The shiny new Velvet 56 is Lensbaby’s latest and greatest, and I am pretty sure this lens will exceed the expectations of even the most dedicated Lensbaby enthusiasts. For those who long to push the creative boundaries in-camera and demand the quality and performance of high end glass, the new Velvet 56 will not disappoint.
The Velvet 56 lens comes in two finishes: a standard black as well as a sleek silver (SE). The lens has a very solid build and feels great in my hands. This is a manual focus lens and, like other Lensbaby lenses, you select the aperture by turning a wheel on the barrel of the lens. There is a little bit of a learning curve (which just makes the process more fun!), but less than was required to learn how to use the Double Glass or Edge 80 optics.
What is wonderful about this lens is that you can shoot at wide open apertures to create a glowing, other-worldly quality to your images, or you can stop down to attain a sharp, film-like effect. “Velvet” is the perfect word to describe this lens: the images created at brighter apertures have a glowing, velvety, ethereal feel, and the manual focus operation is velvety smooth.
I had fun creating soft, dreamy photos of my daughter using a single window as my light source. A wide open aperture on the Velvet 56 paired with a slower shutter speed resulted in some lovely photos of my daughter. Here is one of my favorites:
f/1.6, 1/125, ISO200
This lens is incredibly versatile because you can create perfectly sharp photos at higher f-stops, and it also has 1:2 macro capabilities. Below are two photos that I created with the Velvet 56 to show you the possibilities when shooting at different apertures. The first photo demonstrates the soft, velvety feel of an f/2 aperture and the second shows just how sharp this lens is when you stop down to f/8.
f/2, 1/1600, ISO 500
f/8, 1/400, ISO 500
One of my all-time favorite Lensbaby shooters is Caroline Jensen. She is an expert on all things Lensbaby and has created many stunning photos with the Velvet 56. Caroline shared her thoughts on the Velvet 56: “I am IN LOVE with this lens! The thing that makes me most excited, and the reason I never want to take it off my camera, is the way it jumps from macro to far away shooting. I adore it! It is the perfect lens for a portrait or lifestyle session because you never have to take the lens off.” This is one of my favorite Velvet 56 photos of Caroline’s:
If you love creating unique, artistic, and compelling photos, I encourage you to check out the Velvet 56! It’s a really amazing lens that was introduced at just the perfect time for those of us suffering from spring fever – I know this lens will be on my camera all spring and summer!
The Velvet 56 retails for $499.95 (black) and the Velvet 56 SE (silver) retails for $599.95 as is available for SLRs and mirrorless cameras. The lenses will be available in Canon, Nikon, Sony A and Pentax mounts beginning today at Lensbaby.
Gorgeous images and awesome review! Thank you so much for sharing! <3
When I first heard about this lens, I didn’t think I would need it because I thought it sounded very similar to the soft focus optic. But the images you shared are beautiful and I think I do “need” it now 🙂 Thanks Amy!
Thank you for an informative article! Is there any difference between the black and silver lenses that warrants the difference in price? Thank you! Megan
Hi Megan! I haven’t actually seen the black version, but both are made from metal and I think the silver has the engraved aperture and focus markings but the black doesn’t. I read this about the metal version on the Lensbaby website: “Velvet 56 SE features an all-metal body with a beautiful clear-anodized finish; engraved aperture and focus markings; and smooth, dampened manual focus.” Hope that helps a little bit! You could always contact Lensbaby to see if they can help distinguish between the two options. 🙂
Oh.my.goodness; I was already in love with this lens, and now I would love to have it even more. Thank you Amy for your review!
Oh.my.goodness – I have goosebumps just seeing the images and reading about the Lensbaby lens…Okay, the Marco lens needs to make room for this lens. Thank you Amy for sharing this.