Soft focus lenses in 35mm

kodachrome64 · May 22, 2009

Softie said:
I'm looking to make up a 35mm kit around a few soft focus lenses. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any central listing of soft focus lenses produced for 35mm cameras. Furthermore, no manufacturer appears to have made a complete set of wide, normal, and telephoto soft focus lenses (Pentax seems to have come the closest with a 28mm and an 85mm).

So I thought I'd ask and see if the community could list all of the known 35mm format soft focus lenses. I'll kick it off with Nikon:

105mm f/2 DC
135mm f/2 DC
90mm f/4.8 fun fun lens

Are the Nikon DC lenses "soft focus"? It was my understanding the "defocus control" only affected the out-of-focus parts of the picture, allowing you to vary the bokeh. Wouldn't you still need to put something in front of the lens for a truly soft focus effect?

elekm · May 23, 2009

Spiratone marketed the Portagon (f4, 85mm -- I think) in the 1980s. It was a T-mount lens, meaning that you bought the correct lens adapter for your camera body.

The Portagon is a meniscus (one lens element) with plenty of softness and lots of chromatic aberration.

Canon led the way in developing plastic-bodied cameras for the general consumer. They split their line into two groups (bodies and lenses): Plastic wonders for the consumer and more rugged gear for the pros. The plastic stuff probably was good enough for the amateur and is priced appropriately today on the second-hand market. Same goes for the pro-level gear.

Ronald Moravec · May 23, 2009

Imagon 120 is the best as mentioned on page one. Hard to find, but it is a real soft focus lens. I searched 10 years and spent $1000. Worth it.
Works the same on Nikon D700 as on film Leicas.

Dreamagon, simply weird. Lens baby just moves the focus plane around.

105 135 DC are not soft focus. They adjust where the zone of softness goes.

Milnolta made a 85 2.8 soft decades ago.

Nothing you can hang on a lens will make it soft focus, just blury. Softars are the best of this type. Use #1 for 35 mm.

Q.G. · May 23, 2009

Softars do not just make the image blurry.

They overlay a sharp image (!) with the effect of spherical aberration.
The sharp image doesn't go away because of it.

In my opinion, Softars are better than the Imagon. And much easier to use

But who nowadays uses soft focus? Are we on the brink of a revival?

SoSideways · May 23, 2009

^ If Spandex and leg warmers are making a revival, I don't see why soft focus couldn't? hahaha

archphoto · May 23, 2009

Q.G. : soft focus lenses are used for womens portraits and wedding shots.
And when you look at the amount of old lenses that are used because of it.

An Imagon needs practise to use effeciently.
I got my 250mm as a demo back in the early '80's and still love it.

Peter

Nicholas Lindan · May 23, 2009

Vanishing Point Ent. said:
If you add a 1.4 teleconverter, behind the 100 mm Sima Soft Focus lens, something amazing happens.

I use a Spiratone Portragon with a TC-200 2x teleconverter. The result is much closer to a true soft focus lens as only the center of the image is used where the primary aberation is spherical. It is a plano-convex lens and as such is a curved field lens, if the whole field is used then the lens gets too blurry at the periphery.

Portragon shot w 2x teleconverter (sorry about the subject, I was the only one I could find who would put up with me while I fiddled about with odd lenses).

Q.G. · May 23, 2009

archphoto said:
Q.G. : soft focus lenses are used for womens portraits and wedding shots.

Still?
I really thought that stopped about 20 - 30 years ago. Beaten to death then.

But now i'm going to dust off my Softars ... they may be put to use again

archphoto said:
An Imagon needs practise to use effeciently.

That's what i meant. But only part of it.
It's much easier using Softars, among other things because there is no need to switch 'sieve' plates when you want to stop down without changing the effect.

removed account4 · Nov 16, 2009

have you seen the new line of lensbabys ?
they have a system now that allows you to change lenses ..
they have a doublet with sink strainer apertures that is their take on the imagon
and they have single uncoated meniscus lens

paul ewins · Nov 16, 2009

The Pentax 85/2.2 and 85/2.8 are quite different constructions. The 2.2 has two cemented elements at the front of the barrel with the aperture right behind. The 2.8 has the aperture closer to the normal place with two elements in front and three behind. There are two versions of the 2.8, F & FA and although they have the same design there is a slight difference in the way they operate. The 6x7 120/3.5 is similar to the 85/2.8, but in all of them the soft focus effect reduces as you stop down. The Fujinon 85/4 is an Imagon style lens with a diffusion plate. As it is usually seen in M42 mount it is usable with most brands which seems to make it correspondingly expensive.

