Recently, I decided to buy a Lensbaby for my Fuji X-T2. I’m not really sure why, but I had this idea that I wanted to do some macro work with it. I’ve seen some great flower shots done with a Lensbaby in the past and thought, with all the nice weather it would be good to try my hand at some.
If you’re not familiar with Lensbaby, they started life selling a very simple lens which you can tilt. This distorts much of the image except for a sharp area which you can position. If you know about the Holga plastic film cameras, the effect isn’t too dissimilar. As the Lensbaby became popular they brought out more variants as well as serious lenses.
The model I purchased was the Lensbaby Composer Pro II with Sweet 35. The Sweet is the lens that has a sweet spot that you can move around the frame. What I like about the Composer Pro is that you can buy separate optics to use with it. That’s fortunate as I now think I would have preferred a 50mm lens rather than the 35mm I purchased. I also bought the macro adapter, so I can use the lens close for flower shots. This is a nice idea and is nothing more than a simple extension tube.
Did I do the right thing?
Currently I’m undecided. I realise it’s a gimmick and so needs to be used carefully. It’s well made but at the same time expensive for what it is.
I think ultimately what’s bothering me is that I have only been out with it once and it rained all day. In fact, since I bought the Lensbaby, the weather seems to have taken a turn for the worse and there’s no flowers out. Perhaps it will come in handy for photographing the heather.
The Lightweight Photographer 
Nice image, but after years of looking for sharp lenses, what have you done? If you like it, it’s perfect.
I know, I know. Sometimes you just need a change though.