The Lensbaby Spark 2.0 ($199.95) is a new creative effects lens, but one that harkens back to the company’s roots. Instead of a rigid lens barrel, the Spark’s body is a flexible, light-proof tube. It reminds us a lot of of models from Lensbaby’s early days, but the nostalgia falls flat. The push-pull focus and tilt adjustment are kludgy and imperfect, especially compared with Lensbabies with more typical manual focus and ball-and-socket tilt. For the same price, you can get the Sol 45, or you can stretch your budget a bit and get the the $300 Composer Pro II, both of which are stronger alternatives.
Back to Basics
The Spark 2.0 isn’t far off from the first edition in design. The lens optics are housed in a flexible tube instead of a rigid barrel, so you can tilt the plane of focus in ways that a traditional camera lens can’t. It’s one of the things that separates a Lensbaby your run-of-the-mill camera lens—this one is just for the artsy shots.
It works with full-frame cameras, but can pair with APS-C and Micro Four Thirds systems, too. It’s offered for Canon EF, Nikon F, and Pentax K SLRs, as well as Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds, Nikon Z, and Sony E mirrorless systems.
The mirrorless edition of the lens is a little bit longer at the lens mount, a design step necessary to maintain the same distance between the lens and camera sensor. The copy I received in Sony E mount measures 3.6 by 3.0 inches (HD) and weighs 6.5 ounces.
The Spark 2.0 supports swappable optics and is bundled with the Sweet 50 optic. The lens has a 50mm focal length and an aperture that can be set from f/2.5 through f/22. It’s an upgrade over the first-edition Spark, also a 50mm but with a fixed f/5.6 aperture. The Sweet 50 gathers more light and delivers a bit more control over how much of your photo is in focus, but certainly contributes to the price increase.
It’s a little heavier, but the Spark 2.0 uses sturdier materials than the first generation. Its build quality is more in line with the Muse, another offering from Lensbaby that’s no longer in production. Its thicker rubber tubing supports the entire line of Optic Swap lenses, giving you the option to change the angle of view or look of photos.
That puts it nearly on the same level of the Composer Pro II when it comes to just what lenses you can add. But the two couldn’t be more different when it comes to handling. The Composer Pro II is better engineered, and includes a locking ball-and-socket to set tilt, as well as a traditional manual focus ring.
Push-Pull Focus
The Spark 2.0 handles much differently: You need to push and pull on the tubing to set a focus point. The oversized ring around the barrel is your focus control—compress it and shorten the length of the lens to focus on subjects farther away, or pull it away from the camera body to focus closer.
It may sound backwards, but it’s pretty intuitive in operation. With your hands off the lens, the focus is set to about an arm’s length (22 inches). There’s no problem focusing on things farther away, but don’t expect to get too much closer with Sweet 50 optics—the focusing tube doesn’t have a lot of flex to move farther out, and you certainly don’t want to force it. Lensbaby has others that you can use with better macro, including the Edge 80, a $300 add-on lens for the system.
The push-pull method lends itself well to handheld work. If you’re in the moment and ready to take the shot when the camera is at your eye, there are no real worries. But it’s not as useful if you like using a tripod, or for video, or for any shots where you really want to take care setting focus.
Likewise, you’ll need to keep pressure applied to tilt the plane of focus. When using the included lens, the in-focus area of your photo is limited to the central area of the frame. The tilt moves that a bit, so you can set the in-focus area of your picture.
Tilting the lens also changes the angle at which light hits the sensor, so the focal plane isn’t perfectly parallel to the sensor, and changes the shape of defocused highlights. The more you tilt the lens, the more oval the bokeh highlights appear.
You’ll need to take a little care not to apply too much, though, as it’s possible to tilt the lens to the point where it no longer covers the entirety of the image sensor. You can see the boundary of the image circle in the example above—it’s only a real worry with full-frame cameras.
Swappable Optics
The Spark 2.0 is compatible with Optic Swap system lenses, a staple of the Lensbaby system. We’re reviewing it along with the bundled Sweet 50 lens, but you can buy the Spark 2.0 housing without a lens if you already use the system, or if you’d like to start with a different optic.
If you’re a longtime Lensbaby owner, you’ll find that it works absolutely fine with early lenses like the Single Glass, Double Glass, and Plastic optics and others that use drop-in aperture plates. They’re universally lightweight, and while you can no longer buy them new, you can still track them down on the secondhand market if you’re keen to do so.
More recent lenses are broken up into Sweet and Edge categories. Sweet lenses are lighter, smaller, and fairly affordable. They’re made to capture crisp results toward the center only, a look that’s defined Lensbaby from day one. In addition to the Sweet 50, Lensbaby sells a wider version, the Sweet 35, and a more telephoto Sweet 80.
Edge lenses are made to net photos that are sharp across the frame. The Edge 35, Edge 50, and Edge 80 each cost more than the Spark 2.0 does on its own, but are compatible, with a caveat. The Edge lenses are relatively heavy—the 5.5-ounce Edge 50 causes the Spark 2.0 housing to droop when it’s installed. If you’re interested in Edge optics, get a Composer Pro II instead
A Step Back in Time
The Lensbaby Spark 2.0 is a lens that harkens back to the company’s earliest designs. The flexible tube design got things rolling, and there’s no question that this one nets images with a movable sweet spot of focus. It’s a Lensbaby through and through.
But nostalgic design doesn’t always win out. Lensbaby has refined and expanded its product catalog since the early days. It’s moved beyond just making sweet spot lenses, too. Lenses like the Velvet soft macro series, the Petzval-inspired Twist 60, and the throwback Burnside 35 are all examples.
The Spark 2.0 seems like a step backward. For the same price, you can get the Lensbaby Sol 45, a lens that nets similar effects, but handles better. Its tilt stays tilted, and it has a normal manual focus control ring. We recommend it more strongly for photographers trying an effects lens for the first time.
If you’re sold on the Spark 2.0’s swappable lens system, we think it’s well worth it to spend more and get the Composer Pro II. It’s available for $300 with the Sweet 50, but can be purchased bundled with your choice of optic. Lockable ball-and-socket tilt, traditional manual focus control, and better support for heavier Edge lenses make the Composer Pro II our favorite Lensbaby overall.
