Lensbaby adds 80mm Edge 80 Optic for focus slices
updated 10:40 am EST, Tue February 14, 2012
Edge 80 optic allows for more creative control
Lensbaby has added a new 80mm Edge 80 Optic to its Optic Swap System. It will attach to the company's current SLR lenses including the Composer Pro, Composer, Muse, Scout, and Control Freak lens bodies, effectively turning them into tilt-shift lenses. It can take regular photos when set straight ahead, or be made to emit a selective slice of sharp focus through the image.
Like Lensbaby's Sweet 35 Optic, it has an integrated 12-blade adjustable aperture. Both allow photographers to get creative by creating vertical, horizontal, and diagonal slices of focus in the image. The foreground and background images in that swath can be in focus for a variety of depth of fields. Setting the lens to f2.8 will give lots of blur and a thin slice of focus, while f22 will give a wide slice of focus without much blur. This is adjustable by a dial on the front of the optic. The minimum focusing distance is 17 inches when the lens is at its maximum tilt angle and fully extended.
To demonstrate the effect on photos the optic has when tilted, Lensbaby offers an online simulator.
The optics require a Lensbaby SLR lens onto which they mount. The Lensbaby Edge 80 Optic is now shipping for $300.
