Lensbaby Composer Pro - Is it worth it?

[Ginger Pixie]

So I have been looking at upgrading all my equipment now I have more of an idea what I want to take photographs of (people).

Originally I wanted to get one of the Canon TS E Tilt shift lenses but as there are other expensive lenses I fancy too, I had knocked that idea on the head.

Then I saw the lensbaby... is this rubbish? Should I leave the idea of tilting until I can afford the proper job?

Be interested to hear from anyone that has used one.

[OsmosisStudios]

If youre comparing it to a Canon TSE lens? Yeah it's gonna be crap.

Lensbabies are, for me, a complete enigma. I've never understood why you would want to put such a crummy little toy lens onto a dSLR.

[Lolkat]

I think they're fun. It's just a novelty item, so obviously it's not going to be on your camera for extended periods of time. I like the opticals that you can place in them, so you can have different effects, like pinhole, plastic lens ,etc. Mine works really well, in terms of usabilitly. I really like mine, but there are many photographers out there that view them as a waste of money, I think mainly because you can recreate (or come close) to the effects in PP. The composer is different than a TS, however, because you will have circular area of a sweetspot, not the linear area on the TS.

[Ginger Pixie]

Originally Posted by OsmosisStudios

If youre comparing it to a Canon TSE lens? Yeah it's gonna be crap.

Lensbabies are, for me, a complete enigma. I've never understood why you would want to put such a crummy little toy lens onto a dSLR.

Originally Posted by Lolkat

I think they're fun. It's just a novelty item, so obviously it's not going to be on your camera for extended periods of time. I like the opticals that you can place in them, so you can have different effects, like pinhole, plastic lens ,etc. Mine works really well, in terms of usabilitly. I really like mine, but there are many photographers out there that view them as a waste of money, I think mainly because you can recreate (or come close) to the effects in PP. The composer is different than a TS, however, because you will have circular area of a sweetspot, not the linear area on the TS.

Thanks for your thoughts. I don't really want to spend out on a novelty item, so it's probably not for me