Lensbaby Spark

[RustBeltRaw]

Lensbaby just released the least expensive tilt lens on the market. $80 for a tilt-only (no shift), manual-focus, fixed-aperture (f5.6), 50mm prime. It's an interesting concept, designed for quick tilt shots (something of an oxymoron, methinks). There's a ring on the front of the lens that the user pulls toward the camera body to focus, then angles relative to the body to tilt the focal plane. Quick, pretty clever, but not suited to tripod work, since it appears the be spring-loaded, so your focus and tilt will be lost when you release the ring.

Lensbaby Spark

I strongly suspect the Spark's main market will be the hipsterish Instagram fanclub crowd, but I do think it's an interesting option for walkabout photography, despite the lack of autofocus. I'm thinking about grabbing one of these, or an up-market sibling, to learn the basics of tilt-shift photography. But before that, what do you gents think of the concept? For anyone who's used Lensbaby gear, is it good stuff?

[rpcrowe]

I tried to duplicate a Lensbaby by breaking off the bottom of a Coca Cola bottle and attaching it to the camera with a plumbing rubber pipe extension.

It didn't work! The IQ was so good that no Lensbaby user would consider this combination

[Colin Southern]

I tried to duplicate a Lensbaby by breaking off the bottom of a Coca Cola bottle and attaching it to the camera with a plumbing rubber pipe extension.

It didn't work! The IQ was so good that no Lensbaby user would consider this combination

I suspected this would be the case!

You could always market it as an L-Series lens baby though! (Or better still, one that actually works!)

[RustBeltRaw]

It didn't work! The IQ was so good that no Lensbaby user would consider this combination

I was wondering about the glass quality at that price. Sounds like Lensbaby isn't exactly rocking it in that department. I'm still interested, but I'll probably just rent something for a weekend.

Thanks, gents.

[FrankMi]

If ever there is a question about how well a lens will work for you, renting one for a weekend and putting it through its paces is a smart option!

[FrankMi]

i tried to duplicate a lensbaby by breaking off the bottom of a coca cola bottle and attaching it to the camera with a plumbing rubber pipe extension.

It didn't work! The iq was so good that no lensbaby user would consider this combination:d

ROFL - acgu!