(Credit: Jim Fisher)
Photographers with an artistic eye, as well as wedding and portrait specialists, have likely at least heard of Lensbaby over the years. After all, the company has been making its eponymous line of creative manual focus lenses for the better part of two decades. Its catalog covers a range of effects, everything from pinhole to soft focus to the sweet-spot-of-focus Lensbaby look that has become synonymous with the brand.
The company’s marquee Optic Swap system has been around since nearly the beginning. It comprises a set of lens bodies (or housings), along with optic modules that go inside them. You can mix and match elements to your heart’s content, but with three lens bodies and nearly a dozen optics to pair with them, you might have questions. We break down your options below to help you decide on the right combination for your needs.
Composer Pro II vs. Spark 2.0
Lensbaby Spark 2.0 (Credit: Jim Fisher)
One of the first things you need to decide is which lens body you want. There are two available with tilt support: the Composer Pro II and Spark 2.0. We recommend you stick with a housing that has tilt support because that opens up the option to move the focus point around with Sweet lenses or achieve the miniature effect with Edge optics. That said, some lenses work best without the tilt effect (or don’t support it at all), so Lensbaby bundles those with the Straight Body (which you can’t purchase separately).
Lens bodies are available for almost every camera system, but you need to make sure to buy the right one. They mount to your camera like any other lens. Optics drop right in and out of the front of the lens body, locking in with a bayonet-style twist.
You might also find some discontinued bodies on the used market. The Spark 2.0 is essentially a reimagined version of the original push-pull Muse, and the original Composer Pro isn’t too different from the current edition. Keep an eye out for oddballs, as well; the Lensbaby 3G and Control Freak, for instance, use setscrews to lock in tilt and focus.
The Composer Pro II uses a lockable ball-and-socket mechanism to set tilt and a ring for manual focus. The second-generation version has better build quality than the original and shouldn’t have any problems handling heavyweight optics like the Edge 80. You can lock the degree and direction of tilt with this lens and focus precisely, so it makes for a more traditional photo experience than the push-pull design of the Spark 2.0. This is the housing to get if you’re a newcomer to Lensbaby.
MSRP $399.95
The Spark 2.0 is for photographers who want to live in the moment; it’s essentially a light-proof tube with some flex. Pull the tube toward the body to focus far away, push it out to focus close, and move it to any one side to shift the sweet spot of focus. If you primarily plan to use Sweet lenses and like the Spark 2.0’s simpler operations, don’t hesitate to get it. Just know that Edge optics are heavy enough to cause the housing to droop.
MSRP $199.95
Sweet, Edge, or Something Else?
Lenses like the Double Glass II and Sweet series create a sweet spot of focus effect (Composer Pro II / Double Glass II / Canon EOS R8) (Credit: Jim Fisher)
When most folks think of the “Lensbaby look,” they are picturing the types of images that come from the Sweet family of lenses. These optics, which work well with either Spark or Composer bodies (and many older housings except the first-generation Spark), show a sharp area of focus at the center and are blurry everywhere else thanks to their curved field of focus. The Creative Bokeh and Double Glass II lenses produce photos with a similar character.
Edge lenses can create the miniature effect optically (Composer Pro II / Edge 50 / Nikon D810) (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Edge lenses take the opposite approach, with a field of focus that’s sharp from center to edge. These optics require some care and precision to use effectively, so they work best with a Composer series body. With care, you can use tilt to get the miniature effect for landscapes, as well as to play with the depth of field for macro work.
Not all Lensbaby optics work with the tilt effect, as mentioned. That’s why Lensbaby bundles Obscura, Soft Focus II, and Twist lenses with the simpler Straight Body housing.
The Straight Body is available bundled with select optics (Credit: Jim Fisher)
All current-generation Lensbaby Optic Swap lenses support 46mm threaded filters, which means you need to only deal with a single set of filters for your entire Lensbaby kit. Any third-party filters work, though Lensbaby also sells sets of Macro ($49.95) and Creative ($59.95) filters.
Newer lenses are easy to twist in and out of the body because they protrude, but older ones like the original Double Glass (right) require a tool (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Nearly all current-generation Lensbaby optics include built-in aperture control, but some older models don’t. If you plan to buy a second-hand Single Glass, Double Glass, Plastic, or Soft Focus optic, make sure to pick up a set of aperture discs. A protective lens case(Opens in a new window) comes in handy for older glass, too, because it helps lock in or unlock these old-school optics from the lens body. Newer lenses jut out enough for you to twist and grab them without an extra tool.
Optics that support bokeh plates include a wand tool and storage container, along with a set like this one (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Effects: Bokeh shapes, sweet spot of focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0
The Creative Bokeh Optic is one of the most affordable entries in the system, and the only one in the current lineup with a single-element 50mm formula. It delivers a sweet spot of focus with more color aberrations than you get with the Double Glass II. The lens has an internal aperture, meaning you can use it just like any other Sweet lens, and also includes a set of drop-in plates that change the shape of the bokeh.
