7Artisans’ New Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9 Lens Promises Same Eye-Catching Style

7Artisans has announced the Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9, a full frame cinema lens designed for PL mount cameras and built around a deliberately unconventional optical signature. Rather than aiming for neutral rendering, the lens embraces a strong stylistic identity, producing a pronounced radial bokeh effect intended for highly expressive, story-driven filmmaking.

A Signature “Exploded Bokeh” Look

At the core of the Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9 is what 7Artisans describes as an “exploded bokeh” effect. The center of the image remains sharp while out-of-focus areas radiate outward with cone-shaped highlights, creating a sense of motion and visual tension across the frame. This effect is designed to draw the viewer’s attention directly to the subject, making it suitable for dream sequences, flashbacks, surreal transitions, and emotionally heightened moments.

According to 7Artisans, the strength and character of the effect vary with focus distance and aperture. The radial blur is strongest near T2.9 and becomes more restrained as the lens is stopped down, allowing cinematographers to fine-tune the look in camera rather than relying on post-production effects.

Full Frame Coverage and PL Mount Design

The Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9 offers full frame coverage and features a professional PL mount, positioning it squarely within the cinema production space. The lens maintains a constant T2.9 aperture for consistent exposure and is compatible with a wide range of PL mount cameras from manufacturers including ARRI, RED, Sony, Panasonic, Blackmagic Design, Canon, Kinefinity, and Z CAM.

Designed exclusively for manual operation, the Floral Bloom features a 300-degree focus rotation for precise, repeatable focus pulls. Standard 0.8 MOD cinema gears are compatible with follow focus systems and professional rigs. The lens has a minimum focusing distance of approximately 1.6 feet (0.5 meters), supporting close framing while maintaining its distinctive optical behavior.

Despite its cinema-focused design, the Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9 remains relatively compact and lightweight, weighing in at approximately 0.8 pounds (370 grams), making it suitable for handheld shooting, gimbals, and lightweight rigs. The lens features a purple metal barrel, giving it a visually distinctive appearance that reflects its character-driven intent.

Mixed Reception From Early Reviews

Early discussion around the Floral Bloom series has been mixed, particularly following coverage by PetaPixel regarding the 37mm T2.9 Floral Bloom for PL mount, with many of the criticisms raised in that review reflecting broader questions about the design philosophy behind the Floral Bloom line as a whole.

In the review and subsequent podcast, PetaPixel characterized the lens as highly restrictive due to its fixed position and the intensity of its radial bokeh effect, arguing that it limits flexibility outside very specific creative scenarios.

“I don’t like this lens,” Jordan Drake says plainly during the podcast.

Drake addressed community comments suggesting the lens had been misused, pushing back on that idea and framing the issue as one of creative control rather than technique. Jaron Schneider expanded on that point during the discussion.

“A lot of people think you’ve used it wrong. Here’s the thing the main argument is that you’re supposed to be very selective about this,” Schneider says. “I think that your stance, which is that you can’t change anything about the strength of the effect or move where it is, is exceptionally valid criticism for this.”

7Artisans Responds to the Criticism

In response to the discussion generated by the review, 7Artisans clarified in a statement to PetaPixel that the Floral Bloom lenses are intentionally designed as niche, character-driven optics rather than general-purpose cinema lenses.

“The Floral Bloom is a highly specialized artistic cinema lens intentionally designed for extreme explosive bokeh, radical blur, and dramatic flare in niche applications like dream sequences, music videos, or low light emotional close ups rather than as a general purpose optic,” a 7Artisans representative said.

According to the company, the image traits criticized in the review are central to the lens’s creative intent rather than unintended side effects.

“The image traits and bokeh you mentioned are exactly the intentional extreme vibe we aimed for, echoing some YouTube comments about that altered vision feel,” the statement continued.

7Artisans also acknowledged that the lens can feel overpowering in evenly lit or daytime environments.

“In daylight or broader scenarios, it can feel overwhelming,” the company said. “But in targeted, low light point source setups, many creators get stunning dreamlight results.”

Pricing and Availability

Now there is a new focal length in the stylized Floral Bloom lens lineup. The 7Artisans Floral Bloom 57mm T2.9 PL mount cinema lens is priced at $389, and available now through select retailers as well as the 7Artisans store.

Buy the 7Artisans 57mm T2.9 Floral Bloom Lens new on B&HBuy the 7Artisans 57mm T2.9 Floral Bloom Lens used on KEH.com

Image credits: 7Artisans