More Portraits with Rodenstock Heligon 95mm

[charley5]

Here are more portraits I took with the Sony A7ii and a modified rodenstock heligon 95mm F/0.95. The first one is my favorite and shows that when I focus closer the very narrow depth of field makes the image look very painterly. I love the transition in such images as the parts of her that fall out of focus soften gradually.

[DigiChromeEd]

[caspert79]

Those are excellent shots!

[sergtum]

[charley5]

[charley5]

[charley5]

[pdccameras]

Excellent soft focus images!

In response to your request in your previous post about this lens, for other lenses with the ability to "paint" in a similar fashion, here are a few ideas:

1)The Pentax 67 120mm f/3.5 soft is a nice choice. This lens uses the aperture setting to select degree of softness, and can be challenging to use. It can be adapted to a wide variety of digital platforms.
2) The Sima SF 100m f/2 soft focus/macro lens. This is a T-mount simple lens with trombone focus and comes with a set of waterhouse stops which can be used to control the amounts of softness desired.
3) The Spiratone 100mm f/4 Portagon. This a fixed aperture, simple lens, T-mount lens in focusing mount.
4 ,5) Lastly a homemade soft lens using a +10 diopter CU filter (100mm) mounted to the front of an old Miranda lens from which I removed all lens blocks, so as to use the diaphragm and front/rear mounts.

All of these are pretty easy to find and (except for the Pentax) relatively inexpensive.

Enjoy!

Paul

Here are pics of the lenses:






#1


#2


#3


#4


#5

[charley5]

[pdccameras]

Hi Charles,

I should have some time tomorow- I'll post a few samples!

all the best,

Paul

[charley5]

[pdccameras]

Hi Charley,

Here are a few quick ones with the four lenses from my post above. Sorry they're just of flowers - I couldn't find anyone willing to pose!

Enjoy,

Paul


#1 Spiratone Portragon 100mm f/4



#2 Sima SF (Wide Open - no stops)



#3 +10 Macro Adapter (Wide Open)



#4 Pentax 67 120mm Soft (Wide Open at f/3.5 - softest setting)

[kds315*]

Nice ones Paul! I have always liked soft focus photography and have a few such "painterly" lenses myself (I even made some)!!

A selfmade f1.0/25mm Quartz singlet (w. aperture)
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/albums/72157625383642982

A selfmade f2/46mm Quartz singlet (w. aperture):
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/albums/72157625776317160

A KENKO 45mm SF lens:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/kds315/albums/72157625383753654

Kenko made a series of soft focus lenses 35mm (rare)/45mm (somewhat rare)/85mm (easy to find), rather overlooked unfortunately,
but IMHO quite fine lenses! Two 85mm are currently for sale on ebay. Quite a bit has been posted here on mflenses about them....

There is a "Soft Focus" flickr group btw.: https://www.flickr.com/groups/712053@N20/

[pdccameras]

Great examples, Klaus! it is really wonderful fun building simple lenses with single elements, such as meniscus or achromats. Close-up lenses, box camera lenses, reading glasses, magnifying glass lenses all work nicely! Like you and the OP, I enjoy working with these soft focus lenses as well. In large format days, soft focus lenses were highly regarded by the pictorialists. Lenses like the Veritar, Imagon, and the grandaddy of them all, Nicola Perscheid! I'll keep my eye out for some of those Kenko lenses you mentioned!

Best,

Paul

[charley5]

[charley5]

[stevemark]

Thambar 9cm 1:2.2 (at f2.2 and using the central filter):





The Thambar is a classic when talking about soft focus lenses. It has a very weird and complex bokeh - so it's best to simply have a dark or even black background. A dark / black background is especially recommended for studio portraits in back light.

EDIT: See the following thread for a comparison of the bokeh of different soft focus lenses (Thambar, Mamiya SF C 4/145mm, Miniolta MD 2.8/85mm Soft Focus, Tamron SP 2.8/70-150mm Soft): http://forum.mflenses.com/soft-focus-thambar-mamiya-minolta-and-tamron-zoom-t81778.html

[charley5]