Help on which lensbaby?

[alixwithani]

Ok so I'm looking to get a lensbaby for my Dad for Christmas, but I don't know which one to get.....he's a pretty experienced photographer, has a Nikon DSLR and at the moment he's been experimenting loads with his new macro lens, but he likes to photograph loads of other things too, landscapes, people etc.

So i'm not sure which out of the muse, macro or control freak would be best?

And also, do you need to get the macro kit to get good macro shots with the lensbaby if you're already using a macro lens?

Thank you!!

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[Derrel]

I'd probably go with the Muse model for general use. The Control Freak is somewhat fiddly to set up,and an ergonomic nightmare; its lack of success is probably why they came out with the Muse and Composer models.

I'm not sure about your question about the macro lens. Extension tubes can be used with the Lensbaby, but the working distance is very,very close since the focal length is about 50mm or so. A better solution that I have used is to use a 1.4x or 2.0x telephoto converter between the Lensbaby and the camera body--although now the Lensbaby people have their own accessory,thread-in lenses.

It's hard to give suggestions on a lens system that is designed to NOT give much sharpness; some people liked the Lensbaby 2.0 model for its two-element lens, while others like myself preferred the poorer, more-flawed quality of the single-element, uncoated Lensbaby Original model.