No softening method I have ever tried - especially Photoshops unsatisfactory dupe layer/guassian blurr method - has ever equaled the beautiful softening effect that I used to get for portraiture and still life with the medium format/softar2 combination. I have shot magazine covers with this combination.
I've tried my beloved softar on 35mm and it just doesn't work. It is so distressing. The softar was designed for hasselblad/medium format and that unfortunately, is that...or does someone know something I don't?
I don't want haze, fog, blur, flat, or gimicky PS actions. I want a saturated, nicely contrasted ethereal beauty that doesn't look like a cheap glamour attempt. I want genuine, on the camera softening integrity. A Cooke lense wont fit on the Canon either.
Why don't Softars luscious little lenses perform as wonderfully on small format. Do they need time to spread out behind the lens while they work their magic of diffraction?? Is the secret for adapting to 35mm more shallow lenslets??
Can someone - with a clue - help me
If you can find a set, get the Minolta Portrayer filter set.
"Both "P" and "S" types of Minolta Portrayers are sophisticated phase filters applying state-of-the-art technology and wave optics. Each type consists of a special compound coated on a plain optical glass surface in scientifically determined patterns to precisely controlled microscopic thickness. Type "P" provides, for the first time ever, a primary-selective diffusion effect that is useful for smoothing human skins tones, etc. in color photographs. Type "S" Portrayers, on the other hand, yield an overall diffusion effect while preserving basic image sharpness. Useable on either camera or enlarging lenses, both types are supplied in sets of filters grade-numbered to indicate the degree of effect, and in standard sizes of 55 or 72mm diameters. The filter effect remains the same no matter what aperture is used."
I thought Zeiss/Contax made Softar filters specifically for the 35mm Contax range.
Not sure if you mean those, or you are adapting a filter designed for medium format. There may well be a difference in the design of the filter (circles of confusion and all that).
You can usually find them at reasonable cost on eprey.
I own the softar set from contax, 1,2 and the now dizcontinued 3. But the soft focus filter I like best is the Nikon Soft Focus #1. It was available in 52, 62, 72, and 77mm sizes. I learned about them from Nancy Brown's book on fashion photography.
Mike Dziak
