Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
I asked this not long ago, but didn't get a clear answer; forgive my raising it again...
Another one has popped up on ebay as a "soft focus" lens:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ILEX-OPT-SEMINAT...QQcmdZViewItem
I bought one a while back, but it seems to have no soft focus or pictorial qualities beyond a nice-but-not-spectacular bokeh. But this is the third one I've seen go by on ebay advertised as a "soft focus" lens.
Any enlightenment?
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
If you want a lens soft , and I do not care which one: get a Nylon stocking put it over the lens , either single layer or double and prick a hole in it::
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
seawolf
If you have ever use a true soft focus lens like a Petzval. or Verito or others of their kind, you will know that a nylon stocking with a hole in it does not produce the same type of image. I thought it did until I started using soft focus lenses almost exclusively.
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
seawolf66
If you want a lens soft , and I do not care which one: get a Nylon stocking put it over the lens , either single layer or double and prick a hole in it::
And if you want to go to bed with Audrey Hepburn, get a cheap hooker and just hold a picture of Audrey in front of her face...
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jim Noel
... If you have ever use a true soft focus lens like a Petzval. ...
A Petzval is not a soft-focus lens either.
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ole Tjugen
A Petzval is not a soft-focus lens either.
I think some are, though most aren't. The Verito, Veritar, and Vitax are Petzvals, aren't they? But yes, most Petzvals are just soft at the edges from field curvature, and have swirly bokeh beyond standard coverage.
I'm not sure what design the Seminat is...
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
There are a few "Petzvals" with adjustable spacing between the two elements in the rear cell which introduces "softness".
But the vast majority of Petzvals are unbeliveably sharp in the central part, which is all that was intended to be used. Somewhere I saw scanning electron microscope pictures of a daguerreotype - the (Petzval-exposed) picture was still sharper than anything you can do with modern equipment and film!
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Ole Tjugen
There are a few "Petzvals" with adjustable spacing between the two elements in the rear cell which introduces "softness".
But the vast majority of Petzvals are unbeliveably sharp in the central part, which is all that was intended to be used. Somewhere I saw scanning electron microscope pictures of a daguerreotype - the (Petzval-exposed) picture was still sharper than anything you can do with modern equipment and film!
Yup! And you can buy a state-of-the-art refracting telescope with a Petzval lens because that's still what's sharpest in that narrow field of view.
But no one knows what a Seminat is... :(
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
I've been searching, and all I can find about the Seminat is "construction: Unknown"...
Re: Is the Ilex Seminat a soft focus lens?
Mark, you obviously don't understand Ebay. 105mm Tominon's are wide angle lenses for 4X5, and Seminat's are whatever some guy 3 years ago said they are :rolleyes:
BTW Verito's and Veritar's are NOT petzvals. Vitax and Vesta are. I don't know what a Seminat is either and I don't like Ilex lenses enough to buy one and find out. Triplet perhaps? Maybe someone will read this and tell us.