PhotographyBLOG Review: Lensbaby

#1 Barbara

ok, I ordered it - even though the site crashed....I think too many people hit it at once. Can't wait to try it out.

12:06 am - Saturday, April 17, 2004

#2 Adam Fields

I've been playing with one of these for about 6 weeks (I'm not a full-time photographer). Focusing is hard, but rewarding when you get it right!

Some lensbaby shots of my friend Tristan's bluegrass gig at the Rodeo Bar here in NYC:

http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8755_RJ
http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8756_RJ
http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8757_RJ
http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8758_RJ
http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8759_RJ
http://www.aquick.org/gallery/rodeo_bar_20040415/CRW_8760_RJ

3:36 am - Saturday, April 17, 2004

#3 Snapper

What a load of junk! You can get the same effect from a cheap throw away or toy camera. Is this a late April fool?
Those test shots are pure s**t.

6:41 pm - Monday, April 19, 2004

#4 Barbara

Snapper, anything that sparks a fresh viewpoint when we look through the lens is a positive activity. It provides a stepping stone to a new level of creativity. Perhaps you need a fresh point of view and a little less anger.

10:45 pm - Monday, April 19, 2004

#5 K H

Hey Mark

Interesting review. Would you be able to describe the optics? E.g., no. of elements, plastic or glass?

Thanks!

K H

12:33 am - Tuesday, April 20, 2004

#6 Mark Goldstein

I thin the optics are glass but I'm not sure about the number of elements - I'll check with the Lensbaby team. One thing that I forgot to mention in my review is that the field of view is equivalent to a 50mm lens.

11:12 am - Tuesday, April 20, 2004

#7 Bill Cardwell

found your review a bit long-winded for such a simple item, but I agree it seems to be fun to use.

4:09 pm - Saturday, April 24, 2004

#8 Dawn

Thanks for the review! I just got a Lensbaby and I love it. People on other forums have been saying it's not worth it because you can do it in photoshop, but I disagree. It would not be easy to get these efects in photoshop,and I find that just walking around with the Lensbaby on makes me look at the world differently. It's a fun toy besides being an artistic tool.

6:44 pm - Sunday, May 9, 2004

#9 Mark Goldstein

The Lensbaby does seem to be one of those things that completely divides opinion - you either love or hate it, you either think it's a great investment or a waste of money, and so on.

10:07 am - Monday, May 10, 2004

#10 Dievee

Thanks Mark,

I fully agree on the five stars, received mine 2 days ago and I really love it. The only thing that I miss compared to my Holga are the light leaks but that will be a quite impossible thing with digital as we have to keep dust away from the ccd. Great review, thanks. If interested you can see some results of my lensbaby here: http://www.pbase.com/dievee/an_experiment
all those on the first page and a few on the second, the others are from experiments with loupes, large format camera lenses etc.

With kind regards,

Dirk

10:34 pm - Thursday, June 10, 2004

#11 Mark Goldstein

Those samples look a lot better than mine!

7:24 pm - Friday, June 11, 2004

#12 Claire

I have just ordered one of these and I hope to have some fun with it.

Most of my work is portraiture so it will be interesting to see what new angles we can find using this lens.

10:15 pm - Tuesday, August 17, 2004

#13 Perez

I´m a proud Holga owner. It´s interesting to see how you are trying to transform your thousend dollar cam into a 20 dollar camera.
Very nice effort. I would love to make my Holga magically digital, since i do not have a scanner.
The results are not quite what i get with my holga, though.

11:01 pm - Wednesday, August 18, 2004

#14 Mark Goldstein

The results are not quite what you'd get with your holga, but they are pretty close!

7:50 am - Thursday, August 19, 2004