Hello everyone. I know that a few of you have a Lensbaby and take terrific shots with them. I have just bought one and am disappointed with the results so far. The only instructions with it is to keep the lens facing forward, focus, then tilt the lens and re-focus to get the sweet spot where you want it. I'm having real difficulty with this and am sure I am doing something wrong.
Please can you tell me how to use it to get shots like yours?
@rachelwithey I was trying out F2. Someone else said to use 5.6 to start with and work down from there. It's so hard to get that sharp focus at f2! Didn't know if this was normal or not.
I would try a much smaller aperture, try 8 or even 11. You won't get so much blur but you'll get to grips with focussing it and then you can work your way down. I've had mine since Xmas, use it loads and I still really struggle to get the focus where I want at 2. I tend to use 4 as my default but I spent about a month at either 8 or 11 getting the hang of it.
The thing with the lens baby is that you have to accept that a lot of your shots will be a write-off. Start with static objects like flowers so it is easier to concentrate on focussing. Start shooting with the lens straight until you get used to it then start bending. It is a fun creative lens and as such you will probably have a lot of hit and miss but it also creates such amazing shots. I generally stick to the f4 disk as it works for me but try them all until you find your style. Patience and practice is required :-). Cant wait to see your creative shots x
I use f4 - It has the right amount of blur for me. Also don't bend it too much, less is more in my experience. It is trial and error for the first week or so. Don't be afraid to have softer focus. I cannot believe how sharp images are when I change lenses. I always go back to the lensbaby though. Something else I tried was to replicate some of the lansbaby shots I have seen. Both the Rachel's above are masters as well as @jocasta and @eevarita.
Thanks for starting this thread. Michael @vankrey Junko @jyokota and I each bought a lensbaby (the Muse model -- all done by hand) while we were traveling. I am also having a LOT of trouble getting shots worth taking. I'm going to post one from the trip today, but literally all the others have been delete-worthy. Has anyone found tutorials on youtube or elsewhere that might help? OR is it all trial and error learning? I don't mind deleting most of them, but am hoping for a slightly better hit rate than one out of who knows how many! So far, the advice I see is: (a) use 5.6 or higher aperture and (b) use a still object. Any other thoughts from experienced folks?
Does your camera have the ability to magnify the focus area? I found that to be a big help with getting the focus where you want it. Another thing I do, which sounds weird, but has helped me locate the sweet spot is to get things set more or less how I think I want it and then to turn the camera over and see what angle the lens is actually pointing at. Sometimes it isn't actually at the angle you think it is and doing that will help determine if your sweet spot is say, way in the lower left hand corner, or maybe only halfway between center and extreme lower left hand. Then when you move the camera back into the position it was in before you have a better idea where to look for that sweet spot.
Helps at first if you can use a tripod too.
I mostly use f4 it seems to give me enough blur without the impossibly small sweet spot of a wider aperture.
@taffy I haven't used tutorials but I'm sure they exist. I do still find it quite hit and miss particularly at a large aperture. I found it easier to start with f11 or F8. I think the other Rachel's advice about stationary objects to experiment on is v good. It really does take a while to get used to, your hit ratio will get better, honestly! Keep practising. Looking forward to seeing what you post.
I too was rather disheartened with my lensbaby at first. Loads of great advice here already. I think there is a huge amount of experimentation to decide what does and doesn't work with the various optics and also which style suits you. Everyone who's left advice here has a different style - all of which I love. April Milani does wonderful portraits with hers.
For my last few 35mm I did what Joanne suggested and magnified 5x in live view to fix an area that was sharp - made a big difference http://365project.org/jocasta/365/2014-06-13 Good luck - luck forward to seeing what you get.
I am really glad you posed this question. I have a Lensbaby, Composer Pro with Sweet 35 and I also just purchased the Double Glass Optic with the creative aperture set. My best luck has been with still shots around f4 and I haven't moved the sweet spot yet. The advice of the live view focus is a great tip. Thank you all for sharing!
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Helps at first if you can use a tripod too.
I mostly use f4 it seems to give me enough blur without the impossibly small sweet spot of a wider aperture.
For my last few 35mm I did what Joanne suggested and magnified 5x in live view to fix an area that was sharp - made a big difference http://365project.org/jocasta/365/2014-06-13 Good luck - luck forward to seeing what you get.
So here's another one taken on my first day of ownership! @shepherdmanswife/365/2014-06-22