The Lensbaby Composer is a unique and interesting lens and I wanted to give it some more attention. I think mjs1973’s review is a fair and detailed account of the pros and the cons of the Lensbaby Composer. Just because the lens wasn’t for him doesn’t mean you won’t love it. It’s a very subjective product. If you’ve got a Lensbaby lens, please share your experience by writing a review. Reviews by community members are the foundation of PhotographyREVIEW.com. Right now we have a review contest and writing a review qualifies you to win a new Clik Elite camera pack.

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Featured Review: Lensbaby Composer Lens

by mjs1973 (Intermediate)

Summary:
I have been kicking around the idea of getting a Lensbaby ever since the first version came out. I finally pulled the trigger on the Composer. The ball and socket design seemed to be the most user friendly Lensbaby to date.

Overall I like the lens and had a lot of fun playing with it. It only took me a few outings to realize that the Composer just wasn’t for me. I found the effect to be a little too “trippy” for my tastes. I have seen some very nice, creative images created using this lens, but after using it a few times, I realized that I don’t particularly enjoy making those types of images. As a result, I am returning my Composer. My returning the lens has nothing to do with the performance or build quality of the lens. It has everything to do with knowing that I paid almost $300 for a lens that I feel I will rarely use, and that creates images that I don’t really want to make. For others this could be a very low price to pay for a great creative tool. It just isn’t for me.

Overall I like the design of the Composer. I found it was pretty easy to use although I did find it hard to get anything in sharp focus once I would tilt the lens. Being able to lock the lens once you have it where you want it was very easy. I set the locking ring on mine so that it was a little stiffer to move and that I wouldn’t have to lock it down all the time. This seemed to work fine.

I felt that the focusing ring could be a little stiffer. The focus would change easily while trying to tilt the lens. Changing aperture was simple to do for the most part, but more of a pain in the butt than I would like to deal with in the field. I found myself putting in an aperture disc at home, then just sticking with that ring for the entire outing. This wouldn’t be a big deal working in a studio.

I found myself a little frustrated that the Composer didn’t focus closer. I found myself having to back up farther than I wanted to in order to get a flower in focus. I did use the wide angle/macro converter that I got free from Lensbaby and that did help a bit. The WA/Macro adapter would also cause severe vignetting on one side when tilting the composer too far to one side.

I view this lens like I view a fisheye lens. You can create some very unique images with it, but a little goes a long way. I wouldn’t want to look at an entire book of fisheye photos, and I don’t want to see an entire portfolio of Lensbaby images. One or two here and there are fine and for the price, I can’t justify keeping this lens to only use once in a while.

I do think the Composer is a good product but it’s not a practical lens for what I want to do with my photography. If you like these types of images I think the Composer would treat you well. For me and my photography style, I will stick with a more traditional look.

Strengths:
Fun and creative lens to play with
Optical swap system allows for versatility
Easy to lock in place

Weaknesses:
Images are too ‘trippy’ for my taste
Changing aperture a bit of a hassle
Focus ring could be stiffer
Too expensive for ‘toy’ lens
Wish it focused closer

Similar Products Used:
none

Customer Service:
A+ for Lensbaby’s customer service. A podcast I listen to was offering a free wide angle/macro converter lens for the composer. I emailed the required info to Lensbaby and got a shipping confirmation email before the Composer was shipped. The WA/M lens arrived from Lensbaby before the Composer arrived from B&H.

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