By Angella | Leave A Comment
The amazing people over at Lensbaby sent me the Lensbaby Composer to review. When I opened the box I saw that they had also sent along the Optic Swap System. Having never used a Lensbaby before and not sure what exactly the different lens inserts did, I went straight to their website to see what I could find out. The Optic Comparison page was exactly what I needed. It takes the exact same scene and shows you how each different lens (and f/stop) changes the look of the photo.
My husband had just bought me a large bouquet of flowers a few days before and so I thought it would be a colorful scene with which to try out the Composer and the Optic Kit.
The Composer comes with a Double Glass Optic.
There are different aperture discs that you can switch to get different f/stops (f/2 through to f/22). I took the following photo using an f/stop of f/4.
The composer is flexible, in that you can move it to change where the “sweet spot” (area of focus) is. The remainder of the photo is blown out. How fun is THAT?
Another example of what can be done with the Composer & Double Glass Optic:
Photo by Fabiola Forns
Next up I tried the Single Glass Optic.
You have the same f/stops available as the Double Glass, but the photo has a bit of a hazy overall feel to it.
Pretty.
Another example of what can be done with the Composer & Single Glass Optic:
Photo by Mauro del Romano
The next lens I tried out was the Plastic Optic.
It also has the same f/stop options but is even hazier.
Fun.
Another example of what can be done with the Composer & Plastic Optic:
Photo by Lisa Smith Studios
The next lens insert I tried was the Pinhole Optic.
I had read an article about pinhole photography before and love the ethereal look of it.
The f/stop for this lens is set at f/177, so you need to use a tripod and a long shutter speed.
I like the lightness of that one.
Another example of what can be done with the Composer & Pinhole Optic:
Photo by Jerome Hart
The Pinhole Lens can be switched to be a Zone Plate Optic.
I read the wikipedia definition of Zone Plate and it was way over my head. The lens has a set f/stop of f/19 and also gives the dreamy look, albeit a little different than the others.
I like the look of that one too.
Another example of what can be done with the Composer & Zone Plate Optic:
Photo by Craig Strong
I decided to take the Lensbaby out into the yard to see what I could find.
I used the Double Glass insert, and an f/stop of f/2.
Chain:
Coffee tin:
Bucket:
Sled:
The weather is too cold for me so I headed back inside to see what else I could take with that same lens.
I laid out some crayons:
I piled up some stuffed animals:
I brought out Optimus Prime and Bumblebee:
Poor Bumblebee; he’s always in the shadow (or blur) of Optimus Prime.
I can say without a doubt that the Lensbaby is the coolest photography accessory that I have ever used.
In addition to being gracious enough to let me review this lens, the Powers That Be over at Lensbaby have a great deal for those of you reading this post…
One of you lucky Photo Bliss Readers will get $150 towards the purchase of any Lensbaby product through The Lensbaby Web Store. The winner will get a coupon code to use at the Lensbaby web store to get the discount. That is a SUPER deal, folks!
If you would like a chance to win the $150 Lensbaby Discount, leave a comment here telling us what you’d photograph with your new purchase!
On Wednesday, February 4th, a winner will be randomly selected from those who commented, and will be awarded the coupon code. You must leave a valid email in the comment form to win.
Good luck, and happy Lensbaby drooling!
____________________________________________________________________
Angella is a servant of God. She is also a Wife of One and Mom of Three. Apart from this she is a Photographer, a Writer, and a Chartered Accountant. She tries to balance it all and fails miserably. Her daily trials and tribulations are documented at www.dutchblitz.net. Brace yourselves.
ABOUT Angella
I am a Canadian wife of one, and mother of three. I am an accountant by trade and a writer and phot{read more}
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I would totally photograph everything I see! My camera would be connected to my face if I won the $150 off coupon! I love to take pictures, but I don’t have many camera accessories.
OOOH, those are great, and so much fun!!! I would take pictures of my boys and stuff around the house, and maybe some stuff at work to use on my office website!!
Best. Giveaway. Ever.
Please enter me!!!
Oh my gosh. I would take pictures of EVERYTHING. My daughter, the gardens I pass on walks, the door knob, toys, seriously this list could go on and on. WAAAAAAAANT!!!
GORGEOUS photos, Angella!
What a fun, interesting accessory!
