The Lensbaby Muse Special Effects SLR Lens is a lens that will add a unique perspective to the world of SLR photography. The Lensbaby is a hybrid between a bellows camera and a tilt-shift camera. It will bring one area of a photo into sharp focus, surrounded by gradually increasing blur. The lens can be compressed, extended, and/or bent off-center in any direction for different results.

The Lensbaby Muse offers a radical departure from the precision of digital or even film photography. It allows for selective focusing with SLR cameras. Effects like blurring, glowing highlights, and subtle, prismatic color distortions can all be achieved without software manipulations.

The Muse features the Optic Swap System. Lensbaby has developed a line of different "optics" that can be interchanged with the Muse and Composer versions. This provides artists with an almost unlimited variety of looks and styles to capture their unique visions.

This version of the Muse comes supplied with the Double Glass Optic, which provides the sharpest focus in its range. It offers a tack sharp sweet spot, with minimal diffusion at all aperture settings. Also available optionally are the Plastic optic for an ultra-soft and ethereal look, the Single Glass for that vintage look, or the Pinhole/Zone Plate for softer, dreamier focus images that are equally sharp from edge to edge.

No electronic communication is possible between the camera and the lens. All operation is strictly manual. Automatic light metering is possible by shooting in aperture priority mode with almost all digital and film SLR camera bodies.

The lens aperture can be changed by inserting different size aperture discs.

The lens tubing is the part of the Muse that allows you to control the effect that it gives. It can be compressed or extended by pulling or pushing the focusing collar at the end of the Lensbaby. This in turn controls what is in focus, with fully compressed focusing on infinity and full extended focusing about 1' ahead. To focus on subjects that are between these distances, you have to partly compress the Muse.