Customer Reviews

Original Lensbaby Canon EF Mount SLR Camera Lens (LBOC)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

There are a million different photos you can take with this lens just by moving it slightly one way or the other. This lens has provided hours of enjoyment for me and has rewarded me with interesting shots.

For 100 dollars this lens is well worth the price. You can achieve focal and blur effects that you don't get with standard lens'. This is not by any means a walk around lens this is just a very cool special effects lens.

It will take a v few minutes to get used to adjusting the lens with your left hand and then keep your hand on the lens to keep the focal point in place. The lens has a firm springy action to the there is always tension against the fingers you are using to hold to focal point. The normal focal point for the lens is about 2 feet in front of the lens. You adjust the focal point nearer then 2 feet by pushing the lens out away from the camera body. If you focal point is farther then 2 feet then you pull the lens back towards the body of the camera. Aperture changing is problematic us have to use this little pry tool to remove the aperture ring to install another one. It comes with 3 aperture rings f2.8, f4.0, f5.6 and f8.0.

If your making the choice between this and the lensbaby 2 or the lensbaby 3 i don't know that either of those lens' offer that much more the the Lensbaby original to warrant paying that much more money.

In summery don't let the fact that this lens is only 100 dollars scare you away from buying it because you think it might be cheap. It is sturdy and will produce some amazingly wonderful and unique shots.

Someone in our camera club told me "I can make the Lensbaby effect in Photoshop." But the whole point of this lens is how it makes you think about composition in the field.

You tilt it to aim at your subject and focus on your subject. The rest of the frame is progressively more blurred as its distance from the subject increases. From there it is up to the artist behind the camera to mold the impact of the whole frame on the viewer.

Overall, I like the way it makes me think about the relationship of subject to context in a frame. The trick is, the power of composition has to be there before you apply the Lensbaby.

The Lensbaby effect is not the blurriness of the background. It is the composition of the strong subject set against visually interesting by not detracting background. This you cannot do in the computer. You can only do it in the field, with or without the Lensbaby.

My uncle is a photographer, and he has made a lot of money with this little guy. I visited home this summer, and bought a Canon 40D (my first foray into SLR photography). He told me to give the Lensbaby a try. I must say my shots are nothing like his, but I do plan to get one sometime and give it a serious try.

I could see someone buy this, and easily getting fed up with it. If you don't seem to get any good shots, just keep trying, and try different things. I'm sure if you bought this little guy, you're willing to give it a good try. Just don't give up on it.

I will post a couple of pictures so you can see some first attempts. They're not great, but offer a lot of potential.

Fun lens to play with. Takes a little getting used to but it will give you some cool effects.

...that the lens does not maintain the shape you select. The photos of the lens show it bent over so I thought that it would keep it's shape but was surprised when I received it--it is like a big spring that wants to return to it's normal shape. You need to keep your hands on it to maintain the position and any slight movement will change the effect. I returned it and will be buying the 3G that will allow the shape to be locked in.