Velvet 56
$449.95 120
Our most popular art lens - the Velvet 56 adds ethereal mood to any scene with tack-sharp detail layered underneath edge-to-edge velvety glow effect.
Look into the Velvet 56 for a vision of the world you’ve never seen before. With a buttery smooth, vintage glow at wide apertures, you’ll create dreamy, and intricate images—perfect for everything from magical macro scenes to intimate, soulful portraits.
COMPATIBILITY
I want the Lensbaby
My camera body is the
Can’t find what you are looking for? Download our full compatibility PDF. You can find discontinued products and much more.Click here.
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SPECS AND DETAILS
Focal Length: 56mm
Primary Effect: Soft & Velvety (Velvet 56 installed)
Optic Swap Compatible: No
Aperture Range: f/1.6 - 16
Minimum Focus Distance: 130mm (5in)
Maximum Focus Distance: Infinity
62mm filter threads
Focus type: Manual
Format Compatibility: 35mm Full Frame; APS-C; and 4/3rds Sensors
Camera Compatibility: SLR and MIL cameras
Diagonal Angle of View: Full Frame: 42.2°; APS-C (1.5x): 28.4°; 4/3rds: 21.9°
Diaphragm Blades: 9
Elements/Groups: 4 elements / 3 group
Coating: Broadband multi coated anti-reflective
Lens hood only included with mirrorless lenses.

WHY Velvet 56
"This lens will definitely do it for macro and nature photographers. The halation gives such a beautiful softness, yet dimension at the same time. It is truly magical. "
- Victoria Hederer Bell
"I am IN LOVE with this lens! The thing that makes me most excited, and the reason I never want to take it off my camera, is the way it jumps from macro to far away shooting. I adore it!"
- Caroline Jensen
"If I had to choose just one lens to use for photographing flowers for the rest of my life, it would be my Lensbaby Velvet 56."
- Kathleen Clemons
As seen in




COMPATIBILITY
Lensbaby lenses are compatible with loads of different cameras. If you are curious if your camera is compatible with our lenses we have made the this compatibility tool to help you along the process of finding your perfect lens. Just fill out what lens you are interested in and what camera you have and we will do the rest!
I want the Lensbaby
My camera body is the
Can’t find what you are looking for? Download our full compatibility PDF. You can find discontinued products and much more. Click here.
What Will You Create?
- Reviews
- Questions
Nice optics!
The optical quality and effect is great. Like all my Lensbaby products so far, there is a bit of a learning curve to get what I want out of it, but very happy with this purchase. I am a little concerned that it seems to grind/drag as the barrel rotates in one area. I will probably call to see if this is normal, but it is not affecting images or usage.

Not sure if this is a good sense for a micro four third camera
I can’t say I liked this lens. I keep on being told that it takes time, check your diopter, and so forth and so on. Yes, maybe so for people who never used a manual lens, or lenses with low apertures f/1.4 or f/1.2. The issue I had with the Velvet 56 was that at f/1.6, it has zero point of focus at a distance. None. Totally blurred, when it should’ve kept the center of the frame with certain definition. There would be focus (again, at a distance) at f/2.0 or f/2.8, but not enough to say, have enough definition for the eyes of a person. By f/5.6, almost everything in the frame was in focus, not just the center of the frame. Maybe I just got a bad copy; I could get a much better shot at f/5.6 and lower with my Helios 44M, than with the Velvet 56. A shame, since I had high expectations of being able to take some environmental portraits of my pregnant daughter with it. I didn’t want to risk it, and return it. In its place, I ordered the Sol 22, which was made for MFT, and a Trio, just to play with, but definitely not to serve my original purpose. I added the OMNI color expansion but not the holders, and with that and my current MFT lenses, I’ll have to make do for now. PS: I’m forced to select whether I recommend this product or not, I have to choose NO but my no is qualified to MFT.
Velvet 56
$449.95 120
Our most popular art lens - the Velvet 56 adds ethereal mood to any scene with tack-sharp detail layered underneath edge-to-edge velvety glow effect.
Look into the Velvet 56 for a vision of the world you’ve never seen before. With a buttery smooth, vintage glow at wide apertures, you’ll create dreamy, and intricate images—perfect for everything from magical macro scenes to intimate, soulful portraits.