Lens Baby Composer Pro with Sweet 35 Optic Worth it ?

[Ratboy]

Guys i'm looking at purchasing the Lens Baby Composer Pro with the Sweet 35 Optic , i'm looking for some feedback about this lens if i could , just want to know is it worth it , or is it just a gimmick that you will get sick of using after awhile .....any comments appreciated , cheers guys thanks

 

[2fastlx]

I have the regular composer. It was fun at first but it's kind of a pain to use. I don't use it much. I've found that photoshop can do the same effects without the frustration.

In all honesty though it does work and can give some cool results.

 

[Ratboy]

Cool , i was thinking the same thing , in that you could achieve the same look in post processing ? , i may look at purchasing the regular composer as it's half the price and not all the expensive , thanks for your feedback 2fastix

 

[thetrue]

Isn't Mishele the authority on LensBaby? I would wait and see if she gets in on this one.

 

[2fastlx]

If you have a Mac there is also an app in the App Store called focus. It's only a few bucks and will do the tilt shift look.


The optics on the lensbaby are good. I just find it difficult to get the focus and sweet spot just right unless its on a tri pod and I have time to fiddle with it.

 

[Ratboy]

Cool , yes i have a mac , i will look into the app ,

I was thinking how hard it would be to focus , that's sort of why i was leaning toward the composer rather than the spark which needs you to hold the focus with your fingers, a fair bit cheaper than the composer , but i'm not real sure how the results would be ?

 

[lensbaby_service]

Hi Ratboy and 2fastlx, this is Keith from Lensbaby. You've both made some good points, and Ratboy, I think you're on the right track in choosing the Composer as a good lens for you to start with. It will definitely be easier to focus precisely with it than it would be with the Spark.

2fastlx, thanks for sending over your input. I'm glad that you like the optics and have had fun with the lens, but I'm sorry you've had trouble getting the focus and sweet spot just right. Please feel free to send an email to customerhappiness@lensbaby.com or call us at 877-536-7222. We'd love to help you master the lens. Some common techniques that tend to help with this are using smaller apertures and making sure not to tilt too far. I would recommend shooting at f5.6 or f8 to start. If you shoot wide open or at f2.8, the sweet spot would be very small and it makes it harder to focus. And sometimes, especially with a camera with a crop sensor, people tilt the lens too far and it moves the sweet spot right out of the frame. A little bit of tilt goes a long way.

I hope this helps both of you, and please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Thanks!

 

[Mike_E]

Here's one from the 50mm using a monopod



I haven't had it very long but it seems to be fun. More than trying to do it in PS anyway, moving around and seeing what works best seems to be less frustrating.