Lens designs with swirliest bokeh?

[Ole Tjugen]

One of my "weirdest" lenses is a Xenar Typ D 15omm f:3.5. It goes seriously swirly outside the circle of good definition - like when I out it on a 5x7" camera. Just like the 50mm f:3.5 lens on my FED-2 35mm camera, in fact - just that that FED lens is a tessar type, unlike the Xenar Typ D...

As an aside, I agree with those earlier posters who don't want to call it bokeh. To me also that term implies soft out-of-focus areas within the circle of good definition, this swirl is what happens outside.

[Neil Miller]

It's a lovely picture, but I think that some of the "swirliness" is due to the background vegetation moving during a long exposure. I've seen similar examples from collodion negs where the movement in open-air shots due to breeze has added to the effect of shooting almost wide-open. Sometimes the effect is enormously distracting (not in the example quoted!) and, like someone above wrote, makes you feel dizzy.

Regards,
Neil.

[jnantz]

single cell lenses harvested off of folding cameras also give swirly effects, and they are pretty cheep.
some have a simple funnel like hole they screw into which acts as an fstop to reduce abberation and give a sharp image ( as sharp an image as a folder can give you )

...without the funnel-aperture these lenses give nice swirly effects. they also make beautiful portrait lenses ( color or black and white ).

[Jason Greenberg Motamedi]

In addition to what has been written about Petzvals, Veritos, and Type D Tessars, good swirlyness comes with an appropriate background. A solid color hides aberration while a "busy" background like Kerik's leaves shows distortion best. Find yourself an appropriate lens a bit shorter than recommended, and seek ye busy backgrounds...

[moi]

mark woods: . I no longer carry Vaseline, but I do carry KY -- and it works! (Along with Fogal stockings, YSL stockings

Aren't you glad the national parks don't have a Stop and Search directive? Park Ranger "Taking pictures? Sure! What's with the KY and stockings?"

[Ole Tjugen]

Just a quick comment: The Xenar Typ D is NOT a Tessar, but a triplet. That makes quite a bit of difference!

[Frank Petronio]

It can always be "helped along" by careful application of Photoshop's Radial Blur. Not that I am suggesting any of you would ever consider doing such a thing or you might be banned from APUG.

Like I was ;-)

[Erik Gould]

I have seen it with Petzvals, and a 3.5 Xenar that I used to own. Here is an example from that lens that shows some swirlyness:

and leica summarits are known for swirlies too, but that is of course for the miniature format. what summarits show is a different effect, i think, more of a bokeh thing, or whatever. the terms give me a headache.

[Erik Gould]

darn it, i can never get the links to work right:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/egould/114330661/