I have had an old Lensbaby for years and not used it that much, but I recently bought the new Composer and really like it. Much nicer to use, more like a proper lens. I have been playing around with it past week and love it. Really creative little lens. Don’t overuse it but a lot of fun.
Here is a very short shot I shot on the way to Alcatraz with Zacuto’s Steve Weiss…
Lensbaby composer test shot on 5dmkII from Some Like It Shot on Vimeo.
The Fox TV Series “Dollhouse” shoots primarily on the Panasonic HPX 3700 P2 camcorder, it was 35mm last season. This year it’s p2. They actually did look at using the Sony EX3. The last episode of season 1 (Epitaph 1) was primarily shot on the EX3 by “24” DP Rodney Charters with the flashbacks on 35mm film. They decided against the Ex3 for season 2 as they wanted something more robust and rugged so they went with the 3700 p2. A really gorgeous camera, but only a 2/3″ sensor. A massive step down in sensor size from 35mm film. Recently, along with a number of shows, Dollhouse has begun experimenting with the DSLRs from Canon. In particular the 7D as it shoots 24p (The 7D has a sensor almost the same size as Super 35mm). In this week’s episode on FOX on Friday night the first shot is done using a 7D and the Lensbaby composer.
The Lensbaby retails for $270, has loads of accessories for it, including wide angle and telephoto adaptors and creative aperture kits.
It’s not as high quality optically as say my Canon Tilt Shift 24mm F3.5 lens, but that costs a hell of a lot more! it’s a great budget effect lens. Just don’t overuse it!
8 comments
This is exciting! Especially for a 7d shooter. Makes me proud. Nice post.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s a very nice image the Lensbaby produces, but why wouldn’t somebody prefer to do that in post?
With Magic Bullet Looks you can do circular blurs that look exactly the same, even tilt-shift is close to perfect. I don’t see any difference to using a dedicated lens for these purposes. The dedicated lenses only limit creative control in post-production, because you are stuck with that image.
Just my 2 ¢!
to a degree you can do this, but it doesn’t look QUITE the same!
Hi Philip, Which tilt shift (w canon 7d) achieves the most miniaturization??
thanks
I know this is a dumb Q, but what’s the inch equivalent of 35mm? Everyone talks about xx” sensors not being as big 35mm, but how big comparatively is 35mm? Is is literally 1.25″? What about the 7D sensor? 1″? Sorry for dumb Q, but the sudden format conversion does my head in…
Tel
Just wondering (maybe not the right place to post this question). What export setting from FCP do you use for your videos posted on vimeo? Quality of your stuff looks great
Hi Phil,
I messed around with the composer on a 5D and EX1. Used the macro adapters for this:
http://vimeo.com/5645695
It’s a lady bug swarm here in Colorado. Couldn’t have had those shots without the lensbaby.
thanks for your blog mate