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(Updated
July 2009) Every once in a while you come across something that evokes an exclamation. Whether the exclamation is an audible “oooooh” or just that momentary inner brightening, the result is the same; your "gotta-have-it" switch has been flipped! That’s what happened when I saw the Lensbaby 2.0. (I won’t blather on about all the technical details. Go HERE if you want to read all about it.) It has no focusing ring, the aperture is set by dropping little magnetic rings into the front of the lens and the optics are intentionally mediocre. The images created using this lens are only partially in focus with blurring everywhere else and rainbow effects glinting off of any highlights. To top it off, it looks kind of silly...like it belongs on something from Fisher-Price. Why the heck would you pay $150 for that?
The simple answer is “because it's cool!”.
The glowing, ethereal
effect that the Lensbaby gives to a photo can be duplicated by someone with a
good photo editor like Photoshop or Photo-Paint,
but it takes time and a bit of skill to do it. It’s so much simpler to bend and
twist the little bellows and let the lens do the work, I’ve had my Lensbaby 2.0 for about three years now and while I didn't shoot with it as much as I would have liked, it was the go-to tool when I wanted to get a different perspective on a scene. I picked up a Sony A700 a couple of years ago and my Maxxum 7D has been doing duty as a back-up camera. While any lens can be kept on a back-up camera, I have chosen the Lensbaby for the 7D. I allows me rapid access to it and I get a lot more use out of it that way.
I have taken it on vacation, to my granddaughters birth, and out wandering in the garden. It isn't always appropriate to the scene, but when it is, it scores big! If you own a DSLR or a film SLR, the creative doors opened by the Lensbaby are well worth the price of admission. Update - April, 2009
A new arrival...The Lensbaby Composer. This model produces the
same effect as
The 2.0 is still in use. Using it is more of an art than a science and is just plain fun. Its new sibling, however, opens doors where the old Baby just wasn't tall enough to reach the knob! Below is a slideshow displaying some of the fun I have had with the Lensbabies!
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the
2.0 version, but it does it with a ball and socket assembly containing the lens
and focusing mechanism. Yes. Focusing mechanism! This model can be bent into
position, focused and locked! Studio flash photography, time exposures and even
small aperture/slow shutter shooting are now easily done with the same results
as the little bellows-based 2.0. What's more, the Composer has three optional
interchangeable lens assemblies (including one that works as a pinhole camera) that
provide additional creative paths.