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09/08/2012

Lensbaby’s 0,6x and 1,6x adapters

I have a Lensbaby Composer (not the Pro), and I actually shoot a lot of pictures with it.
With it’s Optic Swap System, you can remove a lens and put another one. Each lens does give a special look to the shots you make with it.

Usually I use the Double Glass and the Single Glass. These two lenses have the same focal length: 50mm.

While on a Full Frame digital camera, 50mm is considered a normal lens (that is, it has the same “zoom” as your eyes), on my D7000, which is not a Full Frame camera, but a crop sensor camera, I find 50mm a bit long, that is: it has “too much zoom” for my taste.
To solve this situation, Lensbaby offer a kit of two adapters, that can be screwed in front of the lens:

• The 0,6x adapter multiplies the focal length per 0,6, effectively converting the 50mm into a 30mm lens.
• The 1,6x adapter multiplies the focal length per 1,6, thus you end up with a 80mm lens.

I do a lot of walkaround photography, and I find the 0,6x adapter a great addition to my Lensbaby kit. Actually, I use this one a lot, and 0,42x also, but this is another story, for another entry :)

For this little article, I’ll concentrate in the 0,6x adapter. The best way to understand what it does is to compare these two pictures:

The first one is taken with the x0,6 adapter screwed in front of the lens. The second one, is taken using just the Double Glass lens. Both shots done with 1 minute of difference, and using the f/4 disk.

There are two basic differences:

1. The size of the sweet spot (the “in-focus” zone) is bigger with the x0,6 adapter on, although the aperture disk was the same.
2. The barrel distortion is quite clear with the x0,6 adapter on. Easy to correct on the GIMP.

Other tutorials and articles from this section: