Lensbaby Control Freak

And now, for something completely different! (ten points to whoever gets that reference) Right before the Boy got me my 105mm lens, I bought myself a Lensbaby Control Freak in Hong Kong. Lensbabies are lenses with a creative spin. They are advertised as being fun and different from traditional lenses. Lensbabies allow you to cut the field of focus and to be able to take photos which can have very extreme and unusual blurry areas. If you are a freak about sharpness, lensbabies are not for you. Even the sharpest point isn't as sharp as dedicated lenses are. If you are a fan of soft photos, I highly recommend getting a lensbaby.

I bought the Lensbaby Control Freak since it is advertised as being great for macro photography. Since this was before I got the 105mm and I wasn't planning on getting the 105mm since I didn't have the money, I thought the Control Freak would tide me over until I had the funds.

View from the top

With the case that holds the f-stop disks

Upon receiving the 105mm, I am afraid I don't use my Lensbaby lens very much. It is very neat and fun to play with but a little more effort than I am interested in putting forth when shooting in most situations. You can actually control the f-stop by taking out disks and replacing them with the correct number.

Looking inside

Handy little container with all the f-stops

It has a little magnet on the end

Magic! ;)

Just lightly touch and lift

Without any of the disks

Magnetic!

 The way to control the areas in focus versus out of focus is to press in and tilt the front of the lens until you get the desired effect. Then you lock it in place using some of the knobs. It is a little unwieldy and I found it difficult to snap into place. Maybe my hands are too small or I haven't spent enough time mastering the lens.

Here are the knobs. The widest ring is what you use to control depth of field by pressing down or stretching it out. On the south side there are two knobs that you click together to free the widest ring. There is another button on the northwest side that locks everything into place. The ring above the widest ring is for focus. You can see why this is so easy...

Taken with my Lensbaby Control Freak

Taken with my 105mm

If you want something different and really neat in terms of setup, go for the lensbaby. If you want a no-nonsense sharp lens, I would hold off.