the petzval helios 44-2 modification

No don't panic.  I haven't found some way of harnessing the power of the sun.  Well, not yet anyway.  I'll do that next week after I've painted the kitchen...

You may remember last year I bought a Helios lens - a 58mm f2 model rather confusingly called the 44-2.  Anyway, I bought it because of its legendary swirly background blur (or bokeh) bit was never really happy with the results I was getting (they weren't extreme enough for me!).  But a little bit of online research revealed what is called the Petzval modification.

I don't know if Petzval is a person, a place or some sort of massage technique, but what I do know is that simply be reversing the front element on my lens the swirly bokeh is cranked up to eleven!  I mean, just look at these:

Both images were shot using my Nikon Z6 and a Pholsy M42 to Z-mount adapter.  Of course, there's also a video for you to watch isn't there!