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Product Description
Product Description
The Lensbaby Spark - made for youthful and adventurous photographers
Click here to view largerLensbaby Ignites Creativity with Spark – a Fun and Affordable Selective Focus Lens
The Lensbaby Spark is a fun and affordable addition to the creative effects camera lenses in the Lensbaby lens family. It is a perfect entry point into the Lensbaby system for photo enthusiasts who want a fun way to break out of the box.
Spark is a great way to capture selective focus images with a digital SLR. It features a unique selective focus optic and a tilting lens body, allowing the aspiring enthusiast photographer to capture creative images in-camera that have a sweet spot of focus, surrounded by beautiful artistic blur.
This new Lensbaby speaks to youthful, adventurous photographers looking for fun, creative tools to help tell their unique story. Indomitable photographers who harness energy and inspiration by capturing the magic of fleeting moments through their camera lenses will find a kindred spirit in Spark. Whether documenting their experiences on holiday or their daily escapades in their own hometown, Spark is designed to help aspiring creative photographers express themselves.
Sleek and modern design
Click here to view largerSpark is a manual focus lens that provides a fun, tactile shooting experience. Photographers squeeze to focus, and tilt to move the “sweet spot” of focus around the image. It is a lightweight, all plastic (except for the optic, which is a multi-coated glass doublet) 50mm selective focus lens with a f/5.6 fixed aperture available for Canon and Nikon DSLRs. Spark is compatible with the rest of the optics in the Optic Swap System, and with all Lensbaby 37mm threaded accessory lenses.
“Spark sprouted from Lensbaby’s fun and creative roots,” said Craig Strong, Lensbaby Chief Creative Officer and Co-Founder. “We crafted Spark for photographers who look to go beyond their predictable kit lens and experiment with visual spontaneity in-camera.”
Spark, like all Lensbaby lenses, is a non-electronic, manual focus lens. Spark works in either Manual or Aperture Priority mode. It is important to make sure the diopter on your camera is set for your eyesight as this will help ensure that what looks to be in focus through the viewfinder is actually in focus. The diopter dial on most SLR cameras can be found right next to the viewfinder. Correctly setting the diopter on your SLR camera is easy, just put any normal lens on the camera, and then rotate the diopter dial until the grid in your viewfinder appears sharp.
Produces top quality and vivid images
Click here to view largerSome cameras will work with Spark in Aperture Priority mode, reading the amount of light coming in and automatically adjusting the shutter speed accordingly (you’ll just need to set your camera’s ISO). If your camera will not meter with Spark, change to Manual mode and look at the preview and histogram on the back of your camera after you’re taken a test shot, then manually adjust the shutter speed for a good exposure. For a starting point, try ISO 1600 at 1/60 shutter speed indoors, ISO 400 at 1/250 shutter speed outside on a cloudy day, and ISO 200 at 1/500 shutterspeed outside on a sunny day, and then make small tweaks until the exposure looks correct.
Adjusting the diopter and shooting in manual mode can take a little practice initially but the payoff of being able to shoot fun, creative, unique images with the Lensbaby Spark provides great reward.
Lensbaby’s top tips: getting started…
· Start with an easy subject - something with texture so that you can clearly see the area of focus.
· Point your lens straight ahead. Whilst holding the camera with your thumbs on the back and finger tips from each hand on the front of your Spark, slowly squeeze straight back. Practice getting your sweet spot sharp. In this position, it will always be in the center.
· Look sharp through the viewfinder? Take a few extra shots, just to make sure. Try compressing just a tiny bit more or less each time – the odds are that at least one of these photos will be in focus.
· Once you feel comfortable getting a center-focus shot in focus, try tilting – this will move the sweet spot of focus in the direction you’re tilting. Just remember that a little tilt goes a long way!
Box Contains
User Guide
Microfibre Cloth
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Customer Reviews
The Spark is a very cheap Lensbay - I have the Composer too and thats quite a few bob more. Notwithstanding this isn't that poor a relation. Fiddly at first first but fun.
I would say that it is not a lens to keep on your camera but rather the odd occasional use to get some nice blurry effects is cool.
Good price, good fun.
One tip I would pass on if you are not used to using this type of lens - practice on fixed objects! After chasing the dog around the garden and having her move just as I got the appropriate focusing spot was quite frustrating! Practicing on fixed objects allows you to understand how the lens works and organise your exposure - the camera needs to be in full manual mode to use this lens.
One disappointment I had was that the picture seems to suggest that you can move the lens to focus and it remains in the position you placed it in. This is not the case and you need to hold the lens in place whilst you take the photo.
Overall though this is an interesting piece of kit to use and will really get you thinking creatively about how you take photos and what you are taking them of. One small thing - when starting out you probably need to plan your photography session as this (if this is the first time you've used a lens like this) isn't suited to quick snaps. With a bit of practice though you'll soon be able to use it for more creative projects.
The lens itself looks like a Dalek's bastard child and totally out of place on an SLR. It has a `body' like those rubber joints on old HGV gear-levers, within which there must be a big spring. Left to itself the lens sits facing straight-ahead at its furthest extension (pushed forwards by the spring). What you need to learn to do is pull back on it just enough to focus the image (no auto-focus here!) while simultaneously tilting it to change the centre point of the distortion effect.
Aside from focusing and moving the central distortion you don't have much else to play with, which limits the appeal quite quickly.
I've also found that you need a nice "noisy"/contrasted background if you want good results (see the chain-link fence and the trees in the sample images). This requirement, combined with a pretty feeble f5.6, make indoor photos very disappointing. Walls hide the distortive effect of the lens and the low light produces poor images. You only need to see that Lensbaby recommend an ISO of 1600 for indoor shots to realise the Spark is not adapted for this.
Outdoors is where the Spark wants to play and any outdoor events, like picnics or sports events (if you're quick-fingered enough), should have you tweeking away at it quite happily.... Read more ›
Having used the more expensive Lensbaby Composer before I quite like the effect you get from these unusual lenses, but the cost is quite high for an experimental special effect lens. In addition to that it's unlikely to be the lens that spends most of it's time on your camera like a standard zoom or your favourite prime.
Enter the Spark. It's very low cost, yet you can still change the internal optic; the one in the Spark is roughly the same as a 50mm on a full frame camera. Also, it's not possible to fix the effect like with the Composer; with that you can bend the lens and then focus to get the bit you're after sharp (though sharp is a relative term with Lensbaby). With the Spark it's wobbly up front and to change focus you have pull the barrel back toward the camera while you bend for the desired effect; it's very fluid but at the same time more creative in my opinion.
It does take a little getting used to, but it's great fun! The lens does look a bit mad, too.
Now the downsides. Firstly, the aperture is fixed at f5.6, so you can't vary the depth of field or get more/less light through the lens. In practice I found this wasn't too bad - I just popped on auto ISO and set the shutter speed I was after. Secondly, I don't find Lensbaby lenses ever get perfectly sharp, they always keep a slightly dreamy look about them.
That said the Spark is good fun and at a great price point; now experimenting with your camera need not break the bank!
The Spark is the base model and is simplicity itself. Read more
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