The biggest argument against a lens that blurs edges for you is, couldn’t you do all of this in Photoshop? Yes, you could but I think of it this way, if you take pictures on the fly in colour but intend for them to be black and white, how often do you remember it when you’re transferring the pictures to post-processing?
I got a lensbaby composer and I love it for two reasons. Firstly, I have the macro kit, which means I can get so close to my subject I can practically touch it with my lens (ok, I’m 5cms away). For someone who has a limited lens kit, this is awesome! Have a look at some of the close-ups.
Secondly, after a day or two of taking photos with the lensbaby, you start imagining what images would look like with the “sweet spot” focus and blurred edges. It’s fun.
I recommend spending the extra $100 and getting the Composer instead of the Muse. It’s easier to handle and frees up your hands to press the shutter.
Let me know what you think of the photos. The baby is Aaryan Paul, a well-behaved kid my friend Neha gave birth to about seven weeks ago. The children are Natalie and Rebekah Van Dort, a couple of bouncy cousins in Pennsylvania.
Gem, do you have a double glass optic? That’s the crispness. If you have a plastic lens or something else that could be at fault? They generally have more blur-ness. My default aperture for most of these pics were 5.6, if that helps.
The only difference between the composer and 2.0 is that you can change the optics and it’s easier to use, so don’t necessarily start forking out dosh just yet!
i have a lensbaby 2.0, but the ’sweet spot’ is a lot smaller & not as sharp as in the images taken with the composer… now you’ve made me want one of these as well!