Lensbaby The Composer for Olympus four thirds mount

Phenominal Prime
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
absolutely brilliant lens! The perfect companion for my D90. This lens stays on my camera 90% of the time. If you are looking for a solid prime lens at an amazing price, this is it!

LOVE IT!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This is my second Lensbaby lens. I also own the 2.0 which takes two hands to use and does not work with the optic swap system so I purchased this as well. I love this lens. I still use the 2.0, but I thoroughly enjoy the optic swap system (available separately). Well designed and fun to use.

Stoke those creative juices…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Lensbaby is different than just about anything out there – but in a good way. For one thing, it’s retro – no electronics, purely mechanical focus – even changing aperture is a bit of an involved process. But for me, it works…forces me to think about what I’m doing, composing and focusing a little more carefully. Sure, putting the camera on “auto-pilot” has a place, but sometimes it’s nice to do it the old fashioned way.

The Composer is easier to use than many of the other Lensbaby products. It just pivots to let you put the soft focus area where you want, and then it has a conventional manual focus ring. Some cameras (including my Nikon D300 and D3) can use aperture-priority mode, or you can go full manual as you see fit.

Don’t overlook some of the attachments, including the macro lens and special effects attachments. I find that close-ups are especially cool through the Lensbaby.

As for the results, the usual measures of sharpness and optical precision aren’t really very useful, so it’s more about the creative results you get. I notice the effect is much more pronounced on the FX camera, which can be good or bad, depending on what you’re after. But for some reason, with the right subject matter, I’ve been really happy with the outcomes no matter what I do.

Highly recommended for the price.

I’m using it all the time
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It’s an awesome creative tool. I’ve got the macro accessories, and the wide angle accessory lens. It will kick up your creativity a notch. Go for it. You won’t be sorry.

Takes Practice
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is awesome. The only downside is that you better have time to play around with it because it takes some getting used to. This lens is not for people who want to just pick up their camera and take a shot. You have to train your eye to look through the viewfinder with this lens a bit more then a standard lens in manual focus. It is a ton of fun and when you hit an awesome shot you really feel like you created something cool and unique. I love how this lens is very versatile and can be changed up with a new optic or aperture disk with a shape. There is nothing else like this lens. You should read a few professional reviews to make sure you know what you are buying with this lens though because it certainly is not for everyone.

Remarkable
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Lensbaby was brilliant when it launched years ago. I loved the novel approach and when I pulled it out, it really spiked my creativity.

Now however, it’s a whole new story. What was fun has now turned serious… this is a lens I don’t just pull out once in a while. If I have my camera with me, I simply don’t leave home without it.

The Composer is now in a class all its own. In combination with the Super Wide and Macro Kit, it is a fantastic addition to any shooter’s arsenal. It should be standard issue. And, when you consider the return on investment relative to price – especially in comparison to lenses triple it’s price (if you buy everything), it’s an absolute no brainer.

Lensbaby The Composer for Canon EF mount Digital SLR Cameras

Lensbaby .42X Super Wide Angle Accessory Lens (Black)

Lensbaby Macro Kit (AMACK)

Love it
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Before I bought this lens, I thought it might be a one-trick pony. And it is. However, I really like its one trick. Sharp in the middle; blurry on the sides. I also got the macro kit and an incoming wide angle adapter. This lens is great for macro photography and some portraits. The only thing I don’t like about it is the manual exposure. With a Nikon D300, you have to set the exposure to aperture priority and the camera can’t use matrix metering. I’ve learned to adapt and now get great pictures with it.

It’s a fun, little lens.

Luv my LensBaby
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Love it. Love it. Love it. This isn’t something you’d want to shoot with every time you go out. But for creative portraits, some neat landscapes and closeups, it adds a bit of fun and creativity back into shooting.

Construction is sound. It’s easy to use. Quality product and sharp as a tack as far as I can tell.

For those days when you’re not feeling very creative . . .
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
You know those times when every picture you take seems a little flat? Maybe nothing seems worth shooting. Everything’s been shot before. How can you possibly put your stamp on the scene around you?

