I was just reading about the new Lensbabies 3G that have mechanisms allowing the user to lock the devices in any position. They look a bit like a lunar landing module, don't they? The locking device does seems like a nice convenience, but I certainly won't be rushing out to buy one.
Why? Have you ever noticed that you see people using Lensbabies to take bunches of pictures, but that you rarely see the results? This certainly has been my observation. Yes, it does look fun to use. But how many useable pictures do you really get? Especially when you consider that Lensbabies 3G cost $270 US. That's a hefty chunk of change.
So here's what I'm thinking. If you have a great shot captured with a Lensbaby, send it to me. I'll take the best of the bunch and post it as a grab shot. I'd like to be proven wrong about this. But as things stand now, I see them more as expensive toys rather than creative tools. What do you think?
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Sure it's gimmicky but it's a fun lens to play with sometimes. It's a velvia/lomo kind of feeling.
How about that one ?
http://www.generalmagic.org/gallery/index.php?album=Portfolio+2005&image=DPP07D50B07120D08.jpg
Some others:
http://www.generalmagic.org/gallery/index.php?album=Portfolio+2005&image=DPP07D50B08080B53.jpg
http://www.generalmagic.org/gallery/index.php?album=Unsorted2006&image=IMG_3962.png
Why did you ignore the comment I sent ?
I'm not sure what you're talking about Erik. We don't intentionally ignore comments here.
Oh, sorry, I guess it took time for it to appear. At least 24 hours.
Jim Heid (the iLife books author, for those that don't know him) had posted on the Lensbaby just before you asked for thoughts. Funny coincidence! There's a great photo he took outside of his home there, too.
http://www.macilife.com/index.html
From what I've read, you can make a DIY tilt/shift type hack for a DSLR a lot cheaper than for whit it would cost to buy a Lesnbaby 3G. And it could be optically superior too. For Four-Thirds DSLRs, you could use 35mm film format lenses (so you have some very high-quality lenses, like Hexanon or Rokkor), or medium format lenses (see the Carl Zeiss Planar). For APS-C DSLRs, you'll need a medium format lens. But it's basically just a rubber plunger and a cardboard backing, with a camer mount.
Making supports to lock it into place will be more tricky; but still.