Canon 135mm f/2.8 SOFT FOCUS

So I saw that this little lens used to be sold new, but it looks like it's discontinued now.

They are going for a pretty good price, so I might pick one up. Does anyone know why this great lens with a cool effect was discontinued?

CRCchemist wrote in post #17138536
So I saw that this little lens used to be sold new, but it looks like it's discontinued now.

They are going for a pretty good price, so I might pick one up. Does anyone know why this great lens with a cool effect was discontinued?

Heya,

Considering you can make any image "soft" with post processing, I don't see why any lens like that would continue to be made.

Very best,

i think it was discontinued just because the price of it was too high for the demand...i'm not positive on what the selling price was, but i think it was something around $4-500...which is a little much considering what you can get for that price...i liked mine...it's old, it's slow to focus, but i think in the right situations it's really not a bad lens...i've never used the soft focus though....the thing i do like about it is, it's tiny...i would bring it to weddings along with a 35mm, and have 135mm, and 35mm...and both of those would fit in my suit pocket...all that said, i'll probably sell mine within the next 6 months...

Ah okay. I thought the soft focus would be a one-of-a-kind feature that can't be replicated in Photoshop or Lightroom.

the soft focus from the lens doesn't look like any sort of soft processing...that said though, it's not something i think people would pay more for...

the soft focus is in my mind, really weird looking...it's like looking at the start of post processing...it's not a great soft look...it's a strange soft look...

As I understand, soft focus (which isn't really out-of-focus but a softening due to uncorrected optics) was a popular technique for natural skin smoothing back in the film days.

Now, the best use of that lens is to shoot in the sharp mode and enjoy the fact it is a good lens at a good price.

Canon 135mm f/2.8 SOFT FOCUS
https://photography-on-the.net …hread.php?t=135​789&page=2

nightcat wrote in post #16116312
Glad to see this thread on this interesting lens. One thing about this lens... it certainly pays to purchase it used. Usually a used lens will sell at a 20% discount to the new price. This lens you can easily get used for at least 50% below the new price. I've seen prices on Ebay as low as $130.00. For under $200.00, this lens is a steal.

gacon1 wrote in post #17139714
Canon 135mm f/2.8 SOFT FOCUS
https://photography-on-the.net …hread.php?t=135​789&page=2

It creates a sort of pinhole / zone plate lens effect with bokeh, without having to go to the aperture of f/155 that pinhole photography requires. Great link!!

MalVeauX wrote in post #17138540
...Considering you can make any image "soft" with post processing, I don't see why any lens like that would continue to be made...

I am not an Photoshop expert, but I suppose it is hard to get the same effect with simple image processing - I think this lens has undercorrected spherical aberration in the "soft" settings - this results in different bokeh too.

Nikon has currently two lenses with spherical aberration control, the DC Nikkor 135mm/2.0 and 105mm/2.0 - they could be used as soft focus lenses too. But most users don´t use the defocus control. I love my Nikkor 105 DC for this feature - and I made some years ago a cheap copy to get this very creamy bokeh - or the other way round accented background bokeh.

ZoneV wrote in post #17141572
I am not an Photoshop expert, but I suppose it is hard to get the same effect with simple image processing - I think this lens has undercorrected spherical aberration in the "soft" settings - this results in different bokeh too.

Nikon has currently two lenses with spherical aberration control, the DC Nikkor 135mm/2.0 and 105mm/2.0 - they could be used as soft focus lenses too. But most users don´t use the defocus control. I love my Nikkor 105 DC for this feature - and I made some years ago a cheap copy to get this very creamy bokeh - or the other way round accented background bokeh.

It's been attempted by many people, but nobody has been able to assertively replicate the soft focus effect. Just like you can recreate bokeh with blur filters in Photoshop, you can't really replicate. It's the same thing. Unique effect that can't be recreated, as far as I have ever seen.