This is the Lensbaby OMNI Creative Filter System

Lensbaby’s OMNI Creative Filter System was announced earlier this year for pre-order and is now shipping. It’s an interesting system offering some very unique creative options for both photographers and filmmakers. We stopped by the Lensbaby stand at PhotoPlus 2019 to see it in person and find out all about it.

The OMNI filter system is essentially a ring to which you can attach crystals via a magnetic system. Putting crystals in front of a lens is nothing new, but the advantage of the OMNI system is that you’re able to place them more precisely and keep them held in a specific spot.

This can be particularly handy for video, but also for stills shooters who want to keep both of their hands free for holding the camera, or for when you want consistent placement from shot to shot as you tweak the elements of your scene.

The latter seems to be a fairly common problem amongst those who often hold crystals in front of their lenses for some weird flare or light-leak type effects. They get the crystal or prism exactly where they want it, get the shot, but the main subject isn’t in the right spot or doesn’t have the right expression. And when they get the shot with the right look on the subject, the crystal isn’t where it was last time and doesn’t look as good. This is because they’re holding the crystal in one hand and the camera in the other.

The OMNI system does away with this problem pretty much entirely. You can tweak the crystal placement to get that bit looking the way you want it to, and then you’re free to shoot the way you normally would without having to worry about it.

The Lensbaby OMNI Creative Filter System is available to buy now for $99.95 and comes with three crystals. The Crystal Expansion pack for the OMNI is also available to buy now for $49.95.

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