LensBaby
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If you’ve been searching for a new look for your photos, or if you’re a fan of grungy, "Holga"-type images, then the LensBaby is just the accessory for you, assuming you already own a digital SLR. Inexpensive, the LensBaby can deliver beautiful images. |
This is an example of the type of blurred, soft-focus image the LensBaby creates.
The LensBaby is available for all popular SLR lens mounts including Nikon, Canon, Pentax, Minolta, Olympus, and even a generic screw mount. The LensBaby is about 3 inches long, the bulk of which is a bellows-like, wobbly plastic section.
You focus the LensBaby by pulling the front element back toward your camera until the center of the image is in focus. A motion-blur-like defocusing will radiate outward from that center point, very similarly to zooming out while shooting a long exposure. The advantage of the LensBaby, of course, is that you don’t have to use a long exposure to get this effect, which means it’s usable in normal light.
The other advantage is that once you’ve focused, you can pivot the front element of the Lensbaby around to move the area of focus off-center, and create a more pronounced defocusing around the edges. Obviously, this is not something you can do with a normal zoom lens.
There is no communication between the LensBaby and your camera, which means that your camera lacks a certain amount of exposure control.On the 20D, the light meter continues to work which means that you can put the camera into Aperture Priority mode and still get good automatic exposure information – the LensBaby has a fixed aperture, but the camera can automatically calculate an appropriate shutter speed. However, not all cameras have light meters that will work without an attached lens, which means you’ll have to throw the camera into full manual mode and use an external meter, or calculate exposures yourself.
The LensBaby’s f5.6 aperture can be changed by removing a rubber gasket from the device and replacing it with one of the other apertures that ship with the lens. As one would expect, the f2.8 aperture yields even more defocusing, while the F8 aperture produces images with a bit more sharpness. Prying out and replacing the aperture is actually very easy, but you’ll probably find that the default 5.6 aperture is the best all-around choice.
Jack DeJohnette, through a LensBaby
It takes very little time to get comfortable with focusing the LensBaby, and you’ll quickly learn how much defocusing you can expect, and how sharp you can expect the main part of the image to be. Because you have to manually focus the LensBaby, working with it in low light can be difficult, simply because it’s hard to see if your image is focused or not. I found that working in Drive mode and shooting bursts of images while making slight movements with the LensBaby usually yielded at least one or two focused images.
The LensBaby itself is very well made and feels very sturdy. Because the front of the LensBaby is threaded, it’s very easy to attach wide angle adapters to the front of the device to get a wider field of view. The very helpful, very kind folks at LensBaby were nice enough to include a Sony wide-angle adapter with my unit. This adapter is designed for a Sony video camera or point-and-shoot digital, but works very well with the LensBaby, and provides a repsectable increase in field of view.
The LensBaby’s normal focal length.
The same image shot with a Sony wide-angle adapter on the end of the LensBaby.
Obviously, if you’re a professional photographer who’s searching for a unique "look" for a particular client, then the LensBaby’s roughed-up defocused grungy style might be just the ticket. But after shooting with the LensBaby for a few weeks, I’ve been finding that its main appeal is for street and snapshot photography. It’s not so much that it makes otherwise boring images more interesting, but that it abstracts them out into something that’s more ephemeral – something vague and passing – which is somehow more true to how we experience strangers and locations while walking down the street. (Granted, I’ve always been a fan of grungy, distressed images, so I’m probably a little pre-disposed to the LensBaby.)
If you’re thinking that you’d rather shoot clean images and distort them later in an image editor, be aware that the LensBaby is not creating a uniform, easily replicable distortion. Yes, with a lot of work you could paint custom masks and blurs that could create a look similar to the LensBaby, but it wouldn’t be nearly as fun and for $99, why not just buy the gizmo and do it automatically? Also, the LensBaby introduces other flaws and artifacts such as some chromatic aberrations and occasional smeary highlights that are not going to be achievable through simple blurs.
So why buy an expensive camera if you’re just gonna slap a grungy lens on the front of it? The reasonable explanation is because the LensBaby serves as another tool in your creative arsenal, alongside your high-quality razor-sharp lenses. But also, it’s nice to have a high-rez camera so you can print the LensBaby’s blurred, distorted, unsharp pictures out really big.
At $99, the LensBaby is the best bang-for-the-buck accessory that you’re likely to find for your SLR, be it film or digital.
Comments
3 Comments on LensBaby
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Dan Wolfgang on
Wed, 24th Nov 2004 1:58 pm
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Ben Long on
Wed, 16th Mar 2005 2:08 am
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Shawnella on
Mon, 9th May 2005 4:31 pm
LensBaby looks like a very fun toy. Though how sharp (or unsharp) is the in-focus area? Does it compare to a “normal” SLR lens; similarly, how will prints look (even just 4×6)? It’s a cool effect, particularly in the drummer photo above–would you hesitate to give him a print of the photo?
Definitely, the in-focus area is not terrifically sharp. Overall, it’s not a terribly optically sophisticated device, but that’s definitely part of its charm. (Many people have described it as a “digital Holga.”) I’ve been printing out the Jack DeJohnette picture – and several other LensBaby images – at 13 x 19″ on a Canon i9900. Because they were shot with a Canon EOS 20D, there’s plenty of resolution for a big blow-up, and they look great! The artifacts enlarge in a very pretty way. (And no, I wouldn’t hesitate to give one to J.D.)
Lensbabies now has a new lens who sharp area is very sharp. We still have the Original Lensbaby for those who love the diffusion and chromatic aberrations. Check out Lensbabies Friends on the website to see what people are doing with the Lensbabies.
enjoy!
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