When you visit a tourist spot, it is now common to take photos as a memento of your trip. Although you can take beautiful photos with a smartphone these days, people who are particular about their photos still carry around a single-lens reflex camera. This time, we got our hands on a "slightly unusual lens" that can be attached to such a single-lens reflex camera, so we actually used it to take photos around the city of Sapporo!

Sparkling star-shaped illumination! What is a "Phantom Lens"?

If you look closely at the photo, you can see that the light is in the shape of a star. This photo was taken with the "SG-image 50mm F1.8 Phantom Lens," a unique lens that allows you to enjoy switching between four different aperture plates: star, heart, snowflake, and oval. A normal lens captures round light called "ball bokeh," but with this lens you can take slightly mysterious photos with "star bokeh" and "heart bokeh."

This lens was developed by the Chinese optical manufacturer SG-image. It is available in mounts compatible with cameras from major manufacturers such as Sony, Nikon, and Canon, and is lightweight and relatively affordable. It is the perfect lens for those who want to casually enjoy a slightly unusual style of photography.

SG-image 50mm F1.8 Phantom Lens

Star, snowflake, heart and oval aperture plates

I also tried taking photos of hearts and snowflakes!

This lens seems like it would be effective for photographing illuminations. I also tried taking pictures of hearts and snowflakes.

Snowflake

heart

When you take a photo of the illuminated cityscape at night, including the illuminations, you can get a fantastical photo that looks like something out of a storybook. This is an expression that is difficult to achieve with a smartphone, so don't you want to give it a try?