Well, I’m not going to say that the Composer is the magic bullet. But it does help. It makes you see things in a new way, and that’s not something you get with every new lens. Household objects, flowers in your garden, the house next door . . . the Lensbaby makes them worth photographing again.

However . . . this is not really a walk-around, shoot everything lens. It is manual focus only. I’ve had mine for about a month, and the manual focus was easier than I thought it would be to get used to, but forget photographing babies or animals with this lens unless they are sleeping. You’ll take 100 photos and one will be in focus. Also, it gets a lot harder to tell when you’ve achieved focus when you move the sweet spot out of the center of the frame.

In addition, the Composer doesn’t deal with photos that have a large dynamic range very well. It’s easy to blow out your highlights if you’re not looking at your LCD screen after each shot. However, this wasn’t a problem I encountered that much, usually only during the middle of the day.

And buy the creative aperture kit! It makes night photography so much more fun when all your out of focus lights turn into hearts or stars or snowflakes. Definitely worth the extra ten dollars.

So, to sum up. This should be your second 50mm lens, not your first. But if you have all the regular lenses you need (we’ll call those your dinner lenses), don’t skip dessert. The Lensbaby Composer is worth it.

Not cheap but lots of fun
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It definitely can’t take the place of a “typical” lens, but the Composer is a lot of fun and makes even mundane subject matter look cool. A bit of a learning curve because it’s not talking to your camera (autofocus, etc) but just play with it for a bit and you’ll get it. I definitely recommend the macro lenses (+4 and +10 are available). Great stuff!

Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Lensbaby composer is a great lens! it has the same cool Lensbaby effect as the other Lensbaby lenses, but it’s much easier to focus as it has a standard focusing ring and the sweet spot doesn’t move from where you’ve placed it. The composer is a portraitist’s, party photographer’s, and street photographer’s dream!

Perfecto!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
It’s everything I was hoping for and more. Even though you can have fun, and create spectacular images with the Composer alone, go ahead and invest in the macro kit while your at it (an extra[..]or so). You’re going to wonder why this lens doesn’t sell for [..]. It certainly could. This is high quality equipment that performs above expectations.

Great but you may want a tripod to get most of it!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I love this lens. But I feel to get the best images, I have to use a tripod. But I still love it and laugh at photoshops attempts to blur now!!!!!!

Semi-Pro lens for Professional Photographer?
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Although this lens is made out of plastic and doesn’t have USM, IS or even AF it still has few outstanding features. Soft edges and selective focus point makes this lens like no other. I use this lens every time I shoot weddings. It really makes the photo look like a dream. And yes, the quality is somewhat fuzzy especially when zoomed into, but it really doesn’t matter. These photos are spot on.

the most fun you can have bending a lens without breaking it!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Lensbaby Composer is one of their newest lenses. It’s simply a blast to use and allows you to “see” in a new way. The lenses in the system all have a limited area of focus called a “sweet spot” that increases in size as you change apertures. The blur that is inherent in the lens actually forces you to make choices in how you frame and shoot, rather than just pointing. It’s also manual focus, you have to get your eyes onto the subject and really pay attention. The composer is the first lensbaby that uses a ball and socket design for “bending”. The lens rotates on its axis, changing the “sweet spot” and also the perspective. All of the lensbaby line now comes with an optional Lensbaby Optic Kit capability as an accessory kit. The internal glass elements can be interchanged to allow even more control. The composer comes equipped with the double glass lens, for maximum sharpness and color clarity. You can very easily swap this for a single glass, or a plastic lens option,or a pinhole/zone plate. You can also purchase a Lensbaby Macro Kit (AMACK), a Lensbaby 0.6x Wide Angle/Macro Conversion Lens (AWAM6), a Lensbaby .42X Super Wide Angle Accessory Lens (Black) or Lensbaby Wide Angle Telephoto Kit as well . More than anything just TRY one on your camera, you just might find that you don’t want to take it off!

