. Shipping is scheduled to start on July 10, 2017.

Lensbaby Velvet 85mm f/1.8 Lens Specs:

  • 85mm focal length
  • f/1.8-16 • 62mm filter
  • 1:2 Macro
  • 12 blade aperture
  • Focuses from 9.5” from front element to infinity
  • Metal lens hood included with Velvet 85 lenses for mirrorless cameras only
  • Dimensions (DSLR) 89mm at infinity to 132mm at Macro, mm diameter
  • Dimensions (mirrorless without hood) 103mm Infinity to 145mm at Macro
  • Weight ~ 530 grams

Velvet 85 is an 85mm f/1.8 SLR and Mirrorless camera lens with 1:2 macro capabilities. This lens brings the ethereal glow and crisp vintage look of Lensbaby’s popular Velvet 56 lens to photographers clamoring for a portrait-friendly 85mm focal length. Velvet 85 builds on Velvet 56’s ability to create buttery smooth skin tones with the added compression and beautiful bokeh found in high-quality 85mm lenses. Velvet 85 is a must-have for anyone looking to capture artistic soulful portraits. Shoot at bright apertures to create soft, dreamy images with underlying sharpness and detail or stop down to darker apertures to capture a classic, film-like quality in your portraits. Evoking the image style and construction quality of classic portrait lenses of the mid-20th century, Velvet 85 features the heft and smooth, dampened manual focus of these early lenses in an all-metal lens body.

Read more details and sample images at Lensbaby.