My immediate thought went to the everyday slices of my life. Be it kids, home or the family’s favorite things, creative perspectives with ‘sweet spot’ will surely make us enjoy them more.
Maybe each family member can show their ‘sweet spot’ which will make it even more interesting and varied.
Thank you for the review.
I have the most adorable 14 month old granddaughter and she would be my primary subject. I took photography classes years ago and would love to get back into it. This would push me in the right direction for sure. Thanks Linda Buchanan
I love, love that picture of the tree…gorgeous. I would take pictures of our everyday, especially my kids. What a great giveaway!
*drooool*
Uh, sorry. I’d love to use a Lensbaby taking photos of EVERYTHING.
Oh man, that’d be sweet for street photography! Everything but one particular person out of focus. I can easily imagine all the juicy goodness.
hmmm, I would take pictures of EVERYTHING!!
wow, what a cool toy that is!! I could have so much fun with that!
Hmmm, I would love to take some abstract photos of some of the buildings in Sandton with that.
Ever since I took a break from college I took a break from photography. I’m going back this year and this would be the perfect toy to get me back into shooting.
i’d love to take pictures of some of the cool places around chicago (where i live) to see how they turned out. we live near a lot of ethnic diversity. it would be fun to make a photo journal of the places and let each one stand out individually.
Portland! That’s my city in one of those pictures!
Hurrah! for rad photographic skillz and toolz.
I would totally take pictures of my new baby boy (due end of May) as well as all the great nature spots around my house.
How much fun is THAT!!! I would have SO much fun with pics of my honey surfing!! You could do some neat water shots!
love that double glass insert. How cool!
I would photograph everything I could find. I so want a lensbaby.
I so want to win! I’ve wanted a lensbaby for so long now and could finally afford it if I had that discount!
Oh my freaking gosh, my husband’s birthday is rapidly approaching and this would be better than…than… that thing he normally wants!
I have a whole list of friends about to have babies- this would probably create really neat effects for infant shots!
I would photograph my kids and horses. I don’t have any special lenses yet for my camera so winning this would be awesome!
I would love to take pictures outside- landscapes, flowers!
What wouldn’t I photograph with this! It looks sooo cool! My two boys would be tired of pictures by the time I got through with them:)
I would love to take some pictures of silhouettes of kids playing outside.
Oh my gosh I have been wanting one of these!!! I would photograph everything and experiment.
Man, I LOVE my friend’s Lensbaby, which I borrow ALL THE TIME. Would love one of my own! I would photograph anything and everything, from my partner to the GOlden Gate Bridge!!
Boy howdy, what WOULDN’T I photograph with his thing? My primary photo targets are usually my niece and nephew. However lately, in an attempt to tolerate it, I’ve been trying to photograph our winter weather and inordinate amounts of snowfall. Winning a discount on the Lensbaby might help me appreciate more of the “beauty” in this weather and combat the winter blahs.
The composer is so very cool. If I had one, I would definitely head to the botanical garden to shoot all the colorful flowers.
Great pics!
I’d photograph the tulip that’s reaching and staring at me right now.
Awesome giveaway!!
I’d photograph my 2-yr old son when we take him to the beach for the first time this summer!
I would go to the zoo and take pictures of all the cool birds
I would photograph the streets around Regina (lame, I know). They’re framed so beautifully with trees, that I just love them.
Also? Spring is coming. I love spring. Almost as much as I love summer.
my kids, my kids and my kids
possibly also the dog.
Holy smokes… lotsa comments!
I would take uber-cool shots of wedding rings for my 2009 clients… been thinking about trying one of these Babies for some time now…
I’d definately take pics of my kids, and try some shots with flowers/winter scenary!
oops, commented on the wrong site. trying again here
i’m a dunce.
i will photograph my son and cats because i’m boring like that.
I’d photograph my dogs, natch! I’ve been dying for a Lensbaby!
What WOULDN’T I photograph with one of these? I think I would work on a series of shots of my garden this spring.
Oooh, that would be way fun to help keep my Project 365 interesting! I’m still playing around with my new camera, and I’d love to toy with those!
Everything! I love photography because it trains me to see God’s art in the everyday.
what a nifty gieaway. I’d most liely photograph my kids, and maybe some of my garden.
Ooh, I want this! I’d photograph everything!
