OT: For Those Who Like Lensbabies

[bmattock]

For what it might be worth:

I stumbled across this website, lost it, and then found it again. I realize that the lenses would be mostly good for SLR's, but perhaps would work for a somewhat fractured solution to the 'digital street camera' threads we had recently. The idea being, you stick this 'lens in a cap' on your DSLR and it suddenly becomes a lot small, no focus (hence no shutter lag) and everything's in focus. Of course, there are massive trade-offs - this thing is supposed to be a toy. But it is cheaper than a Lensbaby and might be fun to experiment with. I went ahead and ordered two (one lens-in-a-cap and one PC-lens-in-a-cap). Their website kind of stinks, but you get the idea. I like fun cheap toys.

http://www.loreo.com/

Disclaimer: I have no financial or other interest in this company. Just passing on info that I thought might interest a few others here.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

 

[zuikologist]

Bill - let us know how you get on. Looks interesting.

 

[hoot]

Yeah, post your pics.

What I don't get is, how can you get around those long exposure times when working at f/64? Is this a lens one would normally use on a tripod?

 

[XAos]

long exposure times when working at f/64? Is this a lens one would normally use on a tripod?

You just need a Calcu-Nuke Light Meter. Dial in the kiloton rating and the distance from ground 0 to the subject, and it spits out the time before your camera is safe to pick up.

 

[bmattock]

Yeah, post your pics.

What I don't get is, how can you get around those long exposure times when working at f/64? Is this a lens one would normally use on a tripod?

As I understand it, the lens has variable apertures - from I think f5.6 to f64. At f64, yes, you'd need a long exposure time, a very bright subject, or a fast film. But I think they're pointing out that at f64, the lens essentially acts as if it were a pinhole lens - everything in focus.

Basically, the lens-in-a-cap turns your expensive SLR or DSLR into a point-n-shoot. 3-element lens, fixed-focus, etc. But the idea is that this 'look' is kind of a classic, even if it is not ultimately sharp, etc. You could get the same results with a cheap 1-dollar camera from a thrift store - but this lets you control shutter speed, aperture, and flash in a way that a cheap camera can't.

The PC lens-in-a-cap is a 'shift' lens and supposedly will allow corrections for keystoning, converging verticals, and other abberations you get when you shoot architecture. Professional shift lenses cost a mint - these are obviously not in the same class - but could be fun.

Long and short of it - might be interesting to see what happens, and worth a couple bucks to find out (at least to me). I wouldn't pay $100 for a lensbabie, but $15 or so seems do-able.

Anyway, I'm doing it for a giggle. I'll post any interesting results.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks