Customer Reviews

Lensbaby 2.0 Contax/Yashica Mount SLR Camera Lens (LB2CX)

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is great for those people who miss the selective focus aspects of the 4x5, but compact and easy enough to use on your digital or 35mm. I think the price is a little high for what you get, but that's not too uncommon these days.... I am a professional wedding/portrait photographer, and I do landscapes and wildlife on my own, andit adds a nice 'something different' to my work. I would recommend it!

This lens looked to be way too much fun for $150, so I took a chance and bought one and am happy I did. It does take some practice to get the focusing down but it is fun to learn and experiment with. I have mostly L lenses and was suprised by the photo quality this lens produces. It is not in the same league as an L lens but still produces nice images. The f/stop inserts are easy to use but I did have to find a place in my camera bag to keep them. You really need to have control of your settings to get the exposure correct, but I am having lots of fun with it. The quality and having to keep up with a seperate bag of inserts is why I rate this at 4 stars but for fun it is definitely a 5.

I'm a huge fan of tilt shift photography and this makes it so easy- good for newbies and pros alike. I bought it to use with my Olympus e-500 and it works great! Takes a little getting used to- but once you get a hang of it - it's a lot of fun to use! I've been comparing photos I've taken with it to ones I took with a regular SLR (same shots)- and the lensbaby certainly makes an ordinary photo more interesting. It's light and fits nicely in my camera bag. Comes with a little fabric bag to store it in. Instructions are easy- but just to note- in English only. If you really want to have more fun with your photo taking- This is a great way to do it. I wish it came with a sun filter to protect the lens. Not sure if they make one for it or not.

It's only been a short while since I bought the lens baby so I've not really mastered the technique yet. I have been surprised by how much you need to practice (but maybe that's just me). Getting your subject in focus is tricky and getting the 'sweet spot' when you bend the lens is even more difficult. But I'm pleased with the couple of decent pictures I've managed to snap. It'll just take time and there are some decent web-sites out there to help out with tips and techniques.

I got this for my Canon Rebel XS DLSR. I had heard about the Lensbaby for some time, but hadn't had the chance to try it out. Since there are newer Lensbabies out, the Lensbaby 2.0 has gone WAY down in price. I got mine for $69 here at Amazon and at that price you can't go wrong at all. It the same glass doublet as the $150 MUSE. I must say that even at $150, the Lensbaby is still well worth the price. At $69, it's a no brainer.

This is a "creative" lens. It will not replace your regular lens as that is not it's purpose. It's a fun and curious. I like it because it makes normal shots turn into something spectacular. It's not as sharp as my other lens (not even the kit lens) and I don't use it all the time because it's not the type of thing you really want to overuse. I do always carry it with me whenever I go out to shot, and I usually change to the Lensbaby at some point to shoot a few interesting photos.

About ease of use: At first, ALL of my shots were blurry and messed up. It takes a while to actually get used to this lens. After some practice, some good shots began to come out. I still take a few extra shots while moving the Lensbaby just to make sure that I have choices. After getting used to it, it becomes a very easy and intuitive process. I like it a lot. Focusing by squeezing and pushing is an imperfect process, but I guess a lot of Lensbaby users don't mind having a little randomness in their shots.

I was very curious about the Composer, not only for the focusing mechanism, but also for the interchangeable optic system (easier to use and more consistent, plus changing optics gives more choices). For the extra $200, it just wasn't an option for me at the time, especially for something I wasn't sure I was going to like.

If you can still find the Lensbaby 2.0 at $69 like me, GO FOR IT. You will not regret it. If you already know you like the Lensbaby and prefer the new optic swap system, spend the extra money on the MUSE or Composer. Either way, it's a Lensbaby and you will have fun with it.

This lens is a steal at [...]!! Many people paid over [...] for one of these. I got a nice used one for [...] on ebay. My first day of playing with this thing was like learning to take pictures all over again.

First, you have to learn how to hold your camera differently. I don't do it like they show on their website. I hold my camera with my right hand in the normal position, using my left hand to bend and squish the lensbaby with two or three fingers This may seem like an awful hardship at first. Suck it up! No whining! Your fingers will get sore and your hands will shake! You will have so much fun bending the lens around, gently stretching it out when you get too close, and generally taking pointlessly beautiful artistic shots, that you won't care!

The second time you use the lens, you will probably have some grand artistic vision of exactly what you want your photo to look like. You may be disappointed. This lens is all about experimentation and spontaneity. If you want to get all precise, get the Composer. Your achy fingers will thank you for spending [...]. The control-freak looks like a royal pain.

The downside is this: You're probably going to love this thing so much you'll wish you could do more with it. You can get a few accessories for this lens, and that will keep you entertained for a little while, you will be upset about the prices though. The accessories all work with the newer model lensbabies, so they're not as value-priced as this lens. So if you're enticed by the whole concept, and excited by this review, seriously consider buying one of their new models. You might never regret purchasing this lens, and if you have a kid or a photo-buddy you'll loan them this lens when you get a newer one just to watch somebody else get hooked!

A word on quality: You really have to play with it. When you get the sweet spot focus dead on, the sharpness and detail in that spot will freak you out! The bokeh can be funky, but usually it's just a buttery soft blur. I would never in a million years use this lens with a film camera. It is imperative that you be able to see if you got the shot right immediately. 2/3 of the shots I get are not focused exactly where I thought they would be. Using Live View on my Canon 40D helps if the light is good, but when I'm in full manual mode using a soft-boxed flash, it's generally too dark to see the LCD. The LCD can fool you about where the focus point is also. My best results were all through the viewfinder.

I kept wanting to get in closer than the lens would allow, so I'll probably spring for the macro kit at [...]. The Wide/tele kit is [...], so that's getting steep. Besides, I'm a wide-angle freak anyway, so the ultra-wide is probably what I want anyway ([...]). This company is going to make tons of money, and probably even push some people towards full-bore tilt-shift photography. You can photoshop-fake some of these effects, but it's NOT THE SAME!! You really just have to try this thing and feel the joy of focusing by fingers and feeling out the shot. Your own artistic abilities may just surprise you!

If you are looking to add some fun and flair to your photos or respark your creativity, then you NEED this lens. I can't tell you anything that you can't better learn for yourself once you've got it attached to your camera, except that it's cheap (by digital photographic standards) and it's a blast. Check out my customer photos at the top of the page for this item - all of those were taken in the first 15 minutes after my Lensbaby 2.0 arrived on the doorstep today (though they were taken using the additional 0.6x macro/wide angle attachment on the lens as well - another worthy investment).

I got this lens to play with on my Canon 40D. It was difficult at first, but once I got the hang of finding the sweet spots to focus it became a fun challenge to use it on different subjects. It's even able to clearly focus on tiny things! An example taken with the Lensbaby 2.0:

[...]

If you don't know how to use your camera in complete manual mode then this won't be a great lens for you. You really need full control of the exposure in order to get good shots!

I use this lens with my Canon T1i and i love it. it takes a little getting used to and i feel a little drunk after ive been looking through it for a while but the images i've created with my Lensbabies are priceless.

The lens baby is a quality product. It does take sometime to learn how to best use it. the results are quite acceptable for such a simple tool. Amazon is convenient to use to acquire wanted/needed products.