Shooting the (Mirrorless) Lensbaby Velvet 56
Today’s Post by Mark Toal
The Lensbaby Velvet 56 is a 56mm f/1.6 lens that has 1:2 macro capabilities that is now available in a dedicated Micro Four-thirds mount. (It is/will also be available for Sony E, Samsung NX and Fuji X—Joe.) The lens is manual focus delivering a soft, glowing image at wide-open apertures and sharp images as you stop down. It will also capture details as close as 5-inches from the front of the lens.
My main interest in trying out the Velvet 56 is for soft focus portraits. I only had the lens for a few days when I took the photo of Jasmine in the warm afternoon sun.
I ran into a friend and great local Portland photographer, Jerome Hart, who has been using the lens for a while. I saw his black and white photo of the boy (above) printed at 30×40 inches and immediately asked Jerry if I could use his image to show the potential of this lens.
If this isn’t enough to get you to try the lens out wait until you see how it’s all metal construction and dampened focusing feels and looks on your camera.
PS. For Joe’s take on my SLR version of the lens and see some comparison images, you can read his Shutterbug review “Lensbaby Velvet 56 Portrait Lens Review.”
