Tiltshift lenses are all the rage but a decent one is painfully expensive. Lensbaby offers a range of affordable tiltshit and fisheye lenses in the $90-1300 range which is a far cry from the $2500 kit I really want from Canon. Here is a quick rundown of the cheapest tiltshift lens on the market, Lensbaby’s 50mm Spark. Overall this lens is fantastic for what it does at this price point.
Included here are some exposure tests, feedback on how the lens operates and a video showing what it can do with an older DSLR camera for both video and stills used as motion graphics.
Tested on a Canon T3 with no extra filters. This lens is the most fun I’ve had with a camera since my first SONY Handicam with Niteshot.
Images and Video by SM@SH and J05H, shot February and March, 2017. Video footage was captured on a pleasant evening’s sunset, March 5th, 2017. No color balancing or other image editing has been done in an effort to keep it close to the camera’s output so readers can see what kind of images the Spark produces.
This poppy flower sprouted among the gravel in our xeriscaping and became the subject for testing this lens. This rugged but delicate flower has gone through three phases, first sprouting a single blossom, then two and back to one.
All focusing and effects are done in-camera using the Spark’s manual focus ring. This is accomplished simply, by holding the lens and directing the focal plane with the fingers. It is very intuitive when shooting both video and still images. The field-of-view is fairly narrow which helps to give it the dream-like quality when combined with the fixed f5.6 aperture.
The fixed aperture means that a modern Canon DSLR doesn’t recognize a lens is attached. The aperture is fixed at f5.6, there is no autofocus or image stabilization. All photo imaging needs to be done by manually adjusting any settings. Video has a warm, close feel due to the fixed lens settings and manual, touchy focus. Shooting with the Spark is a raw, fun experience.
| Exposure Tests — Fixed f5.6 aperture, 1/100th second exposure, ISO in steps from 100 – 6400. | |
ISO 100 |
ISO 200 |
ISO 400 |
ISO 800 |
 ISO 1600 |
ISO 3200 |
ISO 6400 |
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