If you are connected with me on any of my social media you probably know how much I love my Lensbaby Velvet 85. But I have a confession to make, for a very long time I didn’t like the look of the Velvet 56 (first Velvet on the market) and I never intended to own one. But then the 85 was launched and Lensbaby kindly offered to send me one and I was hooked from the first time I used it.
I mostly shoot around f4 when I’m using either of the Velvet lenses, there’s a lovely softness around the edges of the frame but none of the glow that comes from shooting at a wider aperture. I often try to avoid the glow since it doesn’t always suit the subject or scene and focusing can be challenging. But now and again I’ll embrace the effect and open up the aperture to f2 or f1.8.
I don’t keep a note of apertures but all the above were taken between f2.8 and f1.8, I’m pretty sure the final image was at f1.8.
How to focus your Lensbaby Velvet lens at wider apertures:
If you’ve ever tried to shoot wide open with your Lensbaby you’ve probably realised that focusing can be very difficult. Even if you have focus peaking the glow of wide apertures means it’s not accurate. I’ve found from experience that it’s better to compose your image and focus the shot with an aperture of f4 or f5.6 and then change the aperture (don’t forget to adjust the exposure too!) before shooting. You’ll need to ensure that you don’t move at all between setting focus and taking the shot, at a wide aperture it doesn’t take much movement to throw the focus off, and the best way to do this is by using a tripod. I’m really not a tripod fan so for images like these I wedge my elbows firmly on the table and take notice of the position of major elements in relation to the edge of the frame in case I move slightly. I also take a series of 3 or 4 images with just the smallest movement of the focus ring and generally find if the focus in the first image is slightly off one of the others will work.
Do you have any other tips for focus at wider apertures? If you have why not share them in the comments…
Definitely Dreaming 
Do you find much difference in using the 85 vs 56?
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There are differences but only really due to the different focal length, I’m drawn to the longer length but sometimes space can be an issue indoors! I wrote a series of posts comparing the two, here’s the first and the next two follow on https://definitelydreaming.com/lensbaby-comparison-velvet-56-vs-velvet-85/
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Thank you so much for those very handy tips Janet…I only got my Velvet 85 a couple of days ago so have been having some fun sorting it out or rather myself. It definitely is quite different to my Tokina 100 macro and is challenging. Hopefully I will get used to it shortly.
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Glad you found the post useful Betty. I’m sure you will get used to your Lensbaby, there can be a bit of a learning curve but worth persevering!
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Thanks for a great article which I found very useful ! The centre of focus on the velvet is in the middle…. so, am interested in how you achieved such fine detail on the shell where is it positioned on the left of the image. Did you focus on the shell positioned in the middle of the image, take the picture and then crop the image ? I usually give up with frustration trying to focus using F2.8 so need to persevere ! A lovely image Janet..
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So glad you found it useful Jane, perseverance is definitely required for wider apertures with the Velvet! I try not to crop my images if I can avoid it, I think I may have used a clarity brush in Lightroom to bring back just a little detail but the shell must have been within the area of focus although I must admit I didn’t give that much thought! I know around f4 the edges of the frame are softer than the centre but perhaps this doesn’t apply in the same way with the wider apertures, I’ll have to experiment some time!
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Hi , I only have a crop sensor camera. Would you know if using a 56mm on CSC would give me similar effect as if I were using 85.mm on a FF. I am concerned that I will lose the wonderful dreamy look that one gets with the 85mm Thanking you in advance.
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Hi Rosie, you will get a similar soft focus effect shooting wide open on a crop sensor and the focal length will work out similar. You would see less of an edge softness around f4 due to the crop but that softness can be quite subtle anyway. If you are a Facebook user you could join the Lensbaby Unplugged group and ask if anyone can share wide open images taken with the V56 on a crop sensor, just to put your mind at rest.
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