MSRP $99.95
Effects: Bokeh shapes, sweet spot of focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0
The Double Glass II takes the optics from the cheaper, plastic Sweet 50 and puts them in an aluminum housing that adds support for magnetic aperture discs. Those discs let you change the shape of background highlights. The two-element 50mm lens captures a sharp center spot of focus without distracting false color, and this latest version even includes an internal aperture that adjusts the size of the sweet spot.
MSRP $199.95
Effects: Edge-to-edge focus
Best With: Composer Pro II
The Edge 35 has a moderately wide 35mm focal length and an internal aperture. Its F3.5 optics offer plenty of background blur at close focus distances (the Edge does 1:2 macros), and its angle of view suits the miniature effect for cityscapes and landscapes.
MSRP $249.95
Effects: Edge-to-edge focus
Best With: Composer Pro II
The Edge 50 offers a versatile 50mm field of view, a good fit for everyday photography, selective-focus landscapes, and macros. It works best with a Composer body and is especially suitable for portrait work in combination with a crop-sensor camera.
MSRP $224.95
Effects: Edge-to-edge focus
Best With: Composer Pro II
The Edge 80 is the biggest, most expensive lens you can get for the Optic Swap system. As such, you should use it only with Composer housings; it’s just too much for a Muse or Spark to handle. Full-frame photographers should appreciate its 80mm focal length for portraiture, while its 17-inch minimum focus distance makes it a good pick for macro work, too.
MSRP $300.00
Effects: Pinhole
Best With: Straight Body
The Obscura 50 skips optics in favor of capturing the pinhole effect. It gives you three options (pinhole, zone plate, or pinhole sieve) and works best with the Straight Body. It costs more than alternatives, but Lensbaby includes a protective glass filter for the pinholes, something generic pinhole body caps(Opens in a new window) don’t offer.
MSRP $279.95
Effects: Bokeh shapes, soft focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0, Straight Body
The Soft Focus II draws images with a soft glow, a desirable trait for portraits and flower macros. This latest iteration has the same optical character as the original but adds an internal aperture so you can control just how soft photos look. It also supports drop-in apertures, so you can add funky shapes to bokeh highlights. Lensbaby sells it with a Straight Body, but this one works just as well with the Composer or Spark housings.
MSRP $279.95
Effects: Sweet spot of focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0
The Sweet 35 is the widest-angle Lensbaby with the iconic sweet-spot-of-focus look. Like the other Sweet lenses, it trades support for drop-in bokeh discs for an in-lens aperture and does best with a lens body that offers tilt support. We especially like the Sweet 35 for APS-C camera systems because its angle shows more blur around in-focus portions of your photo than you get with the Sweet 50 or 80.
MSRP $180.00
Effects: Sweet spot of focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0
The Sweet 50 is the de facto standard Lensbaby optic for photographers with full-frame cameras. Its standard angle of view works well for everyday snaps, portraits, and close-ups, and it accomplishes the sweet spot of focus most people buying into the Lensbaby system desire. The lens includes aperture controls, but you can’t use creative bokeh plates. Step up to the Double Glass II if that’s important to you.
MSRP $119.95
Effects: Sweet spot of focus
Best With: Composer Pro II, Spark 2.0
Portrait specialists should try the Sweet 80 because its moderately telephoto focal length leads to more pleasing compression for head-and-shoulders framing. The sweet spot of focus effect simply adds some creative flair. This is also the best of the Sweet lenses for macros; it focuses as close as 22 inches for dramatic detail shots.
MSRP $199.95
Effects: Swirly bokeh
Best With: Straight Body
The Twist 60 came out at the height of the Petzval lens craze. Like others, it takes inspiration from an optical formula Joseph Petzval(Opens in a new window) created in the 19th century and produces images with swirly bokeh. The Twist 60 pairs well with full-frame cameras and works best without any tilt effects.
MSRP $279.95
Are There Any Alternatives to Lensbaby?
Lensbaby Velvet 28 (Credit: Jim Fisher)
Lensbaby occupies a pretty comfortable niche in the photographic world. No competitor has successfully mimicked the look of its Sweet lenses and the Optic Swap system is more than just a novelty, unlike Lomo’s somewhat similar Neptune Convertible Art system.
Looking away from its Optic Swap lenses, Lensbaby also sells Velvet soft focus, Sol sweet spot, and Trio 28 standalone lenses in its lineup, along with clip-on Omni creative filters. Similarly, Lomography offers a healthy range of standalone lenses with special effects and artistic character, including several under the Petzval badge.
Picking up a Lensbaby, Lomo, or other vintage-look lens can help spark your creativity, especially if you’ve been in a rut. We don’t recommend them for beginner photographers, though, because you need to be at the very least comfortable with manual focus and aperture control. You are likely to find these lenses more enjoyable once you have more experience and know what type of subjects you like to capture.
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