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Yea or Nay? The Lensball, a Crystal Sphere Meant to Jazz Up Your Instagram

Bauble or keeper?

By Rain Noe - August 3, 2017

in Photography | Object Culture

The folks over at Lensball are selling a physical photography accessory that will presumably appeal to the Instagram generation. The eponymous product is simply a sphere made out of scratch-resistant K9 crystal, in two sizes: 60mm ($25) and 80mm ($35).

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The lensball will of course flip the image upside down, though in the following photo it appears they've inexplicably doctored it.

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Now for the yea or nay part: Do you think this object will have any staying power, or will people grow bored of the novelty? And while the spheres don't weigh that much—the 60mm is 250 grams/0.55 pounds, the 80mm is 650 grams/1.43 pounds—do you reckon folks will actually be willing to tote these around? Scratch-resistant or no, they'll surely require some type of protective, perhaps even hard-sided, case.

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Philippe Holthuizen

7 years ago

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It's just smart marketing. Nothing special about the ball, but seeing the opportunity for sales=$$$.

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Mark Thomas

7 years ago

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You can buy glass spheres of this size from dozens of eBay sellers for ten bucks. The ones are eBay are better however, as they not only work as lenses, but also have magic healing powers: http://ebay.com/itm/112460097051

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David B

7 years ago

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What are these made of? They look no different from acrylic contact juggling balls, which are definitely not worth $25+, and I have used for this exact purpose.

Wholesale options show the markup potential:
https://www.alibaba.com/trade/search?fsb=y&IndexArea=product_en&CatId=&SearchText=80mm+acrylic+ball+contact&isGalleryList=G

Even retail juggling shops don't come close.
http://www.renegadejuggling.com/our-products/contact-juggling-and-isolation/clear-acrylic-contact-juggling-balls/

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- Mark Thomas
  
  David B
  
  7 years ago
  
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  As stated in first paragraph, made out of K9 crystal (ie, glass)
  
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