Archive for the ‘lensbaby’ Category
4October2009
Warehouse Door and Lamp. Single Glass Optic f/4, Lensbaby Composer.
Posted by Rob_Nunn under: lensbaby; reviews.
Warehouse Door and Lamp. Single Glass Optic f/4, Lensbaby Composer., originally uploaded by scalespeeder.
It’s hard to describe the sheer variety of looks you can get with the Lensbaby Composer. You’ve got the variable sweet-spot, different apertures to play with, and the ace-in-the-hole, the Optic Swap System.
Quite simply, you can change the glass inside your Lensbaby Composer lens. Today I’ve moved onto the Single Glass Optic, as used in the original Lensbabies – not as sharp as the Double Glass Optic, and less blurred than the Plastic Optic.
So, with the Composer on the front of my Canon Eos 350d / Digital Rebel XT, I headed off to see what I could see!
I’ve chosen to process my images through to Black and White with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro. It’s not that I don’t like shooting in colour, the reverse is true, but that (as happens too often in Gosport) the light was very grey today. Overcast skies can make everything look drab, and I think that a b&w conversion can lift the images a little.
The Lensbaby Single Glass Optic, used here at f/4, sits in a nice place between the Double Glass and the Plastic Optic. The images have an overall softness that isn’t distracting, and the transition to from sharp to blurred is quite subtle.
I took these shots in and around the Explosion! Museum in Gosport, Hants, UK, and by Forton Lake. I have a thing for bricks, and I definitely like to have the Spinnaker Tower in at least one photograph from a set!
Cheers, Rob.
3October2009
Pier Hut. Plastic Optic, f/4, Lensbaby Composer
Posted by Rob_Nunn under: lensbaby; reviews.
Having experimented with the Double Glass and Pinhole Optic, today I slipped the Plastic Optic into my Lensbaby Composer and headed out on my “go-to” Photowalk – Fort Brockhurst to Priddys Hard.
The plastic optic gives an overall softer feel, reminiscent of Holgas, Dianas and kids cameras. You still get the fall off from the sweet spot in blur / softness, but the sweet spot itself isn’t as sharp as on the Double Optic.
Unfortunately the light was very grey and flat – typical overcast English Weather. I was hoping for some Sunshine to bring out the best in the Plastic Optic, but I think I did OK and I’m sure we’ll have some bright-crisp weather to look forward to as the Autumn draws on.
I did a little practice in our Garden with the Lensbaby Plastic Optic before I went out, trying different apertures to get one that was a good compromise between overall softness and the look I wanted. I found that f/4 looked promising, and that’s the f-stop I used for all these photo’s.
Post processing was done in Adobe Camera Raw, where I pumped up the contrast, then the Black and Whites were worked on in Nik Silver Efex Pro. The vignettes you see are artificial enhancements made in the Nik software, I like the way they add a vintage feel to the images.
I have to say that I really like the Lensbaby Composer Plastic Optic. The shots are pinhole-like, without the complication of bringing a tripod along and using long exposures.
Another winner for the Lensbaby Composer and my Canon Eos 350d / Digital Rebel XT.
Thanks, Rob.
29September2009
Old Warehouse. Pinhole (f/177), 0.6x Wide Angle Converter, Lensbaby Composer.
Posted by Rob_Nunn under: lensbaby.
Old Warehouse. Pinhole (f/177), 0.6x Wide Angle Converter, Lensbaby Composer., originally uploaded by scalespeeder.
(Sound of Rob rubbing his hands together in glee.)
Well, here it is, what I’ve been wanting to try for ages – Pinhole Photography, and the Lensbaby composer makes it easy with the optic-swap system. Simply pop out the glass optic, and drop in the Pinhole / Zone Plate Optic and you’re good to go.
Pinhole Photography is so cool because you’re not using a glass lens to take the photograph. You’re using a hole. Thats right, a hole! By stamping an incredibly small hole in a piece of metal, and putting it in front of your camera, you can take these dreamy, old-fashioned shots, with very long exposures, massive depth of field, and a unique soft look.
By adding the 0.6x Wide Angle / Macro Converter you’ve got a very interesting tool in your hands, and I was surprised at how easy it was to use.
You’ve got to use a tripod – Pinhole Photography requires long exposures, and I turned “Mirror Lock-Up” on my 350d, and used my remote shutter release, not forgetting to turn “Long Exposure Noise Reduction” on too. Another tip is to remember to cover the view-finder before and during taking the shots, otherwise light will leak in and corrupt the exposure setting, and spoil the exposure itself. Your camera may have a slider to do this for you, or you’ll find a rubber cover on your original camera strap. Or just use your finger.
The trickiest thing is composing your shots. If you’re not using the Wide-Angle Converter, you can flick the slider inside the Optic to the Zone-Plate setting, where’s there’s just enough light to see through the view-finder. If you’ve got the converter attached it’s a case of roughly lining up the shot, taking a test image and recomposing, or you could take the Lensbaby off and replace it with another lens, compose, then put the Lensbaby back on. I just guessed and recomposed after I had seen the shots on the back of my camera.
I was shooting in quite bright conditions, so I set my camera to Aperture Priority, and let the camera work out the exposure. This works on exposures up to 30 seconds. In darker light you’ve either got to increase your ISO or use a light-meter to work out the exposure. (I’ll do a post on this a bit later).
One thing you’ve got to watch out for is dust on your sensor, and any glass in front of the Pinhole. A f/177 the depth of field is large enough to make every speck of dust show up, so I had to spend quite a bit of time cleaning up the photographs in Photoshop, using the Spot-Healing Brush and the Clone Stamp Tool. All the black and whites were processed using Nik’s excellent Silver Efex Pro.
Cheers, Rob.
29September2009
Fort Brockhurst, Lensbaby Composer, Double Glass Optic, f2.8
Posted by Rob_Nunn under: lensbaby.
Entrance To Fort Brockhurst. Lensbaby Composer, Double Glass Optic, f2.8, originally uploaded by scalespeeder.
At last I’ve got out during the day (well, late afternoon) to shoot with my Canon EOS 350d / Rebel XT and my Lensbaby Composer. This time I popped the f2.8 aperture ring into the Double-Glass Optic, and headed off to Fort Brockhurst.
All the black and white photographs you see here have been processed in Photoshop and converted to black and white with Nik’s Silver Efex Pro.
I’m starting to really get to know the Lensbaby Composer now – manual focusing is easier, as is my perception of where the sharp “sweet spot” is in the frame.
The f2.8 Aperture Ring gives a nice strong “Lensbaby” look, while the Double Glass Optic keep things relatively sharp in the middle (or wherever you decide to swivel the middle to!)
The amount, and type of blur is also dependant on your distance to the subject, I tried to find a subject where I could really focus past some foreground interest to see what would happen.
I’m really starting to love the Lensbaby Composer. The possibilities, even when “just” using the Double Glass Optic and different apertures, are astounding.
Cheers, Rob.
22September2009
Lensbaby Composer Video Review – Optic Swap System & Wide Angle / Macro Converter
Posted by Rob_Nunn under: lensbaby; reviews.
What a cool system! One lens, five different “optic options” – Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic Optic, Pinhole and Zone Plate.
When you first get hold of a Lensbaby Composer it’s hard to decide where to start, there’s so many creative possibilities, it’s like having a band new camera and a set of lenses all rolled into one!
Check out the shots of some Lensbaby Experts, at Lensbaby.com.
Cheers, Rob.
