soft focus 135

[Aschlaman@comcast.net]

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the 135mm soft focus lens? The soft focus sounds like fun.

Thanks

Art Schlaman
__________________________________________________ __________________

Canon 20D, 35mm f 1.4L, 50mm F1.4. 85mm F1.8, 18-85mm IS, 17-40MM f4L,
300mm F4L, 70-200MM f2.8L IS, 100-400mm L,
Tamron 28mm-75mm f 2.8, Tamron 180mm f2.8 macro, 580 EX flash

Epson RD-1 with Zeiss ZM 35mm f 2
Epson P2000 storage device

[grego]

You could save money and just get a soft focus filter or do it in post processing.

[blue_max]

Or buy the 28-135 :lol:

If you were using the 'soft' feature all the time, it woud be worth it's weight in gold. Otherwise, it's probably best left on the shelf.

Graham

[etaf]

i have the 135softfocus lens - I purchased 2nd hand at an excellent price, and have never used it on softfocus, but its great as a straight lens.

[condyk]

Or buy the 28-135 :lol:

If you were using the 'soft' feature all the time, it woud be worth it's weight in gold. Otherwise, it's probably best left on the shelf.

:lol: :lol: or one of those 24-70mm L Canon jobbies :lol: :lol:

With post processing I can't think why a soft focus lens could be useful these days.

[blue_max]

:lol: :lol: or one of those 24-70mm L Canon jobbies :lol: :lol:

With post processing I can't think why a soft focus lens could be useful these days.


Yes, that'll do it!

Graham

[Mocking-DX]

i borrowed one before and i liked how (very)sharp the pictures come out
used the soft focus once-i use photoshop to do soft focus
A little long for indoor portraits though
overall i liked the sharpness

[etaf]

On the 20D with a cropfactor of 1.6x the 135mm will be effective 216mm

[CyberDyneSystems]

You could save money and just get a soft focus filter or do it in post processing.

Have you seen the price of this lens?

This "other" 135mm is a super lens at a great price!
Sharp.. very sharp when used "normal" and has the soft focus settings when you desire them.

[GyRob]

Unless your doing lots of soft focus shot's i would not bother ,i had one and after a month i wondered why i bothered .
Rob.

[nosquare2003]

Why not?
- cheap;
- good optics (the 135/2L is no doubt a better lens, but it's still good);
- soft focus (degree of soft focus can be adjusted vs filters);
- not a big and heavy lens with f/2.8: suitable for street photography.

[darkdrakon]

Why not?
- cheap;
- good optics (the 135/2L is no doubt a better lens, but it's still good);
- soft focus (degree of soft focus can be adjusted vs filters);
- not a big and heavy lens with f/2.8: suitable for street photography.

and the soft focus is quite unlike anything you can achive in PS or with filters.

[skyphix]

Ive been considering this - its a great price and from what Ive heard, a good length. I cant afford the 135L so this is my next best bet.

If you get it, post a review.

[Aschlaman@comcast.net]

Thanks for the replies. I am in a feeding frenzy for lenses so I went ahead and bought one. I'm going to try it out. If I don't like it I'll sell it on ebay. Those people will buy anythingso there is little risk.

Art Schlaman
Canon 20D, 35mm f 1.4L, 50mm F1.4. 85mm F1.8, 18-85mm IS, 17-40MM f4L,
300mm F4L, 70-200MM f2.8L IS, 100-400mm L,
Tamron 28mm-75mm f 2.8, Tamron 180mm f2.8 macro, 580 EX flash

Epson RD-1 with Zeiss ZM 35mm f 2
Epson P2000 storage device

[darkdrakon]

be carefull most people I know use the soft feature at about 1/4 to 1/2 on the slide to #1 position much farther than that and the look is way over done play around with it to find the best setting fofr you.

[rdenney]

and the soft focus is quite unlike anything you can achive in PS or with filters.

Yes. In my opinion, it's worse, providing blocky bands around highlights instead of smooth halos. I was looking for a Zeiss Softar effect, where the sharpness of the underlying image would come through clearly, but I haven't found the lens effective in producing that effect.

Here's a past thread on this subject, where I showed some examples of this lens and why I don't like it the soft-focus effect it provides:

http://www.photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=69086

The bokeh of this lens is also not that good for a lens intended for portraiture.

When used to make sharp images, it works fine.

Rick "not a particular fan of this lens" Denney

[nosquare2003]

I was looking for a Zeiss Softar effect, where the sharpness of the underlying image would come through clearly, but I haven't found the lens effective in producing that effect.


Zeiss Softar, as a filter, doesn't seem to be cheap.

[rdenney]

Zeiss Softar, as a filter, doesn't seem to be cheap.

Indeed. That's why I was looking for that effect and not just buying it. Canon claims that the lens was especially designed for smooth bokeh and a soft-focus effect that would not obscure the underlying sharpness of the image, and much though I'm a fan of Canon I think they overstated the lens on both counts. My cheapie Zeiss Jena Sonnar has better bokeh, and my copy of PS7 has a better soft-focus effect.

Rick "who would like a Softar I and II kit for his 180/2.8 Sonnar for medium format, but who doesn't even want to consider the price for that 95mm filter size" Denney

[grego]

Have you seen the price of this lens?

This "other" 135mm is a super lens at a great price!
Sharp.. very sharp when used "normal" and has the soft focus settings when you desire them.

Yeah, it's not bad. I just think the money could be better spent if the goal is the soft focus. But it's a canon lens with a nice wide open aperture none-the-less. So you can't really go wrong.