Lensbaby goes mirror-less

Lensbaby Composer Pro

If mirror-less camera owners were a bit peeved that it was dSLR users who were getting all the fun with Lensbaby lenses, they need feel hard done-by no longer. Lensbaby Composer Pro lenses are now available with a heap of mirror-less camera-compatible mounts. From Lumix G-series cameras to Olympus PENs, via Sony NEX and Samsung NX, they can all enjoy some tasty tilt-shift-tasticness.

The Composer Pro ships with the 50mm Double Glass Optic installed; it creates a sweet spot that's in sharp focus, and you get to decide where by playing around with the tilting and swivelling lens body. However, the Composer Pro is compatible with all of the optics in the Lensbaby Optics Swap System, including the Edge 80, the Sweet 35, and the Fisheye, so opportunities abound for getting creative with your images.

If you're wondering about the aperture on a Lensbaby lens, the Double Glass Optic has a maximum aperture of f/2.0. By removing and inserting different sized aperture disks, you can change to f/2.8, f/4.0, f/5.6, f/8.0. f/11, f/16, and f/22.

Time to go buy one? They're retailing around $300 and are available from authorised Lensbaby retailers and their own online store.

Lensbaby gets adaptive

You might think that we’d planned our 10 titillating tilt-shifts to co-incide with Lensbaby’s most recent announcement, but I can promise you that we didn’t. It’s just a happy coincidence that if you’re so inspired to have a go at tilt-shift photography with your Micro Four Thirds camera or your Sony α NEX camera, you can do so with Lensbaby’s Tilt Transformer and Composer.

The Tilt Transformer will allow you to attach any Nikon mount lens onto your Micro Four Thirds or Sony α NEX camera. Whether you want to have a go with a prime, a macro, or a fisheye lens, the Tilt Transformer will be your friend.

The Lensbaby Tilt Transformer for all your Nikon glass

If you don’t happen to have a box of Nikon glass lying around ready to attach to the adapter, you can attach the Composer to the Tilt Transformer and play around producing tilt-shift pictures until your heart is content.

The Lensbaby Composer + Tilt Transformer

The Tilt Transformer is available for $250 from Lensbaby or Amazon US, whilst the Composer and Tilt Transformer together costs $350, also from Lensbaby or Amazon US.

10 titillating tilt-shifts

Tilt-shift photography used to be the preserve of architectural photography. But not so much any more, and looking at these glorious examples, that can only be a good thing. If you feel as if you want to play that bit more with your viewer’s perspective, you can always use a tilt-shift to fake a miniature, too. If you’re not blessed with a tilt-shift lens, you can always manage it with editing software. But meanwhile, take a look at our ten of the best tilt-shifts.

1 – You can tell

'You can tell', by B Tal (Brian Talbot)

2 – Real models

'Real models', by kennymatic (Kenny Louie)

3 – Classy Chassis Car Show

'Classy Chassis Car Show' by baldheretic (Jay Lee)

4 – Miniature Airport

'Miniature Airport', by {Away until inspiration comes} (Stav)

5 – Fishing boats

'Fishing boats', by SantiMB

6 – Little game

'Little game', by Pattagon (Nicolas)

7 – Toy Boats

'Toy Boats', by moonstar909

8 – Miniature All Blacks

'Miniature All Blacks', by Pattagon (Nicolas)

9 – Lensbaby Macro

'Lensbaby Macro', by Jari Kaariainen

10 – Ricardo

'Ricardo', by lpm (Catherine Currie)

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