I am in love with this kit! I am by no means a professional photographer (am boring lawyer instead) but love my Nikon. My favorite photo shots are close ups of kids faces- my kids are 7, 10 and 12 and I love taking their pictures and pictures of their friends when they are unaware and it’s so sweet to capture their expressions as thoughts go through their minds. I would definitely use the different lens and optics to play around with different shots of my kids’ faces. Please, I think I NEED this!
Have fun in California!
I’ve been lusting after the Lensbaby for some time now. Thanks for showing us all it can do! I’d dearly love to win this giveaway…
I would photograph anything I could get my hands on. What an awesome tool!! So excited!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Anything and everything! Fun!
I’d photograph my kids and dog–my number one camera targets!
I’d love to photograph animals with a lens baby. I think it would be fantastic to have the faces in focus and the rest blurred!
Oh, dear! I think everything is fair game with the Lensbaby! I’ll be crossing my fingers and toes that I will win this one.
Everything.
looks like a lot of fun! enter me
My kids and outside shots for sure! Also, we are in the midst of planting a church, so I’d use it with pics during services, like praise and worship band close up shots would look awesome with this!
I could take a photo of the inside of my sock drawer and it would look cool with the Lensbaby! I SO WANT!
I will use it in the upcoming wedding and engagement sessions I have this spring and summer. Like that power of positive thinking? I WILL use it!
Wheee!
Oooh, I would love to upgrade my “old-fashioned” LensBaby!
Architecture, children, etc. Anything. I am opening my own photo studio this year and this would be an amazing accessory. Thanks
This looks like a great giveaway. I would use it to take pictures of my family (lovely wife and two beautiful daughters) – and the artistic pictures of the activities at the teen summer camps we are involved in putting together. I would also help my wife with her scrapbooking archive with unique pictures of our lives. One way that I could contribute to her desire to provide a chronicle for our family.
I take hundreds of photographs of my flock of sheep everyday for my blog. I’d love to play around with the Lensbaby!
Thanks for the opportunity to enter.
If I had this Lensbaby, I would take it with me on vacation in April to the television show sets I am touring and get some shots of the sets with it.
I’d take a picture of myself facing a mirror taking a picture of myself standing in front of a mirror showing me taking a picture of myself…
How awesome is this? Really, really awesome! I’m doing a project this year where I take a picture a day and put it in a photo album. I’m salivating just thinking of all the cool shots I could take…
I love the picture of the people standing in the door way! how romantic! i would use the lens baby to try duplcate that!! wow..
also, i have seen them used to photograph the out doors! i have never used a lens that is f/2 and would love the chance!!! enter me!!
How fun! I’ve heart really great things about Lensbaby but have never had an opportunity to try any of their products.
Jessica
http://www.MomShots.com
What would I photograph with the Lensbaby? Probably everything!! I am a huge fan of lo-fi camera shooting, and love to play with toy cameras with plastic lenses… but all that film gets quite expensive.
I have longed for a sweet little toy to pop on my DSLR to get those great dreamy effects… and beautiful bokeh. I’d shoot all my toys and dioramas with it to add drama, and I’d take it out exploring the urban jungle, getting nice dreamy macros and street shots.
I long for a Lensbaby, I just cannot justify spending the money on one (to my wife.) If I win, she’d have to let me buy it, right???
I live in the across a river so I would definately go and photograph it.
I’d photograph life, the things around me!
I’d photograph the preparations for my upcoming wedding day in April. There are so many amazing memories that I want to capture for a lifetime. Lensbaby would let me enjoy an artistic twist.
I’d definitely go out and photograph anything, and everything in site. I’d be cautious because it’s a tad too cold out, to have my camera out for extended periods. I get nervous, but I would, without a doubt photograph everything. Family the most.
I don’t have many accessories just an extra lens, a light meter and my bag. Such an awesome give away.
I would photograph my baby boy and my dog…or maybe my baby boy with my dog.
anything and everything. probably my kids and some plants. would be totally fun.
That is radical! It reminds me of some of the features we used to do with Cokin filters years ago. I’ve been meaning to do a neon photo essay of my county, the Lensbaby would help me to get some unusual effects.
