Product Description

Lensbabies selective focus SLR camera lenses bring one area of your photo into sharp focus, with that sweet spot surrounded by graduated blur. You can move the sweet spot to any part of your photo by bending the flexible lens tubing.

Product Details

• Brand: Lensbabies
• Model: LB2SC
• Released on: 2006-06-12
• Dimensions: 2.25" h x 2.00" w x 2.25" l, .25 pounds

Features

• High refractive index, low dispersion, coated glass doublet allows tack sharp sweet spot
• Magnetically suspended disc aperture system allows f/2.0, f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8.0 aperture settings. All aperture settings included.
• 37 mm threads allow you to attach Lensbaby Macro Kit lenses, wide angle and telephoto conversion lenses, and other filters and accessories
• Anodized aluminum components provide an extremely durable design
• Note: Lensbaby does not communicate electronically with your camera body

From the Manufacturer
The Lensbaby 2.0 is a second-generation selective-focus SLR camera lens, bringing brighter, sharper, and faster selective focus photography to professional and avid amateur photographers. Compared to the Original Lensbaby, Lensbaby 2.0 has a greater range of aperture settings, a much sharper "sweet spot" of focus, and a new levitating magnetic aperture system that makes it a snap to change apertures.

Images taken with the Lensbaby 2.0. (Click for larger views.)

Lensbaby 2.0 and the Original Lensbaby bring one area of a photo into sharp focus, with that "sweet spot" surrounded by graduated blur, glowing highlights, and subtle prismatic color distortions. Photographers can fluidly move the sharp area around the photo by bending the flexible lens tubing.

Lensbaby 2.0 features an f2.0 aperture setting in addition to the Original Lensbaby's f2.8, f4.0, f5.6, and f8.0. With Lensbaby 2.0, a photographer can control the size of the sweet spot of sharp focus by changing the apertures. The brighter the aperture, the smaller the sweet spot of focus, and the greater the amount of graduated blurring in the photo's surrounding area.

Lensbaby 2.0 also features a coated, high-refractive-index, low-dispersion optical glass doublet instead of the singled uncoated optical glass element in the Original Lensbaby. Lensbaby 2.0's optic creates a much sweeter sweet spot of focus, which allows photographers to print large photos and see fine details like eyelashes or individual threads of fabric in the sharp area. Photographers will also find that Lensbaby 2.0 has minimal diffusion even at the f2.0 aperture setting.

Lensbaby now has two products that will appeal to a broader range of photographers. Many photographers will want to have both versions of Lensbaby in their camera bags; others will naturally find a favorite. Those who love soft-focus, diffused images will gravitate towards the Original Lensbaby, while photographers who want a brighter lens with a very sharp sweet spot of focus and minimal diffusion will favor Lensbaby 2.0.

Lensbaby 2.0 also features a levitating magnetic aperture system that makes changing apertures faster than with the Original Lensbaby, which uses a rubber gasket to hold aperture disks in place. Lensbaby 2.0 uses three shielded magnets embedded inside the optics cup to suspend metallicized plastic aperture disks just above the coated optical glass doublet. When a photographer drops an aperture disk into Lensbaby 2.0, it quickly snaps into position.

Removal is also very easy: Lensbaby provides a complimentary Cell-Klear Lenspen that the photographer inserts through the center hole in the aperture disk to lift it out.

Both Lensbaby 2.0 and the Original Lensbaby combine several vintage camera technologies in a novel, patent-pending combination. The shooter focuses a Lensbaby using the same general principle used with a bellows camera, by moving the focusing collar in and out with his or her fingertips. The photographer moves the sweet spot of focus around the picture by bending the glass optic out of a parallel position to the image capture plane, like a tilt-shift lens.

Lensbaby 2.0 Screw Mount fits older Pentax, Mamiya, Fujica, and Praktica 35mm film SLR bodies. (Note: A Lensbaby does not communicate electronically with your camera body.)

What's in the Box:
Lensbaby 2.0, velveteen lens pouch, four aperture rings and aperture ring holder, Cell-Klear Lenspen, and instructional booklet.

Customer Reviews

Lots of fun
This is great for those people who miss the selective focus aspects of the 4x5, but compact and easy enough to use on your digital or 35mm. I think the price is a little high for what you get, but that's not too uncommon these days.... I am a professional wedding/portrait photographer, and I do landscapes and wildlife on my own, andit adds a nice 'something different' to my work. I would recommend it!

What a fun lens
This lens looked to be way too much fun for $150, so I took a chance and bought one and am happy I did. It does take some practice to get the focusing down but it is fun to learn and experiment with. I have mostly L lenses and was suprised by the photo quality this lens produces. It is not in the same league as an L lens but still produces nice images. The f/stop inserts are easy to use but I did have to find a place in my camera bag to keep them. You really need to have control of your settings to get the exposure correct, but I am having lots of fun with it. The quality and having to keep up with a seperate bag of inserts is why I rate this at 4 stars but for fun it is definitely a 5.

Definitely adds fun to your photos!
I'm a huge fan of tilt shift photography and this makes it so easy- good for newbies and pros alike. I bought it to use with my Olympus e-500 and it works great! Takes a little getting used to- but once you get a hang of it - it's a lot of fun to use! I've been comparing photos I've taken with it to ones I took with a regular SLR (same shots)- and the lensbaby certainly makes an ordinary photo more interesting. It's light and fits nicely in my camera bag. Comes with a little fabric bag to store it in. Instructions are easy- but just to note- in English only. If you really want to have more fun with your photo taking- This is a great way to do it. I wish it came with a sun filter to protect the lens. Not sure if they make one for it or not.