How wonderful is it to get a chance to test a lens before it is out? In December I received the
Lensbaby Burnside 35 to try. It is a proper lens (not an optic) with swirley bokeh and - this is very new - a second aperture. The second aperture controls the amount of vignette and it also affects the image in other ways.
December is not the best for macro (dead crap season ;)) but I was lucky that on the days I went out there were rain showers and sunshine: sparkles! I could play with backlight and raindrops.
The idea was to make macro pictures of my favorite subjects. In December that would be moss. You can get close to the subject with this lens (within 15 centimeters) but I found that there was still too much in the frame for tiny stuff. The solution was to add a 12 mm extension tube, but the point was to first test the lens as is, as macro as I could get! So I looked for other subjects: big pine needles with raindrops.
With this kind of light the bokeh is quite wild. I like the oval shape of the bokeh towards the sides of the frame. Compared to the Twist 60, the bokeh of Burnside is more like that of Helios, a vintage lens (the second picture was cropped to get a better composition).
I fell in love with Lensbaby lenses because of the shape of the bokeh and the magic the lens creates. On the first day I tested the second aperture to observe the effect. When you close an aperture, the shape of the blades is reflected in the bokeh. I did not like this at first and used it mostly wide open. Therefore the vignette is also not visible in these pictures.
When the light is softer, the effect is softer too (both apertures open).
Because the moss was very beautiful I added a 12 mm extension tube to get the proper magnification. This was just perfect for what I hoped to achieve. Here I closed the second aperture. It adds more drama and the swirl also becomes stronger. The change in the shape of the bokeh is obvious. I think what threw me off in the beginning was that there was already a lot in the frame and closing the aperture made it even more wild and crowded.
The moss is growing on an old tree-trunk, wet from the rain. The light is in front of the lens.
I can't wait to try more with these settings and on different subjects like dewy grass and spider webs.
This was taken from a larger distance while I was taking shelter from the rain. The swirly bokeh is clearly visible. Both apertures wide open and just the lens (no extension).
The colors also come out very nice. I love this about all Lensbabies. Again at close focus with both apertures open (Burnside without extension). In spring this will be great for images of flowers, subjects that are a bit bigger than moss. Only for the really small stuff you might want to add an extension tube. With a lot of sparkles in the background in soft light, this will be exquisite.
Needless to say that I enjoyed this lens very much and that I am curious to see the results of other photographers!
(click the first picture to get a bigger and better view)
Go here for the Burnside blog on Lensbaby.com