Lens Babies! I’ve tried replicating the look in PS, but I want a lens baby! I’d use it on … well, what wouldn’t I use it on? Baby fingers and toes, mom to be bellies, flowers, kid’s toys…
I’d probably start with my kids’ toys….then our stone fireplace…and one of my mom’s kitchen accessories might make a cool experiment as well.
Food. My brothers. Mom. Dad. Dog. Friends. In a word, everything.
That has to be one of the coolest and affordable things I’ve seen that I feel like I MUST have.
I’ve got a couple concerts coming up that I’d love to photograph with one of those, that or the spring melt here. Things look very interesting here as they go from white to brown to green.
I have been wantng a lensbaby for so long, but just haven’t been able to afford it. I would love to play with it and would probably take pictures of eevery single thing that crossed my path. It is just the coolest toy I can think of, oh how i want it!!!!
I would definitely photograph all 4 of my creatures (aka:kids) doing all their stuff….it looks so cool!
Oh my dear, I would be totally pumped if I won the coupon. It’s hard for me to think about only one thing that I would photograph. It’s more like, what would I not photograph? If I had to pick something though, I would probably take pictures of my favorite church located in downtown Houston.
I have read about the lensbaby before and would love to have one to play with! It’s one great tool for making the ordinary look extrordinary! And that’s exactly what I would do if I had one!!
Ohhhh, that looks like soooo much fun. I would take even more pics of my babies as well as the beutiful scenery around the CF Base that I live at. I think I would pretty much take pictures of everything if I had this. Oh, and the trip at the end of the year to Puarta Plata would be me and my camera…and probably the husband too
Ummmm… EVERYTHING! And then I would post the photos on my blog so that everyone could see the fantastic results *nudge, nudge* *wink, wink*
These pictures are awesome! I would love to be able to take picture similar to these! I would love to win a chance to be able to own one of these.
Is saying I’d photograph EVERYTHING a copout?
Seriously, I’d love to see what I could do with my flower photography with this cool gadget.
Oooohhh!! I would photograph anything and everything! It looks like a lot of fun.
The question is what wouldn’t I take pictures of. I think I would take a lot more still life shots and try it out with portraits of the girls and such. This is such an awesome give a way! Here’s hoping I win it, it would be a cool anniversary present!
I’d be taking lots of photos of new grandbaby,her nursery and all her nursery items and decor
I would be photographing food! I love to take pictures of food and this would be perfect for it!
So much we can experiment with a lensbaby. I will for sure photograph the life that passes through me with focus on the details tha make my life.
Oh wow that is cool!! I’m an avid “nature” photographer, landscapes, plants and flowers – that would be awesome for all those subjects!!
I like the Lensbaby Muse with Double Glass Optic
I have heard such wonderful things about the Lensbaby, I would love to include one in my kit.
oh lensbaby, lensbaby, won’t you be mine??
i would use you, hold you, and kiss you divine!
that’s as far as my creativity goes . . . but oh, the things i could do with a lensbaby!
i am taking design classes right now, laying out my portfolio, making mock-ups . . . and dreaming. dreaming of selling memories, laughter, emotion, vision . . . all in the form of photos. to catch, engage, and inspire.
yes. i would love a lensbaby.
wow – stupendous & amazing I would love to win one of these vouchers … it is international ?
Wow! That would be awesome!
I would LOVE to use a Lensbay to photograph series of individual trees I am studying, both in cloudy and in sunny situations. I would also look forward to seeing the effects when photographing people in my studio under controlled lighting.
I would totally take pictures of Ike the Pink Hippo.
Please include me in the contest! I would love to win a Lensbaby prize!
I would photograph my kids.
I photograph everything all day, but with this it would look better? COOL!
Well, I thought I could take photos of my self with the blurry edges in all the “right” (or rather, the “wrong”, slightly puckered) places.
heh heh
Since I bake almost every weekend I’d be able to get the most awesome photographs of my cupcakes!!! And I so badly want to take proper detailed photographs of my sons hand-painted Warhammer army…
Cool pictures! Hopefully i am not to late to enter!
I can’t wait to use it to photograph seniors!
I am traveller and photgrapher from India. I would like to mainly use the Double glass optic to capture the snow covered mountains of Himalayas, as I am traveling there in the second week of May. I also would like to capture the holy ganges during monsoon using the composer lens with the Plastic optic. Then cover Kerala festivals using the Pinhole optic.