New article: Soft-Focus Lenses and Techniques

[Ernest Purdum]

A new article,
Soft-Focus Lenses and Techniques by Ernest Purdum has been posted on largeformatphotography.info. [Note: this was posted by QTL using EP's address
so that EP would be emailed any comments.]

[Bob Salomon]

The Imagon has been available in 5 focal lengths over the past decade; 120mm, 150mm, 200mm, 250mm and 300mm. While all are now out of production there are still some new 250mm left in our stock.

The 120 and 150mm were primarily sold in a shutter and a helical focus mount that could be used on 35mm SLR cameras (with a T2 adapter) or on focal plane shutter MF cameras as well as Hasselblad 500 and Rollei 6000 systems (Rollei even supplies and adapter ring for them with their focusing shutter tube accessory). The shutter/focus mount system was made by Schmachteneurg

The 200mm was corrected for 6x6 to 6x9cm cameras and an adapter with camera mount and focusing helicoid was available for it from Rodenstock and from Zork. Both also offered a conversion mount for Mamiya RB and RZ cameras.

The 200 to 300 were available in either Copal 3 or NF mounts.

The Imagon and the Fuji are different in the way they use the discs. The Imagon uses discs that are placed in front of the front element. Depending on the lens there are 3 discs (the 300 has 2 on later production). The effects are quite different with the Imagon in that the lens is a 5.8 (200 to 300mm) without a disc or 5.8 with the first disc fully open. But the degree of halation is different. Same with the first disc fully closed and the 2nd disc fully open. Both are 7.7 but the halation is different. Again with the 2nd disc fully closed and the 3rd disc fully open. The exposure is the same and the effect is different.

So with the Imagon you can maitain an exposure and change the halation simply by the choice and setting of the disc or the use of no disc. In addition the Imagon is shipped with an ND filter which can let you have additional changes in halation while maintaining a desired aperture.

So yes, both Rodenstock and Fuji have disks - but they are used and work differently.

[Bob Salomon]

" The Zeiss Softar seems to be the most highly regarded device of this type. It has a series of concentric thread-like rings formed into the glass and is rather expensive.. "

No that is the Duto type diffusion filter.

The Zeiss Softar has random small lenses molded into the acrylic material. These look somewhat like raindrops on the Softar and you can feel them as you run your finger over the surface.

[Arne Croell]

An older version of the 300mm Imagon was also sold in a Compound 5 shutter, not only NF mount.

[Bob Salomon]

Arne,

The older one came with 3 discs since it was in a large enough shutter to use the 5.8-7.7 disc. The 3 shutter has too small an opening so that disc can not be used. There were also longer Imagons in the larger shutter sizes.

But those days and those shutters are long gone and the parts for those shutters are not readily avaiable any longer so there useful lifetimes are diminishing.

[dangal]

"A still earlier Wollensak product was the Verito. Except for the two smallest sizes, this was an f4 lens, the back group of which could be used by itself." Which I have been doing with great success. I have been taking close-up photographs of nautilus and pyramid shells with a verito 7 1/4 F4 lens mounted on a copal # 3 shutter with the rear section only which double-up the focal lenght. I Have read this possible idea in this forum before and I was reluctant initially but after giving it a go with the shells I have become in love with the results that I have been getting at F8. Larger apertures produces "too soft" an image to my liking. The two best image that I have produced I will enlarge it to mural size this weekend(4 x 5 feet) using rodenstock 150 rodagon-G two stops down. (Thanks Bob S. I have been getting great results with this recomendation and great lens). Mural size soft focus image is great!

[Jonathan Brewer]

A very informative article, I've had some good results with black toule netting, you can find this stuff at a flower shop(they use an amount as frills around flowers), I double it up on subject matter 10' or so and farther, I triple it up on close-ups/tight heads, the logic being that I found that distance is a function of whatever diffusion you're using, so much at a certain distance is too much with that same amount, but just right/submerging its presence as it merges into you texture/lighting at a closer distance from the lens.

Black toule netting looks like womens stocking but when used sparingly appears as a much more subtle 'smoothing' that merges into tone and light.

[Steve Hamley]

Folks,

An interesting post and article - thanks to Ernest.

Here's a link to a 1998 Usenet post in which the late Steve Grimes posted a couple of messages about soft focus lenses. I've experimented some with "non camera" lenses, as has Mark Tucker if you search the old photo.net archives. He used a magnifying lens from a toy store, and I used a single meniscus close up lens taped to a shutter as recommended in the Usenet post. The close up lens actually produced a very nice result.

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&threadm=01bd38a9%24f734c0e0%24654106d1%40default&rnum=4&prev=/groups%3Fq%3Dportrait%2Blens%2Bgroup:rec.photo.equipment.large-format%26hl%3Den%26lr%3D%26ie%3DUTF-8%26selm%3D01bd38a9%2524f734c0e0%2524654106d1%2540default%26rnum%3D4

There was also an article in View camera magazine not too long ago about making lenses using combinations of close up lenses.

My latest project is to remount a 360mm Universal Heliar into a Compound 5 shutter. I've been told it will lose about 1/2 stop, but this seems acceptable for gaining shutter speeds since the halation is controlled by the diffusion ring and not by the aperture. Any comments or suggestions?

BTW, I picked up an older 300mm Imagon with 2 missing discs (it has the H9.5 - H-11.5 disc) to get the synched Compound #5 shutter, and at the price I paid, I figured the glass was junk or the shutter would need major repair. Surprise! The shutter, disc, and the glass are in superb shape. So Bob, got discs?

Thanks!

Steve

[Bob Salomon]

:So Bob, got discs?"

Yup

[Jim Rice]

The VC article to which Steve refers is in the July/August 2002 issue.