Lensbaby Review
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I received the Lensbaby Composer as a Christmas gift. This composer has the normal glass lens and comes with all the aperture discs for changing the aperture depending on what you’re shooting. The lens is very fun to shoot with, takes a while to figure it out and the sweet spot changes depending on which way you tilt the lens. I’m still playing with it. I like to have a lot of Bokeh in my images so I have been using the F4.0 aperture disc mostly but depending on how much DOF you want the disc are easily changed using the magnetic disc changer. Very slick device! Overall the lensbaby is very well made but pricey. If you want sharp pictures then you could buy a 50mm 1.4 for almost the same price as the LB however you would be missing the effects it offers. The LB is a lens that I wouldn’t use a lot (kind of like a fisheye lens)but to have the LB in your bag gives you another alternative to a normal image.

The negatives to this lens is 1. It doesn’t really hook up to your electronics of your camera but it does correctly exposure correct on the Aperture setting of your camera and 2. you have to focus manually. and 3. It could come with a lens hood to protect against flare.

Check out the lensbaby.com site for very lots more information.

Fun, addictive and frustrating
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Hard to say more about this than others have already said but I will try. This is a really fun lens but also a powerful tool. That said, in many ways it is like Photoshop – the gap between cool fun shot and works of art has a mountain sized learning curve.

The double glass optic is a great choice for a starter lens. It has the largest and easiest to find area that is in focus. Finding and identifying that is key to getting predicable results. When you first start using this, I recommend finding a subject you know well that is also far enough away that you can focus on infinity. Then start shooting with no aperture ring installed at all and the lens fixed to straight ahead. This will give you maximum blur on the edges and the best chance of finding the center focus spot. I made the mistake of trying to shoot stuff close up at first and every time I moved even a tiny bit I lost the focus point. Once you get the hang of focusing, unlock the lens and start moving it around. I started with a subject that had a lot of clearly defined lines so I could move the focus and track it. Once you are comfortable doing that, moving to the aperture rings should be a piece of cake. I have posted some images but they dont really do the product justice. i recommend searching for “Lensbaby” on flickr.

One issue I have with my Lensbaby is that the aperture ring tool does not have a magnet strong enough to lift the rings. I have resorted to using a magnetic tool from my tool kit. I think I got a bad tool because it wont even pick up a ring that isnt in the lens. I need to contact Lensbaby about a replacement.

I cant speak for other brands but on my Pentax K200D I can use Aperture Priority mode and get accurate metering. I cant imagine getting decent results without it so if your brand does not support it, you might want to borrow one before taking the plunge. I assumed I would have to use all manual for the first day and frustration did not begin to describe my feelings.

Once you get past the pure joy of bending focus you will find that the Lensbaby is an excellent lens for portraits and flowers. For portraits you can put the focus on your subjects face and by adjusting the aperture determine how much else is in focus and even how quickly it transitions to blur. Same for flowers . And you can shoot using the rule of thirds in a way the really gives depth to the picture. Traditional lens makers have spent millions preventing focus drop-off at the edges forcing photographers to spend hundreds on Photoshop to blur those same edges! Now you can not only get the blur, you can get as much or as little as you want.

I highly recommend adding the Lensbaby Optic Kit as soon as possible. The difficulty progression is Double Glass, Single Glass, Plastic, Zone Plate and Pinhole but the rewards are worth it. If you can only add one lens, add the plastic. It adds an element of predictable but uncontrollable distortion that is just a ton of fun to explore.

Lensbaby is not for everyone. If your photography consists of happy snaps, documenting life or spending hours on getting tack sharp pictures, dont get one. Maybe some photographers can capture candids of people or moments with a Lensbaby but for me, every picture is a 30 second or more affair. You have to be willing to spend time both taking the pictures and learning how to take the pictures. In my opinion, the rewards justify both but you will have to decide for yourself.

Great product
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I really like the lensbaby composer.

The only reason i gave it four stars is because it is tricky to focus.

It is manual focus only.

I have used this lens for a few weeks and i am now shooting better photo’s, it was just dificult at first.

Tons of fun!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
What a fun lens this is! Easy to attach to my Canon 20D and the pictures produce really great bokehs and depth of field!