... soft focus and "swirly" lenses. I've nothing against them but I do NOT like them.

I've been seeking nice... dare I say "bokeh"? Nahh... I'll say pretty (smooth) out-of-focus areas... and I've learned that bokeh and "sharpest" lens design are, more often than not, mutually exclusive. That doesn't mean I'll give up pretty out-of-focus areas for sharpness and I think there is SURELY A MIDDLE GROUND to be had. For instance, really well made so-called "soft-focus" lenses such as the Kodak Portrait lenses, Rodenstock Imagons, Fujinon-SF, etc. Those are intentionally designed with chromatic aberrations but, when stopped down, are pretty darned sharp... but still retain very nice out-of-focus quality... "IF" the aperture is very round.

Arguments listened to...