The new Lensbaby Trio 28 combines the Sweet, Twist and Velvet lenses into one + exclusive first look
Oct 5, 2016
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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If you wanted to buy the Lensbaby Sweet, Twist 60 and Velvet separately, you’d be spending over $1,000. Now, you can get all three for only $279.95. At least, you can if you shoot Sony E, Fuji X or Micro Four Thirds. Lensbaby have today announced the new Lensbaby Trio 28mm f/3.5 lens which combines all three of these unique effects into a single lens.
We caught up with Lensbaby CEO, Ken Mitchell at Photokina recently for a chat. While we were there, he gave us the full rundown on the new lens.
The new lens being designed specifically for mirrorless cameras means that it can be made much smaller. Small enough, in fact, to combine three lenses into one. Bad backs everywhere will be thanking them for this!
- Focal Length : 28mm
- Aperture : Fixed f/3.5
- 3 optics for 3 effects : Twist, Velvet and Sweet
- Minimum focus distance : 8″
- Focus type : Manual
- Dimensions : 2.75″ x 2.75″ x 2″
- Weight : 4.9oz
- Twist Optic : 4 multi-coated elements in 3 groups
- Velvet Optic : 3 multi-coated elements in 2 groups
- Sweet Optic : 3 multi-coated elements in 3 groups
- 46mm front threads
- When shooting on full frame cameras, Twist will produce a subtle vignette
The three camera systems for which the new lens is available each have a different sensor size. Sony is full frame, Fuji X is APS-C crop, and Micro Four Thirds is a 2x crop. This means that each will provide a different field of view.
So, on a full frame Sony sensor, you get the full 28mm field of view. On Fuji X-mount, you get the equivalent field of view to that of a 42mm lens on full frame. For Micro Four Thirds, with its 2x crop factor, it’s closer to a 56mm full frame equivalent field of view.
This field of view difference makes it an interesting lens, possibly with a different purpose depending on what you shoot. On a Sony, or even the Fuji, it could make for a great street photography lens, while on Micro Four Thirds, you start creeping into portrait territory.
This will also be the Twist’s entry into the world of crop sensors. The Twist 60 has previously been listed as “N/A” or “Not recommended” in the compatibility charts for crop sensor DSLRs and mirrorless cameras.
Once the lens becomes available and gets into the hands of the buying public, it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in what people choose to shoot with it.
The Trio 28 is available for pre-order now, and shipping begins on October 26th. You can find out more on the Lensbaby website.
- Lensbaby Trio 28mm f/3.5 Lens for Sony E – $279.99
- Lensbaby Trio 28mm f/3.5 Lens for Fujifilm X – $279.99
- Lensbaby Trio 28mm f/3.5 Lens for Micro Four Thirds – $279.99
Will you be getting the Trio 28? On what system will you be using it? Do you use the Lensbaby Sweet, Velvet or Twist lenses? Does it bother you that you can’t move each lens’s sweet spot from the centre? Or do you think that just makes life a little easier? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
John Aldred
John Aldred is a photographer with over 25 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter – and occasional beta tester – of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.
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14 responses to “The new Lensbaby Trio 28 combines the Sweet, Twist and Velvet lenses into one + exclusive first look”
When you say the Sony is full frame are you inferring that it won’t work on the crop factor mirrorless Sonys well or did Lensbaby indicate that? It seems to me it should work fine on all the Sony mirrorless if it works on any other manufacturer’s APS-C.
Simply stating that it works with Sony Full Frame. I would imagine it would also work on Sony’s crop cameras with the same lens mount.
Saying that it works for full frame generally negates the need to mention that it’s also compatible with APS-C. :)
No it doesn’t at all. The Twisty for the Nikon full frame is not recommended for crop. That’s why I asked.
I’ve been working with the first prototype of the Trio since July. I’ve shot it on Sony full frame and Sony APS-C. Unlike the Lensbaby Twist 60 lens, there is plenty of swirl in the Trio’s twist optic for APS-C and enough that you can also achieve swirl in the background of your images on Micro 4/3rds.
I prefer shooting the Trio 28 on APS-C as the sweet spot is bigger on all three images and the velvety glow is more pronounced on the Velvet optic. That said, full frame gives a more extreme effect on the two non-Velvet optics.
So you seem to recommend it as good for APS-C then right? The price isn’t a real barrier all things considered.
I think that, all things considered, the Trio 28 is going to give you the best shooting experience on APS-C.
Hence “generally”. And Nikon is not Sony. There’s no mirror box to worry about.
The question wasn’t generally though was it?
Ok, well, if you want specific, then the information I have is what was posted in the article. Did you click the link to Lensbaby’s website to find out more like it said in the post? :)
Again … nobody asked YOU I asked John why he said it and there is still no answer from him as to why he said that. I’m guessing you’re that guy who overhears conversations and just feels compelled to jump in. Not really interested in that.
Ok, I apologise deeply for offending your sensibilities.
PS, I *AM* John :)
I’m all over this! and I’ll be curious to see how it works with some macro extension tubes :-)
It will work with extension tubes. If you are able to use a particular length extension tube with another 28mm lens then that tube will work with the Trio 28. The challenge is that the short focal length will quickly move to focusing inside of the lens with what would be a workable extension tube length with a longer focal length lens.
I can’t wait to get my hands on this lens!!!