First soft lens - opinions

[ostrygad]

Hello Friends !

Few days ago i have bought my first really fast lens - 300mm f3,5. No brand or manufacturer label so it`s noname. Today i have scanned first test shoot and this is the result. 5x7 camera , avaible light , portrait of Iwona. I`m curious what are you thinking about "softness". I have never got any soft focus lenses before and i wonder is it true, classic soft look ? Will be great to read some opinions :)



http://thosetendermoments.com/male/iwo.jpg

[Jim Noel]

I really like the way this lens has rendered the beauty of the subject. Good sharpness of the eyes, with appropriate softness surrounding.

[ostrygad]

Thank you Jim. Could you compare it with any "good brand" lens ? My lens looks like had removed outer barrel...strange.

[AtlantaTerry]

I like the softness of the lens. Your subject's pose was very appropriate.

What happened to your image? It looks like a stain. :(

[Jim Noel]

Since the lens does such a nice job, I would not worry about comparing it with a "name" lens. Some of my best soft focus lenses are "no-name".

[BrianShaw]

Since the lens does such a nice job, I would not worry about comparing it with a "name" lens. Some of my best soft focus lenses are "no-name".

ditto.

[ostrygad]

I like the softness of the lens. Your subject's pose was very appropriate.

What happened to your image? It looks like a stain. :(

Thank you Terry. Well, i did it on x-ray film. Some times i get strange effects like stains as you said. I dont know reasons but i have read some opinions that the emulsion is coated not equally, with different iso value or different thickness. Maybe this is the problem...

[Steven Tribe]

A F3.5 lens is unlikely to be a "no-name" production!

Your description makes it sound like it has lost the original sleeve - along with it's identity. Does it have the focusing track and is there a square area opposite the focussing track that has a slightly different brass surface finish?

And - this has a wonderful similarity to some of the classic images taken before WW1!

[ostrygad]

Steven, tomorrow i will post some lens images and we will continue discussion. Thanks :)

[Vaughn]

Great image. Personally I find any less depth of field difficult to look at (tends to look gimicky). Your image is very pleasing to look at.

Possible cause of 'stain' -- since most x-ray film has emulsion of both sides, traditional methods of developing single-sided films could cause one side to process unevenly. For example, one can't let x-ray film to sit on the bottom of a tray during development -- the side against the tray bottom could receive uneven development. I am sorry if this is too obvious of an idea.

[ostrygad]

Great image. Personally I find any less depth of field difficult to look at (tends to look gimicky). Your image is very pleasing to look at.

Possible cause of 'stain' -- since most x-ray film has emulsion of both sides, traditional methods of developing single-sided films could cause one side to process unevenly. For example, one can't let x-ray film to sit on the bottom of a tray during development -- the side against the tray bottom could receive uneven development. I am sorry if this is too obvious of an idea.

Idea is good but not in this case. I have shoot it on mamographic one side coated film. Developed in drum in rotary processor. I have quite nice results with other images but this one is the worst. Besides as you can see the film holder is not light tight at 100% so there is couple of things which i have to fixed.

[ostrygad]

Steven Tribe;1088821]A F3.5 lens is unlikely to be a "no-name" production!

Your description makes it sound like it has lost the original sleeve - along with it's identity. Does it have the focusing track and is there a square area opposite the focussing track that has a slightly different brass surface finish?

And - this has a wonderful similarity to some of the classic images taken before WW1!

Ok, so here there are some lens images. As i said there is no info about brand or manufacturer. There is also no aperture. Focal lenght and speed i calculated myself and it is correct - 300m f3,5. I unscrewed it and it is identical as Cooke`s Triplet design. I think it could be part of telescope, but any ideas would be appreciated.

106726
106727106728

[Steven Tribe]

A good quality projection lens. The screw holes in the side are where the metal lug was that ran in a track.
Very similar to the Epis series from Leitz.

Another example of non-photographic lenses producing fantastic images!

[ostrygad]

A good quality projection lens. The screw holes in the side are where the metal lug was that ran in a track.
Very similar to the Epis series from Leitz.

Another example of non-photographic lenses producing fantastic images!

wow! Thanks a lot :) Lens has quite large image coverage - 5x7 with a lots of movements. Possibly 8x10 would be covered. What kind of projector or for what images would it be use (in it`s purpose of course)?