Dark edged graduated neutral density filter to mimic defocus smoothing?

[DigiFilm]

I'm not fooling myself - I always shoot RAW (PEF because I use Pentax).

Well, that's a confusing contradiction.

Everyone I know that thinks they're 'getting it right in-camera' shoots jpeg. They don't seem to understand that every single digital image that's viewable by the human eye has been processed, be it by a camera, a computer, or a person. Without processing, it's a bunch of 1s and 0s.

And as anyone who's had a darkroom knows, dodging, burning, masking, cropping, etc. aren't new concepts since digital came along. And didn't we push and pull film to change the look?

I don't view new technology (except AI) as a cheat or a shortcut, or a means to correct incompetence behind the lens. I view it as an advantage to the craft. I reject any inference that not 'getting it right in-camera' is somehow a shortcoming of the photographer.

 

[Golem]

I was thinking that it would be possible to mimic the Defocus Smoothing properties of Canon’s DS lenses by popping on a radially graduated neutral density filter that is clear in the center and dark at the edges. Does anyone know if this exists? It would be a more affordable way and a more versatile way to get defocus smoothing.

That would not work, even if you could get such a filter.

FWIW, radial NDs cost hundreds $$ and are always the complete opposite of what you described, theyre always darkest in the center.

Anywho, nothing you could add like a filter can mimic a specialized optical formula. All those vaseline etc etc examples in the thread all miss the mark. They are what they are, and if you like them then copy the trick, but those are not like a DS lens.