Originally posted by lotech No offense, there are some lenses produced for specific purposes and became hot items sought after, but in the digital age s/w can almost do magic can turn a perfect shot into any art form you want, so that I will make my best effort to take the best shot and would not invest on those things.
And I have heard this argument many times. However the end user of said argument typically has zero skills in PP to actually
accurately replicate said effect (
authentically), typically they are even against supporting certain software that is
capable of mimicking said effect (Adobe/PS). Just because s/w
can replicate the effect is not the same thing as saying
you can replicate the same effect. And also at what cost? How long does it take in PP to try and replicate an effect that a certain artistic lens can do natively? Why then choose a FA Ltd that renders bokeh indifferently from a lens such as a Da Ltd? The same arguments apply here also.
When you shoot professionally and factor in your editing time as actual cost of job, the $199 Sol 45 becomes an absolute bargain for what it can do... it SAVES money in the long run because it saves time and does what the photographer wants at the time of shot. You might as well say using gels on flashes is pointless too, but then many see the investment in gels vs PP time as more than enough reason to use them. CPL is not an easy effect to fake too, should we not use them either? Or ND filters? Lenses are just tools, period. You might not like them and prefer non 'weird' lenses but photography is actually not always about what you like, sometimes it's about pleasing someone else. One bride in particular enjoyed these recent shots taken with the Velvet 56;
I am not offended. I am a photographer who utilises a wide variety of tools to derive a certain effect or look. From off camera flash to specific lenses, they are all just tools. In the same way some photographers have decided to leave Pentax due to a less than stella AF capability to some photographers whom come across to Pentax for superior ruggedness and better RAW files.
Lensbaby have officially said they will discontinue supporting Pentax mount (but have said if you reach out to them personally they should be able to make a lens in K mount at no additional cost) but we also have Sigma pulling out of supporting Pentax. This is less than ideal for Pentax period, doesn't matter what kind of lens support you like, less is less and that's not so cool.