Lensbaby questions

[aropilot]

Anyone have any hands-0n experience with a lensbaby?
I'm looking to buy one but would like some input from those that may have one, how they like it, maybe even how it's used etc. been to the site but not found much that is answering my questions.
Thanks!

[OsmosisStudios]

Tried one: never got the hang of it. Dont see the point to be honest.

[mattdm]

I have one and I love it.

I generally get about 100th of the "keepers" I'd get with a more standard lens, but I find it dovetails well with a mindful/in-the-moment approach to photography, where each shutter click is a crystallized view of a never-to-repeat instant.

I assume you've see the results in the Lensbaby galleries on their web site. There are some beautiful images there, and while maybe you could come close to the final result with careful work in photoshop, you certainly can't duplicate the experience of making such photographs instantly.

Unless you're planning on doing tripod work, I recommend the cheapest model, because it's actually better for on-the-fly use. (Although I'd suggest the glass optic instead of plastic.) Or, actually, the Lensbaby 2.0 is nice because it's a little smaller than the Muse. I had that and sold it so I could get the zone plate interchangeable optic. In retrospect, I would have kept the 2.0 (double-glass optic) and gotten the Muse with zone plate and single-glass optic. Ah well.

[Nicole]

I get to be the in between opinion I don't hate it, but I don't love it, and I only occasionally bring it out. I have the lensbaby 2.0 with the creative aperture kit. I think it is possible to get good / interesting shots with it. It has a kind of dreamy quality. I think it could really have it's place in certain types of photos.

The bokeh stuff that I enjoy doing with it, I know I could do that with the bokeh kit they just had on the DPS blog. But it is fun to use on occasion, and it's possible to create both really kind of over the top use of the lensbaby look and also possible to make it look like a regular lens was used for the most part.