The Lomography Atoll Ultra-Wide 2.8/17 Art ($549) is a new lens that feels decidedly old school. It's an ultra-wide prime for Leica M-mount rangefinder cameras, and can be used with more mainstream mirrorless systems via a simple mechanical adapter. Its images are as classic as the design—they show lovely colors, are sharp enough for digital systems, and the M mount lets you use the lens with film cameras if you prefer. Most of Lomography's wares are made for photographers who enjoy using esoteric equipment, and the Atoll is sure to satisfy that crowd, earning it our Editors' Choice award.

A Wide-Angle View

The Atoll is a wide-angle lens; its 17mm focal length captures scenes with broad views, especially when paired with a full-frame sensor camera. It's a fully mechanical lens too, without any sort of electronics inside, so you can use it with many different types of cameras. It's entering the retail market in December, following a successful Kickstarter campaign.

The lens is compatible with M-mount rangefinder cameras from Leica without an adapter, and can be bought with a close-focus adapter for either Canon RF, Nikon Z, or Sony E for $649. If you're interested in using the Atoll with a different mirrorless system, you'll have no trouble getting an adapter—you can read our guide on lens adapters for more detail.

The Atoll feels like a wide-angle straight out of the 1970s. Optics are housed in a black anodized aluminum barrel. The lens measure 3.1 by 2.9 inches (HD), weighs about 17 ounces, supports 67mm threaded filters, and includes an integrated lotus petal lens hood. The lens cap is metal too; it's a slip-on style and has the island-inspired Atoll logo engraved on the front.

An aperture control ring is included to set the f-stop, adjustable from f/2.8 through f/22. The ring turns continuously, without any click stops. It has finger holds in two sections that fall naturally under my left thumb and index finger for handheld photography. Videographers should have no problem adding a gear to work with follow focus systems—the quiet aperture control makes it a good fit for video work. Its optical design shows no focus breathing when changing focus, another benefit for video.

Hyperfocal for Rangefinders

Focus control is manual, with rangefinder coupling down to 19.7 inches (0.5m) with my Leica M (Typ 240), and uncoupled focus to 9.8 inches (0.25m). The focus ring is well dampened, turning with enough resistance for precise control, but not to the point of being stiff. I do wish the lens had some sort of finger rest or focus tab, a common feature on rangefinder models.

The focus ring is positioned pretty close to the lens mount, enough to make it a little awkward to adjust. It's less of an issue if you're using the lens at narrower apertures, where depth of field lets you leave focus set at one position for quick snaps, but it's something you'll notice when setting the focus for close-up work.

There's a corresponding distance and depth of field scale printed on the barrel, tools that come in handy for snapshot and from-the-hip photography. Wide-angle lenses lend themselves well to hyperfocal focus, a technique where focus is set so everything from a particular distance away and beyond is in focus.

The f/5.6 hyperfocal point is marked in red, offsetting it from the rest of the text on the lens. It makes for good snapshot and street photography—everything from about 3 feet out is in focus. You can narrow the aperture for a bit more depth of field.

It's a useful design for rangefinder cameras, especially film bodies and digital models without live view. You'll want to use a shoe-mounted accessory viewfinder (included) to frame up your shots. The Atoll is big enough to block a good deal of an M camera's built-in viewfinder, and there's no rangefinder out there with a viewfinder wide enough to show 17mm frame lines. The 35mm Voigtlander Bessa R4 (long out of production) had the widest built-in viewfinder, for 21mm lenses.

Close-up focus with film rangefinders will always be guesswork, but if you're still using film today, you'll have no problem embracing the creative spirit and focus close if the mood strikes.

For more precisely framed macros, you're better off using a camera with an electronic viewfinder. I used the Visoflex EVF for close-ups with the Typ 240, and also tried the Atoll with the Sony a1 and a7R IV. It worked like any other adapted M lens with the Sonys, and netted photos that looked just as good as from the Leica.

Modern Optics With a Classic Aesthetic

Lomography's designers made a fresh 13-element/10-group optical design for the Atoll. It delivers enough resolution for use on demanding cameras—it scored well on lab tests with the 60MP a7R IV, with very good resolution at f/2.8 (4,200 lines) and excellent marks stopped down to f/5.6 (4,900 lines). Distortion is well controlled too, with just a hint of the curved barrel look. You'll note some darkening at the corners at f/2.8, but illumination evens out by f/4.

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Those are the results we expect from a 21st century lens, but the Atoll brings some 20th century character along for the ride. At wide apertures it controls flare well, even when shooting right into the sun, but you can create an arc-shaped bit of flare by placing it off-axis.

You can accentuate the effect by stopping down, centering the sun in frame, or both. And if you go all the way down to f/22, you'll get some pretty big flares in the right conditions. Landscape specialists can have some fun with this one. I wasn't able to get the Atoll to draw sunstars, though. If you love multi-point highlights, this isn't the lens for you.

The bokeh looks a bit retro, too. Defocused highlights are fairly circular and have a slightly hard-edge look, closer to that of a vintage Leica Summicron than a soap-bubble special effects lens like the Meyer Optik Trioplan.

A New Lens With an Old Soul

Lomography's line of art lenses runs the gamut in style and concept. The Atoll Ultra-Wide 2.8/17 captures photos that show strong detail on digital sensors, setting it apart from softer 19th century throwbacks like the Lomography Petzval 55mm. But it still shows plenty of character, with a bit of soft flare when working against a strong backlight, and slightly busy bokeh that bucks current trends in optical design.

The Atoll is a strong value option for Leica owners at $549, especially if you're used to paying Leica prices. It's also one of the few lenses with this angle of view that you can find with ease—both the Leica Super-Elmar-M 18mm F3.8 ASPH. and Zeiss Distagon T* 4/18 ZM are out of production.

There are some slightly wider angle 15mm options out there, including the Voigtlander 15mm Super-Wide Heliar F4.5, available for a reasonable $800, and the ultra-expensive Zeiss Distagon T* 2.8/15 ZM  ($4,750), as well as a slew of M lenses with slightly tighter, 21mm views, both new and old. We recently reviewed the Voigtlander Nokton 21mm F1.4, and like any M-mount lens you can move it between digital and film cameras.

On mirrorless digital cameras, the Atoll works like any other adapted lens. You'll want to be comfortable with manual focus and aperture control if you opt to pick up the $649 version with an adapter for your Canon RF, Nikon Z, or Sony E body. Either way, you're in for a treat if you decide to add the Atoll to your kit—we're taken enough by its photos to make it an Editors' Choice winner.