Portland, OR – April 2, 2014 – Lensbaby, makers of creative effects camera lenses for DSLRs, mirrorless and motion picture cameras, announces the release of the LM-10 Sweet Spot Lens for iPhone, its first lens designed specifically for mobile devices. At last, iPhone shooters will be able to create Lensbaby’s signature depth-of-field look, the “sweet spot” of focus, surrounded by gradually increasing blur. This magnetically-attaching creative effects accessory lens will be sold exclusively on Kickstarter.com starting today for a 30-day funding campaign. Future post-campaign sales will be available through Lensbaby.com and other online retailers.
With the booming popularity of photo sharing and photo filter apps, mobile phone users are always looking for a new way to let their creativity shine. Lensbaby’s Sweet Spot Lens for iPhones is a fun and easy tool to make photos pop on social media channels.
This patent pending lens will be compatible with iPhone 4s, 5, 5s, and 5c and lets photographers focus on a single spot of sharp focus in their image surrounded by gradually increasing blur. It’s the look Lensbaby, Inc was founded on and remains the most popular effect in their current product line.
“Our customers have long been requesting a Lensbaby for their mobile devices,” said Craig Strong, Lensbaby Co-founder & Chief Creative Officer. “It is time to give them what they want – a way for them to push the boundaries of their creativity and produce depth-of-field effects on their iPhones. A lens in the mobile phone market is a bit of a departure for us, hence a Kickstarter campaign. This is the first of many mobile products we have in development, and we wanted confirmation from our customers that they really do want an optical way to create a sweet spot of focus in their iphoneography before we start manufacturing in large quantities and invest more R&D time in the line.”
Simply adhere one of the Lensbaby-provided super-strong, adhesive-backed stainless steel rings around the phone’s lens. The lens has magnets on each end, so it can be attached and removed from your phone with ease. The bonus of having a magnet on both sides of the lens, is that shooters will be able to use other magnetic mobile phone accessory lenses (wide angle, macro, telephoto, polarizing filters, etc.) on their Sweet Spot Lens to alter their focal length.
While this mounting system already exists on the market, we’ve sourced all of our components specifically for use with this lens. Our low profile stainless steel rings look great and stay put. The magnets will have twice the strength of other magnetic phone accessories, keeping your lens securely attached to your phone.
We’re also including a free iPhone app, available in the Apple App Store, along with the lens to ensure the best possible shooting experience. Due to the optical design of the lens, the image will be upside down when shot with most other camera apps. The Lensbaby app automatically flips the image right-side up, and lets the photographer move the sweet spot of focus around the image to match focus with the perfect composition.
The images below were shot with the Lensbaby’s Sweet Spot Lens on an iPhone 5 and 5s.
photos by, clockwise from upper left: keri friedman, caroline jensen, caitlyn crislip, keri friedman
The Lensbaby Sweet Spot Lens for iPhone will exclusively be available on Kickstarter.com until May 2, 2014. The funding goal is $20,000. The pledge levels for the campaign are as follows:
- $1 – Thank you on Lensbaby’s site
- $5 – The coveted See In A New Way™ Lensbaby sticker
- $40 – Earliest Bird special for one lens (limit 50)
- $45 – Early Bird special for one lens (limit 75)
- $50 – Kickstarter special price for one lens
- $125 – Kickstarter special price for one lens + one Spark™ DSLR lens
For more information, visit lensbaby.com or kickstarter.com
About Lensbaby
Lensbaby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based manufacturer of award-winning Creative Effects SLR, mirrorless, and movie camera lenses. Craig Strong, a professional photographer and the inventor of the patented Lensbaby Creative Effects SLR lens system, launched Lensbaby in February 2004 with Sam Pardue. Lensbaby sells to photographers all over the world through its website,www.lensbaby.com, by calling 877-536-7222 / 971-223-5662, at tradeshows, in leading photo retailers and through a growing global network of international distributors.
