How if this blur lens effect called?

[jamesc9090495]

I've seen this done many times and I was wondering if this kind of "effect" has a name and if there is an easy way to do this in photoshop.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Looks like Gaussian Blur to me, applied on a duplicate of the Layer (ideally Smart Object instances) with a Layer Mask or a Vector Mask.

[c.pfaffenbichler]

[jamesc9090495]

Tried to replicate your effect but still doesn't get the original effect. It seems that it's also using some zoom there

[c.pfaffenbichler]

Unlink the Layer Mask, select the Layer (once again: ideally a Smart Object) and scale it up by invoking Edit > Free Transform (cmd-T) and shift-alt-dragging one of the corner points.