This simple lens allows for cool and creative blur effects. It’s basically just a couple of lens elements attached to plastic bellows. There a no electronics or even mechanical parts to the lens; even the aperture is set with a drop-in ring. You set the camera in manual mode, make your best guess on shutter speed (and ISO) based on the inserted aperture ring and then adjust to get best exposure (using the camera’s histogram display is helpful here).
The real fun and challenge is in focusing. This is accomplished by pushing or pulling the ring attached to the front element of the lens with your fingers. There is a ‘sweet-spot’ to the focus which can shifted to various areas of the frame by moving the front element slightly up or down or right to left. Everything outside the sweet-spot becomes progressively blurry. By angling the front element, you can produce some wild blur effects at the far edges and create a focal plane that is not parallel to the camera’s sensor.
It’s little quirky and tricky to get the hang of, but a whole lot of fun and it creates really cool images when you get the focus right. In a couple instances, it produced a weird blur in the center of the focus area that I really can’t account for. Nailing the focus definitely takes some practice. For me, the manual’s recommendation of focusing using the middle fingers on each hand felt a bit unnatural, but as I get used it, I’m finding it gives a greater level of control.
Overall, it’s neat gadget to have. It’s small, simple and light weight, so I plan to carry it regularly. However, I don’t want to over-rely on it as it can be a bit gimmicky. Check out my Lensbaby album for some example shots.
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