Post Your Lensball Photos!

STM

Senior Member
The little spheres of glass can make for some interesting photos!

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TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
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They sure do, but watch out for burns in direct sunlight. That bright spot on my hand is the sun concentrated in one tiny spot. Ouch!
 
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TwistedThrottle

Senior Member
Lensball brand and I got the 80mm. It feels a little smaller than a baseball but weighs more as its made of glass.

Seriously, if the sun is anywhere in the sky, it will find the lensball and burn you hand as if it was the smoking ant under the manacle brat's magnifying glass. Only shoot from the shade and keep it wrapped up when its not in use.
 

hark

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The first brand I purchased thru Amazon was a dud. It was made by Amlong. There were tons of air bubbles in the middle which showed up inside. :sorrow:

Then I purchased one by MerryNine (also thru Amazon) which is a much better quality. As TwistedThrottle mentioned, the good ones will get very warm to immensely hot even when temps aren't overly hot. I carried mine in a pants pocket. :hurt: DON'T do that. Lol. Wow, my leg started to get burned by it. Now I carry it in a camera bag. Even though this one comes with a black velveteen-type soft pouch, it isn't enough to keep the ball from getting hot.

If you haven't yet read through this thread posted by nikonpup, take a look. That link shows some spectacular images.

https://nikonites.com/off-topic/41262-lens-balls.html#axzz6rOecV2L6
 

hark

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I think I am going for the original Lensball 80mm, K9.

Just be sure to have something available for carrying it. I've dropped mine at least twice when my hand/fingers started to get burned. If you carry a camera bag with you, that should work fine. Or you might want to look at something like the Think Tank Lens Duo (or a similar small padded case) which is a small zippered case thicker than whatever pouch might come with your lensball. Padding should help protect the sun from burning you like can happen when it goes through material like a pants pocket.
 

STM

Senior Member
Just be sure to have something available for carrying it. I've dropped mine at least twice when my hand/fingers started to get burned. If you carry a camera bag with you, that should work fine. Or you might want to look at something like the Think Tank Lens Duo (or a similar small padded case) which is a small zippered case thicker than whatever pouch might come with your lensball. Padding should help protect the sun from burning you like can happen when it goes through material like a pants pocket.

I keep mine in the black bag it came with so it does not get scratched and toss it into my camera bag. I can attest that it will certainly heat up quite quickly in direct sun!
 

hark

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This looks interesting. Amazon sells a combo package with the 80mm Lensball and a suction cup tripod mount. Obviously the tripod head isn't included, but the first image gives an indication of how it works. Plus the combo price is less expensive than buying the two items separately. The tripod mount costs $23.97 when purchased alone.

I'm thinking of putting the mount on my Platypod so it could sit low to the ground.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08L3RX638/ref=nav_timeline_asin?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

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blackstar

Senior Member
I got MerryNine's 80mm K9 with a funnel stand and a mini tripod. It seems working well and works with most other tripods also. I may get a crystal stand for a nicer look (but less stability). Now have to find some good scenes to shoot with it.

2021-04-15 14.04.10-s.jpg
 

BF Hammer

Senior Member
Seriously, be careful how you display or store the ball. This is a local story from a month ago.

From MSN and found on other news services:
Ornamental crystal ball starts fire in Wisconsin home

Samantha Kubota 3/11/2021



Sunlight streaming through a window and into a crystal ball apparently caused a couch to catch fire in a Wisconsin home, fire officials said.
It happened Monday afternoon in the town of Delton, about an hour northwest of Madison near the Wisconsin Dells.
© Delton Fire Department Officials said the main floor of the home was significantly damaged in the blaze. (Delton Fire Department / Facebook) According to the Delton Fire Department, the owner came home to discover their house was on fire. An investigation determined the fire started on a couch in the living room.
“The cause of the fire was determined to be from a glass ‘crystal ball’ ornament,” Delton Fire Department said in a post. “The crystal ball had been located on a table near the couch and in direct sunlight. When sunshine came through a large set of windows and through the glass ball, it ignited the couch.”
 

blackstar

Senior Member
Here is the first try with the night-sky scene:

2021-04-15 20.26.21-gimpheal-s.jpg


This was shot with infinity in focus, but the new moon had trailed during 1 sec exposure. The problem is that the lensball wasn't in focus. I wonder if the lensball moved farther away from the camera could make it? as seen in the online image example below: (but it looks like the ball is pretty much close to the camera?) Any comments?

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hark

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Here is the first try with the night-sky scene:

View attachment 355464

This was shot with infinity in focus, but the new moon had trailed during 1 sec exposure. The problem is that the lensball wasn't in focus. I wonder if the lensball moved farther away from the camera could make it? as seen in the online image example below: (but it looks like the ball is pretty much close to the camera?) Any comments?

View attachment 355465

blackstar, to get the ball's image in focus, you need to focus on the image inside the ball. It might throw the background out of focus since you are so far away from the scene. Make sure the aperture is somewhat stopped down as that will offer a greater depth of field. A wide angle lens such as what you are using will allow a greater depth of field than a macro lens - so you made a good lens choice.

EDIT: by the way, manual focus works well for these balls.
 
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blackstar

Senior Member
Thanks, Cindy.

I tried (in daylight) and knew to focus on the ball for a good lensball image, but the background will be out of focus (e.g., STM's first image). For the night-sky scene, we always want to focus on infinity (the stars). So if we add a ball in the scene, what expected is to maintain star clarity and add the crystal ball image. Much more like the online example (the Aurora+ball scene) and STM's second image. Maybe the aperture is the key to accomplish this as seemed shown in STM's images. Mind STM to reveal how far away the ball was located from your camera in the second image? Thanks
 
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