Like any good father, I love my Lensbabys. Screwed onto the front of my camera they distort the world just enough to make looking at it more interesting, and therefore make me take better photos. But for some, these lenses — which let the photographer move a "sweet-spot" of sharp focus around an otherwise blurred frame — are expensive novelties.
Well, they might still be novelties, but the new Lensbaby Spark are anything but expensive.
At just $80, the new Sparks are cheap enough for anyone to put on their Nikon or Canon SLR. Like all other Lensbabys, the Spark has an articulated front section which can put the front lens element at an angle to the film-plane (or sensor-plane, these days I guess). This gives a kind of tilt-shift effect, only with a sharp spot instead of a sharp stripe.
You can also swap in any of Lensbaby's optional optics, although the company recommends that you avoid the heavier ones like the Fisheye, Sweet 35 and Edge 80, as they could cause the lightweight assembly to flop around.
The focal length on this entry-level lens is 50mm, which — when used on your cheap-o crop-sensor DSLR, will come out to around 70mm. Oh, and did I say it was cheap? Just $80. At that price, you'd be a dummy not to buy one.
Source: Lensbaby
Thanks: Jessica!
