PolarPro LightLeak 16mm review: This lens is so bad that it’s actually good

Modern lenses are becoming increasingly exceptional, delivering pore-level sharpness and perfectly saturated colors. Yet, this technological feat lands at a time when retro cameras are trendy and many digital photographers are editing their work to look like film. But for photographers like myself who often find themselves thinking that modern lenses have no soul, there’s another option outside of adapting a vintage lens to fit on a modern camera: The PolarPro LightLeak 16mm.

The PolarPro LightLeak 16mm is available in modern mirrorless mounts, including Sony E, Canon RF, Nikon Z, Fujifilm X, and L Mounts. But, in many ways, the LightLeak 16mm is the antithesis of a modern lens. Intentionally not sharp, the company advertises the lens with phrases like “iconic disposable camera vibe” and “filmic-style images.” The lens uses an adjustable opening to intentionally “ruin” images with a light leak and plastic optics designed for that soft filter look.

If I were to rate the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm as a modern lens, I wouldn’t rank it very highly. Very little is sharp, the aperture is narrow, and there’s no autofocus to speak of. But the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm isn’t meant to be a modern lens; it’s meant to embrace imperfection to look like an old-school disposable film camera. I think the best way to describe the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm is that it’s so bad that it’s actually good. What do I mean by that? Read on to see if this lens’ old-school style is the right fit for your work.

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Specs

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Price

The PolarPro LightLeak 16mm retails for $129.99 / £129.00 / AU$199 – the same price as the 28mm and 50mm lenses in the series. Photographers interested in getting all three optics can pick up the trio together for a slight discount compared to buying separately directly from PolarPro’s online store.

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Handling

The PolarPro LightLeak 16mm is a lens truly deserving of the term pancake. The lens measures just 24.3mm from the front of the camera for the X-Mount variation. (The other three mounts actually measure slightly smaller). I have lens rings that are smaller than this lens, which made using it on my Fujifilm X-T4 feel more like using a point-and-shoot than a mirrorless camera.

The LightLeak effect comes from a window that opens and closes to let in light. This is a grippy black ring that opens and closes by adjusting it along the brass-colored barrel. The ring also twists around, so I could change the direction of the light leak.

The 16mm lens is so small, however, that this LightLeak ring takes up most of the barrel. The 16mm felt more fiddly to adjust than the company’s 28mm and 50mm variants simply because the ring is so small.

While perhaps a bit fiddly because of the compact size, the build is rather impressive for such a cheap lens. The lens barrel is metal, making it a budget lens that doesn’t actually feel cheap.

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Performance

The LightLeak 16mm isn’t meant to dazzle in sharpness tests. In fact, I would say that the lens is designed to do the opposite of modern lenses, embracing imperfections rather than trying to fix them. In effect, that means that the LightLeak 16mm is so bad, that it’s actually good. Or, at least, it’s “good” for photographers who are searching for that retro look.

The LightLeak 16mm has intentionally soft edges designed to help the camera mimic the look of a disposable camera rather than a modern mirrorless. The edge softness on this lens is intense, like a very strong diffusion filter. At times, the edge softness reminded me of a zoom burst, both because of how strong it is and from the way that it pushes the attention to the center. I loved the look with moving subjects because the softness creates a sense of motion. I was less happy with images of static subjects, where the blurred edges felt more jarring and out of place.

Only around 20 percent of the image isn’t affected by that extreme edge blur, making the lens good for center compositions but not much use when placing the subject off-center. Even that sharper center isn’t exactly sharp by modern standards, retaining that focus on the old-school look.

Opening the light leak window will create streaks of bright light across the photo, mimicking the look of a light leak on film. These light leaks tended to take on more of a curved shape on the 16mm than the straighter leaks in the 28mm and 50mm options in the series.

The light leak itself takes on the color of the light source. I found myself wishing for a warmer light leak than what daytime sunlight created, but I was able to get an orange light leak when using a color-adjustable video light.

The other retro effect that I loved on the LightLeak 16mm is the lens flares. Direct the lens towards the sunlight, and I got dappled rainbows across the edges like this:

The LightLeak 16mm is a fixed focus, fixed aperture lens. That means there is no autofocus, but everything from about 5 feet / 1.5 meters away will be in focus.

That also means the 16mm is stuck at f/11. That’s a narrower aperture means this lens is best used in good lighting. But the whole point of the LightLeak series is to get a retro look. When I think of a retro photo, I think of film grain. So I didn’t mind taking the LightLeak 16mm out in the dark, cranking up the ISO and calling the results “charming” rather than “grainy.”

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Samples

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PolarPro LightLeak 16mm: Verdict

Charming flares, soft focus edges, rainbow sun flares – I found a lot to love about the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm. But I think what I loved the most is that, using a lens that I knew going into the shoot would be imperfect, actually felt liberating. I felt more free to explore, shedding the modern expectation of the “perfect” images that fill our feeds.

I don’t think the question should be Is the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm any good? The lens isn’t meant to be good, it’s meant to be terrible, but in a charming, retro sort of way. I think the more appropriate question to ask is this: Is the PolarPro LightLeak 16mm a gimmick?

The answer to that question depends, I think, largely on the photographer. Creatives who love the retro look, don’t care one bit about sharpness charts, and want something truly unique are going to pull the LightLeak 16mm out of their camera bag often. The soft focus look on the edges I love for shots of moving subjects, but I, personally, expect to use the LightLeak 28mm more often than the 16mm.

I also think the LightLeak lenses are a great way to repurpose an older camera. It’s silly to put a retro lens like this on a high megapixel modern camera, but I think it can breathe new life into old camera bodies in a fun way.

If you are a pixel peeper who loves sharp modern lenses, I applaud you for reading this far, but the LightLeak series isn’t for you. I also feel that the lens is more of a creative tool than one that could completely replace a traditional ultra-wide. If you are looking for an ultra-wide for every kind of shot, then the LightLeak isn’t the right choice either.

Want it? The PolarPro LightLeak 16mm is available directly from PolarPro's online store.

PolarPro LightLeak 16mm Alternatives

The PolarPro LightLeak series has a unique feature to create light leaks in-camera; there’s not much like it on the market. But the LightLeak 16mm is part of a series that also includes the 28mm and the 50mm. The 16mm has much softer edges in a tiny pancake lens. The 28mm keeps more of those edges sharp and is the better choice if you don’t want those soft edges. The 50mm, on the other hand, besides having the longest focal length, also has the longer minimum focus distance. With the 50mm, you’ll need to stand farther away for a sharp shot.

While I don’t know of any other lenses with a light leak window built in, there are other ways to simulate a light leak. The closest alternative that I’ve tried is the Lensbaby Omni system. This system of wands and prisms is designed to hold up to the lens for special effects. Some of the wands, particularly in the color expansion pack, add a color wash that looks a bit like a light leak.