Lensbaby ‘Sparks’ creativity with new optic

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posted Tuesday, September 18, 2012 at 11:18 AM EDT

 
 

Over the years, Lensbaby has evolved its selective focusing system from a one-piece optic into the modular Optic Swap system. But today at photokina the company introduced a new design that folds both concepts into an affordable new option.

The new Spark updates the old bellows design of the Lensbaby 2.0 with the newer Optic Swap system, providing an Optic Swap-compatible housing with a fixed aperture, multi-coated glass doublet.


 

Here's the juicy stuff:

Focal Length: 50mm
Aperture: fixed f/5.6
Optic: multi-coated glass doublet
Focus type: manual
Sweet spot, selective focus lens (creates a sweet spot of focus surrounded by gradually increasing blur)
Available for Canon and Nikon mount dSLRs
Focusing range: approximately 13" (33 cm) to infinity
Compatible with Lensbaby Optic Swap System and all Lensbaby 37mm threaded accessory lenses (although our review unit couldn't hold the original 37mm macro lenses).

But even more palatable is the price. Just $80.

We got our hands on one, locked it into a Rebel XTi and took some weird shots at the site of the last duel in California. A duel site, after all, is the perfect place to practice selective focus.

Read our review for the whole story.