Taylor and Hobson soft focus lens

Citsmith · Dec 12, 2023

I was looking at my grandfather’s Taylor and Hobson soft focus lens and was wondering how the best way to use it was. I have tried the soft focus ring and it didn’t make too much of a difference. Does it need to be used wide open to get the best affect?
It is interesting that I have correspondence from my grandfather and the company he bought the lens from in 1929. Suprizingly they sent him the lens on spec and only pay if he keeps it.
I have some of his pictorial style prints that clearly show a soft focus.
Thanks for any information.

Dustin McAmera · Dec 12, 2023

There's a 1920s Cooke/TTH catalogue at Camera Eccentric:

Camera Eccentric

The portrait lenses with diffusion control are on pages 19-24 but to be honest they don't seem very informative.

Richard Man · Dec 12, 2023

It's an excellent lens. I have a number of Cookes from the 1880s RVP, to the one you have there, and other ones. You can use it with a "lenscap shutter" for 1/2 seconds or longer, or a Packard shutter or a Sinar Copal shutter. The latter cost $ and could strain your camera's standard.

Here's a pic of my Gundlach front mounted to the Sinar Copal, the Cooke Series II is a bit bigger and heavier at about 3 lbs

Citsmith · Dec 13, 2023

My lens mounts to a Graphlex RB (ca 1913) that was my grandfathers. My father used it. I learned on it and it still works well. I just haven‘t gotten the control of the soft ability of the lens that I would like.

TheFlyingCamera · Dec 13, 2023

you will get more soft focus effect shot wide open, certainly above f8. I have the non soft-focus version of that lens - the Series II 10.5 inch f4.5. Looks like yours has markings to use it as a convertible (there's a marking on the aperture ring saying something about 16 inches and starting the aperture sequence at f8). IIRC, the effect of the "soft focus" dial on the barrel is somewhat subtle - it's not a Vitax or Verito where dialing the soft focus to 5 turns it into a defocused mush.

Dustin McAmera · Dec 13, 2023

This bloke posted an example at Flickr;

Citsmith · Dec 13, 2023

Yes, this lens is convertible . By removing the rear element it is a long telephoto lens that will barely focus on the Graflex RB bellows.

Citsmith · Dec 13, 2023

There is an interesting series of letters between my Grandfather, a friend of his (and optometrist) and the company who sold this lens in Boston. They are discussing the best way to build a soft focus Lens.

cowanw · Dec 13, 2023

That is very interesting reading. Thanks for posting these letters

varg · Dec 20, 2023

Thank you for sharing the correspondence. Very interesting to read about the same old story of soft focus lenses.
Some of this lenses produce unsharp images only, not really soft, only weak and like taken in fog.

Soft focus lenses are favorites of mine and I have some different lenses of it. Some of it self made.

I do not prefer Taylor & Hobson, Wollensak Verito or Eidoscope lenses because of its core less image quality. For me a real soft focus picture needs a sharp core and a kind of halo around it in the high lights.

Russ Young · Mar 1, 2024

Citsmith said:
There is an interesting series of letters between my Grandfather, a friend of his (and optometrist) and the company who sold this lens in Boston. They are discussing the best way to build a soft focus Lens.

Many thanks for taking the time to scan and post this insightful correspondence. My Ph.D. dissertation was about soft focus lenses and this information would have been priceless therein.
Russ Young

cowanw · Mar 1, 2024

It makes me a bit sad that the bit about Garo's thought are lost. I always think I would like to see Garo feted more widely.

varg · Mar 1, 2024

Russ Young said:
Many thanks for taking the time to scan and post this insightful correspondence. My Ph.D. dissertation was about soft focus lenses and this information would have been priceless therein.
Russ Young

I read your dissertation, a very impressive work and I learned a lot of new thinks and now I bought a Wollensak Verito in 8 3/4" focus.
It is different to my other soft focus lenses but is has a very beautiful rendering when stoped down to f/8 and below.
I´am very curious to see more results, I just started with it.

Thank you very much

Russ Young · Mar 1, 2024

varg said:
I read your dissertation, a very impressive work and I learned a lot of new thinks and now I bought a Wollensak Verito in 8 3/4" focus.
It is different to my other soft focus lenses but is has a very beautiful rendering when stoped down to f/8 and below.
I´am very curious to see more results, I just started with it.

Thank you very much

I hope you didn't fall asleep too many times while reading it!
IMHO, there is generally a different rendering of difusion betwen the early soft focus lenses and later (say, after 1920) designs. Personally, my preference is for the earlier designs. Not absolutely certain but that may be caused by small amounts of deliberate chromatic aberration in the earlier models (as referred to in some of the posted correspondence by Citsmith). It all comes down to personal preference, however.

varg · Mar 1, 2024

Russ Young said:
I hope you didn't fall asleep too many times while reading it!
IMHO, there is generally a different rendering of difusion betwen the early soft focus lenses and later (say, after 1920) designs. Personally, my preference is for the earlier designs. Not absolutely certain but that may be caused by small amounts of deliberate chromatic aberration in the earlier models (as referred to in some of the posted correspondence by Citsmith). It all comes down to personal preference, however.

Don´t worry, I find it very interesting to read, no chance to fall asleep.
I make some tests with differend soft focus lens.
Samples you find under this link, sorry is in German only: https://forum.grossformatfotografie.de/forum/thread/22666-versuche-mit-weichzeichnern-erweitert/

I used the oldest softfocus lens in this test, a single element lens but with the Verito and the Imagon as well.

varg · Mar 3, 2024

I just made a translation of my German post about my soft focus lens experiance, you find it under this link:

Soft-Focus Lens Examples - Page 30

Dallmeyer 10" f/3.5 Portrait Anastigmat w/soft focus Following up on Professional's suggestion. I've been sick and so spent a lot of time in my studio (bedroom) over the weekend, and shot some examples for this lens on 4x5 (FP4) developed in Rodinal at 100/1. Since my models are on strike...

www.largeformatphotography.info

darrylgbaird · Mar 12, 2024

Russ Young said:
I hope you didn't fall asleep too many times while reading it!
IMHO, there is generally a different rendering of difusion betwen the early soft focus lenses and later (say, after 1920) designs. Personally, my preference is for the earlier designs. Not absolutely certain but that may be caused by small amounts of deliberate chromatic aberration in the earlier models (as referred to in some of the posted correspondence by Citsmith). It all comes down to personal preference, however.

I too reference that dissertation for fun and education.
Russ, do you have any experience with enlarging using soft focus optics? I was intrigued by the Elwood correspondence in these letters. I seem to recall either Weston or Mapplethorpe (or both?) used SF for enlargements.

Russ Young · May 23, 2024

darrylgbaird said:
I too reference that dissertation for fun and education.
Russ, do you have any experience with enlarging using soft focus optics? I was intrigued by the Elwood correspondence in these letters. I seem to recall either Weston or Mapplethorpe (or both?) used SF for enlargements.

Alas, I do not, even though I own an enlarging Verito. When enlarging, the blacks bleed into the whites, and that's just not pleasing to my eye.
Russ

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