The next lens in line for a mini-test on a Canon 5d Mk2 is the Lensbaby Sweet 35, a 35mm fixed focal length special effects lens used for many years on a 60D. The ‘test area’s for these shots were Kimmeridge Bay and Corfe Castle in Dorset (UK) , both popular with summer visitors. By using the Lensbaby I was hoping to blur away the modern ‘clutter’ and get a more timeless set of images. The Sweet 35 was in a ‘Composer’ mount, and all shots processed in DXO Optics 9 and Filmpack 4.
First shot – Corfe Castle. The Lensbaby at max aperture has done a great job of ‘eliminating’ the tourists swarming around the base.
In use it’s a nice surprise to have something small and light attached to the heavy 5D body rather than a bulky zoom lens.
A second shot from inside the village – this has worked well – the area under the houses was full of cars and pedestrians!
Focussing is easy on the large screen but best of all it’s now a proper 35mm lens rather than a 56mm equivalent on the 60D, giving a moderately wide angle view. After years of wanting a wider view on crop frame sensors using this lens, this is brilliant!
Some distracting telephone wires and TV aerials have been blurred away on this one – certainly easier than the Photoshop clone tool….
On to Kimmeridge for this shot. The romantic tower on the cliff is Clavell’s Tower – available for holiday lets as long as you’re willing to book several years in advance.
I’d never seen these odd circular out of focus areas (see lower left) on the 60D – looking at them they are at the edge of the frame so the smaller sensor probably didn’t see them. They only occur at max aperture.
Not a bad result at all. Apart from the odd bokeh seen in the last shot, the wider angle of view is very welcome, and on full frame, the blurry edge of the frame is even more effective.
Hope you find this useful, thanks for looking.
If you’re interested in using other MF lenses on your DSLR have a look at the other reviews on the film, camera and lens review index tab.
28mmf2 
Wow nice effect! But u try TSE from canon
Hi Pravin – I’d really like to try one but they’re a bit pricey!
Yeah they are pricy but we’ll worth try! I own 90mm TSE and 17mm TSE , you can see my latest post shot using TSE 90,
Very effective, and I know what you mean about the telephone wires etc at Corfe!
Hello Chrisb, well this seemed like the best idea to get rid of them and it seemed to work…. Thanks for the comment.