Best soft focus lens (or other way to get soft focus?)

[table1349]

Well look who's back. Long time no read.

 

[astroNikon]

It's Derrel !!

 

[Advanced Photo]

It's Derrel !!

Where's Larry and the other Derrel?

 

[Solarflare]

Thanks for all the input !

So far it looks as if there is no real competition for the Imagon, except possibly other soft focus lenses. That probably explains the high price that lens still yields.

I have a Singh Ray soft focus filter. Beats being stuck at one focal length.

Having only one focal lenght is no issue for me, as long as its a portrait lens; 120mm is pretty close to perfect, actually. Still short enough for full body (though them you need a lot of distance) and long enough for head only portraiture.

I've modified one of my (many) spare 50mm primes by removing the rear group of elements. The modified lens needs to be mounted on a bellows as the rear focal distance is much extended, (as is the focal length of the lens). It definitely gives a lovely glow when wide open, which reduces rapidly as the aperture is closed.
Not the most practical of solutions perhaps, but it's nice to get occasional use out of a spare

That definitely sounds like an interesting experiment. Though I doubt the end result will be as brilliant as from the Imagon.

vintage nikon DC lenses.
Fujifilm APD lenses

Vintage = could be bought as new until recently ? And they only exist since the 1990s, too.

I have a Nikon DC lens now and no, the soft focus effect of that lens isnt that great. Certainly nothing like the Imagon. Quite frankly the pictures I took that way look more like photographed though a really tick layer of plastic, than actually dreamy. Maybe there is some post processing that can restore the colors, but so far it looks mostly just awful.

As far as I know, the Fujinon 58mm f1.2 APD simply has good Bokeh, but no soft focus effect whatsoever.

A uv haze filter and a little vasoline, you can also get interesting effects with a woman socking stretched over the lens.
The Vaseline Camera Trick That Gave Old Hollywood Actresses A Gorgeous Glow

How to achieve a soft-focus dreamy look

Yes I know about the vaseline and women straps solutions, thank you. IIRC David Hamilton used white straps, though black ones are supposed to flare less. AFAIK Hollywood often used specialized soft focus lenses instead of vaseline.

Micro adjust the lens to front focus a bit?

Soft focus has nothing to do with out of focus. Soft focus still means the subject is in focus. It just gets a sort of dreamy glow. Especially with the Imagon, which aside of the soft focus still has an ambundance of image quality.

The easiest way to achieve the effect is to process for it.

Thank you, but I wasnt looking for the easiest way, but the best way, to get soft focus.

Soft focus can be attained by the above posted methods. However, you really need an astigmatic lens, or a lens modified to increase astigmatism. These lenses were generally available in large formats (4x5, and larger), and were used by photographers who needed to soften the outlines of people's faces. I had an old Steinheil 20cm lens that the previous owner had mounted in a newer shutter. I used it for head and shoulder portraits. Women who were over 40 loved the results, because their facial lines were softened, and it made smile lines and crow's feet far less obvious.

Anything added to the front of the lens is a band aid fix. There are lenses out there that are for portraiture in medium format (Mamiya 150 f4 soft focus), but they're also not true astigmats.

You can also try stretching a piece of women's hose material between two filters. That will also work for a softer focus.

Very interesting read, thank you !

A good soft focus filter like the B+W mentioned above is good, esp. if used with the right focal length and lens aperture. With a very sharp lens, the B+W soft filters have good sharpness, but that is overlayed with a subtle softness AND with highlight diffusion. The soft focus filter will literally "spill" highlight light over, into nearby darker areas, in a way that is not the same as moving pixels around later, in software. Some classic filters like the Softar models (originally from Zeiss) have a neat look. Diffusion filters can be useful; black netting works differently than white netting. Fog filters can be used. Focal length, f/stop, and how close or far the filter is in front of the lens can change the effects; you will NOT get the same effect from a soft focus filter on a 50mm lens as it will yield on a 200mm lens. Hairspray on a UV filter can work. Black spray paint micro-droplets allowed to rain down on a UV filter can make a nice effect filter. Adding a reallllly cheap 2x or 3x converter to a 50mm lens can bring in some nice aberrations; think old, 1980's $5 no-name 2x converters in mounts like Nikon F, or m42 thread mount, adapted to modern camera mounts.

Excellent read, thank you. Zeiss Softar ! Even more lenses to pursue now, lolz.

 

[Advanced Photo]

The best way is the way that leaves you with the most options later and is reversible.

 

[petrochemist]

That definitely sounds like an interesting experiment. Though I doubt the end result will be as brilliant as from the Imagon.

I'm sure you're right! I've not played with it much but here are examples first wide open then half a stop shut down:
soft focus mod fully open by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr
soft focus mod half stop down by Mike Kanssen, on Flickr

Not your typical soft focus subject I know, but at least both show the soft focus glow.

There's quite a difference between them, a little more gradual adjustment would be a big improvement, I may de-click the aperture at some point...