Thanks for the background to Nikkor Soft filters and soft focus lenses, Moose,
'twas news to me. I knew of a Tamron soft focus lens, and I do have a Zeiss
Softar which I believe is an equivalent, but had no idea Nikon was in that
market too. Chris, you are welcome to give the Softar a try if you are
interested. It's somewhat more compact that the LenBaby!
Piers
-----Original Message-----
From: olympus [mailto:olympus-bounces+piers.hemy=gmail.com@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
On Behalf Of Moose
Sent: 21 June 2017 10:21
To: Olympus Camera Discussion
Subject: Re: [OM] Lensbaby Velvet
On 6/20/2017 10:19 PM, ChrisB wrote:
> Chaps
>
> I’m considering buying a Lensbaby, the Velvet 56/1.6 that is now available
> for X Mount cameras. I plan to use it as a portrait lens as well as macro
> and for its slight distortions.
>
> Has anyone on the list tried it?
Oh yes, quite a lot. I'll see if I can gather my senses and point you to a few
examples. Some thoughts:
It's a large, all metal lens, and thus relatively heavy for 56 mm. Much larger
and heavier, for example than an OM
50/1.4. Doesn't affect use, but may be a surprise.
It does indeed focus close, which is rather nice. I've never noticed any
distortion. Just not noticeable with most of my
subjects, and rather minimal anyway.
It's really a variable softness lens, very dreamy @ f1.6, moving to rather
normal, decent conventional IQ by about f8,
even a bit more @ f11. I have other lenses that do much the same thing, not by
intent, but as fast, pre computer aided
lens designs. So I have 28/2.8, 35/2.8, 135/2.8 and 200/3.5. None are quite as
dreamy as the Velvet @ f1.6, but a couple
surprisingly close. I also have an old 85/2.8 Minolta Varisoft, where there is
a ring that adjusts softness. "Sink
strainer" apertures also have sometimes terrible bokeh consequences, as I
confirmed the hard way with the three such
waterhouse apertures of the LensBaby Soft Focus Optic.
One problem you may not have anticipated in using it/them is the linking of
softness with aperture. Soft in bright light
requires very high shutter speeds. Conversely, in between softness in the dim
forces higher shutter speeds and/or ISOs
than would otherwise be required.
Another problem/limitation is that it's impossible in one shot to combine good
DoF and softness. You get either soft and
shallow or deeper DoF, but reduced/no softness. You may recall where I mixed
three different apertures of soft focus
using masks, to get the combination I wanted. I found this particularly
annoying.
Exactly for these reason, I went on to experiment with soft focus filters.
Vaseline on a skylight filter, sheer stocking
over the lens, etc. can get quite artistic, but don't meet my needs. Most
commercial soft focus filters have negative
bokeh consequences, esp. at the very smaller apertures I want to be able to
make soft.
Nikon tackled these problems back in the late 60s, creating rather exotic soft
filters and trying their hand at
designing a soft focus lens. It's all explained rather well here.
<http://archive.fo/ICZOA>
Fortunately, the original Soft filters are rather easily available used
(generally mint) and the replacement line is
available new.
If I'm not specifically carrying my Alt kit, I have one or two of the Nikkor
Soft filters in my kit. I think being able
to both control DoF with aperture and get a lovely soft effect, without
carrying a special lens, is an excellent thing.
I'm happy to have the Velvet 56, and have a couple of prints of images from it
that I really like. Just thought I might
save you some learning curve time and/or disappointments. Oh, yes, I use it
with a FF camera, so the effects you see
across the whole frame will be different than what I get, as you will be
throwing away some of the image circle.
Fuzzy Moose
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What if the Hokey Pokey *IS* what it's all about?
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