Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Lensbaby's New Twist 60

It's time to Twist!



On Monday, Lensbaby announced a new lens and optic, the Twist 60! The lens is a 60mm f/2.5 model for full frame SLR and Mirrorless cameras, and there is also an optic version that works with the Lensbaby interchangeable Optic Swap™ System. The Twist 60 produces a large sweet spot of focus, with swirly blur and a slight vignette around the edges of the frame to isolate a subject from the background.

It's been raining since my Twist 60 arrived, but this morning was clear and sunny, I couldn't wait to try out the optic. Because this optic works best kept straight ahead, no bending, I put it in an old Lensbaby Scout lens which doesn't bend, and headed out early this morning to see what I could find to shoot. (You could use the Composer/Composer Pro and just lock the lens in a centered position.)  Spring is taking it's time coming to Maine, so I tucked a  "stunt feather" in my pocket to play with just in case I couldn't find much to shoot, as well as a macro diopter so that I could try shooting closer too. I put the optic on f/2.5 for all shots for max blur.

Here are the first images I made:




Right away I could see the wonderful swirly blur and slight vignette around the edges, and how it made my subjects pop right off the background. I also found that my most successful shots were those that included plenty of well lit background area that was a good distance away from my subject, that separation was key.


I also wanted to see what would happen when a subject was pretty much all on the same focal plane, and was happy that the swirly blur was still visible with these frosted leaves:


I found a lone Bamboo leaf that had survived the winter intact:


I also made some photos with my stunt feather:



I tried my macro diopter too, but mostly I found I preferred the images that included more background to really see all that delicious swirly blur:



I came back in the house and sent a note to my friends at Lensbaby telling them I'd fallen in love again. I can't wait to try the Twist 60 when my flowers start blooming. I highly recommend this new optic and lens!

Happy Shooting!
Kathleen





5 comments:

  1. These photos are exquisite, Kathleen! You're so right-- the subject pops right off the screen. What a cool effect. I can't wait to see more!

    I saw the announcement for the Twist 60 and got super excited until I read that it isn't a good option for the micro 4/3 system I'm currently using. Maybe it's time to start saving for that full frame camera now....!

    You're awesome, girl!

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  2. Kathleen, your work is so beautiful! I took your Macro course on Craftsy yesterday and can't wait to put what I have learnt into practice today. Have added your blog to my list of favourites, and can't wait to view more of your work in the weeks/months/years to come.

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  3. Thank you Kathleen for taking us out for a virtual spin with the new lens. Beautiful images. Valerie

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  4. Hi Kathleen. Love your photography work. I have won some awards with my floral photography but still learning at 63. Here is a link to my website if you would like to check it out. Again, love your work! Link: https://rosemanstansblog.wordpress.com/

    Stan

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