Lens Reviews

I’ve been writing about and playing with—emphasis on play—Lensbaby lenses since they were introduced in 2004 and ten years later they’re still coming up with new ideas. All their products, including the Medium Format 3G with "Marvin the Martian"-like antennae, have been interesting and the new Lensbaby Velvet 56 portrait lens not only looks like fun but appears to be the most practical Lensbaby product ever.

Having shot with numerous Lensbaby products over the past years I’ve almost grown accustomed to their ingenious approach to image-making tools and the equally ingenious way in which they approach product design. I do have to admit that one area in which I took less advantage than I might have was in aperture control and how that affected depth of field in my Lensbaby shots, more from laziness or simply forgetting about changing the aperture inserts as I got involved in the shoot. (For those who have not shot with Lensbaby optics you lift in and drop out, via supplied magnetic wand, the various aperture rings corresponding to the diameter of the desired aperture for the optic in use.) Now, this impediment to getting the most from the optics (admittedly, again, my own) is removed with their latest product, the Sweet 35 Optic.

We all know nature and wildlife photographers need long focal length lenses but they’re not the only ones who need a longer-than-normal lens. While the only wildlife I have photographed are the mule deer who treat my backyard like it’s their backyard, I’ve photographed a racing car from time to time and that’s when a telephoto or long zoom lens comes to the rescue.

At PMA 2007 Lensbabies introduced the medium format version of its third-generation selective focus lens for Mamiya 645 and Pentax 67 cameras. That's right kiddies, it's a new lens that's engineered for use with medium format film (remember that stuff?) cameras.

The optic in the Medium Format Lensbaby 3G produces the same effects as the optic in...

We often turn to Weird Lens Guru Mathieu Stern for interesting tips on bargain vintage lenses that that can be adapted for use with today’s modern mirrorless digital cameras. Best yet, you can often pick up some awesome glass for chump change and the adapters are very inexpensive.

Tamron just announced the 25-200mm f/2.8-5.6 Di III VXD G2 zoom lens for Sony E-mount full-frame and ASP-C sensor mirrorless cameras. Their latest lens is an amazingly portable (4.8 inches long) All-in-One zoom that features a fast starting aperture of f/2.8, provides 25mm true-wideangle coverage, and focuses as close as 6.3 inches (from sensor plane) for dramatic half-life-size macro shots.