That gives you at least three different methods of achieving soft focus and I would expect them to all be subtly different.

dynachrome · Nov 16, 2009

According to the website which has information on Tamron lenses, the 70-150/2.8 never went into production. I have brochures with photos of the lens but I have never seen one.

df cardwell · Nov 17, 2009

Soft focus for 35mm portraits ? First, control your lighting, exposure and development.
Then, keep an embroidery hoop with a piece of black silk (not nylon) stocking in your desk drawer.
Use it under the lens for a percentage of the exposure.

Black silk stockings are the ideal diffusion media, and you can use them over the taking lens as well.
Not to mention fun to obtain.

The catch is with 35mm that enlarging a diffused image changes the whole bizniss of diffusion. You can accomplish most of the job with generous exposure, gentle exposure, and simple lighting.

Vanishing Point Ent. · Nov 18, 2009

Sima Soft Focus 100mm f 2.0 Soft Focus + Tele Extender.

nsurit said:
Oh, yes there is the Sima Soft Focus 100mm f2 soft focus + macro. Low tech and usually not very expensive when you find one. Bill Barber

Just a note to let you in on a secret. I'm not going to go into the long story about how I discovered this.

As is the lens, hallates a LOT.

Add a 1.4 Tele Extender, the kind with the long nose, meant for long lens use,

to the mount between the lens & the camera.

Use the f 4.0 disc, but the lens is really f 5.6, due to the 1 stop loss of the tele extender.

You won't believe the results. It's like P.S., but with film.

AgX · Nov 18, 2009

I would like to see a real comparison (indentical subject and lighting) for soft-lenses employing:

-) sieves
-) diaphragms
-) shifting of lenses

to control spherical abberation.
In general I do not expect a difference in image quality between the latter two. Though of course the last yields the advantage to change soft focus effect without the need to vary the aperture. The first could basically yield the same but introduces those additional miniature apertures.

Ronald Moravec · Nov 18, 2009

For reason of optics, soft focus is really the realm of 4x5 and up. It is nearly impossible to get subtle effects from 35mm.

I really suggest two things. Softar #1 only. Or a screen diffuser used under the enlarging lens for part of the time, say 25%. Don`t believe the internet BS this does not work.

Minolta made a 85 mm 2.8 SF. Fuji made a 85 something in 42 mmm screw mount.

The very best is my 120 mm Imagon. Works like LF Imagons with disks on the front. You can get everything from almost perfectly sharp to very soft by using the three discks and partially opening to fully opening the peripheral holes. Good luck finding one. T mount. I use mine on Leica R or Nikon D700 digital.
I paid an obscene amount of money for mine, but like I said it is the best.

Forget everything else like duto discs
and generic soft focus filters other than the softar. There is nothing you can hang on the front or rear of a sharp lens that will make true soft focus pics. Anybody who tells you so does not know what a soft focus lens does. Admitidly you can make mush, but that is not the idea .

Photoshop is the nearly perfect tool as effects can be altered after the fact and applied selectively to different areas of the photo.

In the spring, a friend will be marketing new SF lenses he makes himself. The design makes images very close to Pinkham and Smith Visual Quality lenses. They will be suitable 35mm to LF in different proper focal lengths for each format.

benjiboy · Nov 18, 2009

Softie said:
I'm looking to make up a 35mm kit around a few soft focus lenses. Unfortunately, there doesn't appear to be any central listing of soft focus lenses produced for 35mm cameras. Furthermore, no manufacturer appears to have made a complete set of wide, normal, and telephoto soft focus lenses (Pentax seems to have come the closest with a 28mm and an 85mm).

So I thought I'd ask and see if the community could list all of the known 35mm format soft focus lenses. I'll kick it off with Nikon:

105mm f/2 DC
135mm f/2 DC
90mm f/4.8 fun fun lens

The Nikon D.C ( defocus control) lenses are not soft focus lenses they slightly put the image out of focus, true soft focus optics soften the picture by introducing spherical aberration into the image.

Soft focus lenses in 35mm

Advertiser

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency