By: Loc Nguyen
Just recently I became intrigued by a lens referred to as a lensbaby. I wasn't sure if a lensbaby was my cup of tea, but I happen to be an adventurous guy.
It's inexpensive at $60 for a used copy ($100 new, $150 for the 2.0 version). Like all of my purchases, I reason that if I don't like it I can sell it on FM and lose the amount I paid for shipping. No biggie!
The interesting feature of the lensbaby is the ability to move the "sweet spot" of focus around. You focus on objects by pulling on the front of the lensbaby.
How to use a lensbaby
Since receiving it last week I've been trying to get some "keepers." I brought it to UCI and tried to find some nice shots but I came home with little to show. The biggest challenge was focusing it and shifting the "sweet spot" around at the same time. I found keeping the "sweet spot" sharp to be very difficult even with an aperture of f/5.6.
The psychedelic warp effect is just too much of a distraction, in my opinion. I can think of situations where I would mount it but even then its for one shot out of hundreds.To be fair though, I've seen some very interesting shots taken with this baby (pun not intended). You can view those galleries here on the official website.
So, is it gimmick or art? That's hard to say really. The novelty eventually wears off and viewing too many warped pictures made me delirious. But that might just be me. I bet you could think of situations where the effect would be nifty but you're better off getting something more practical like a Canon 50mm f/1.8 or 35mm f/2.0.
Until next time, stay focused. 
I find pictures from the Lens Baby to be reminiscent of cell phone pictures. By mounting one on your camera, you effectively turn it into a 8.3 megapixel cell phone camera. That's badass!