From what you have said, it does not sound like you want a true soft focus lens, but rather something fast with a smooth bokeh. If this is the case, for your 4x5 I think a f4.5 Tessar/Xenar or maybe even a Heliar (slightly softer than a Tessar) would be ideal. Any of these can be found in shutter. I would guess you are looking at $400+ for a 300mm f4.5 Xenar, and maybe $700+ for a 300mm f4.5 Heliar. Both can be found in factory mounted in Compound 5 shutters, and both will overwhelm (weight, bellows, and lensboard size) a 4x5 field camera.
Bookmarks