[Mike Bokeh]

I'm not sure the highly specialized Tiffen filters are best for this application. For example, the Soft F/X, Warm Soft F/X, and Sofnet Skintone filters are primarily designed for people (portraits, etc), not guitars. The Black Pro-Mist filter is a step in the right direction, but I personally wouldn't use it for this. In fact, I probably wouldn't use any Tiffen filter, or any distortion filter at all, for this subject. But, if I absolutely had to use a filter, a very mild blur filter, or even the camera's built-in digital filter at it's lowest setting, would likely be the better choice.

stewart

I hear what you're saying about the Black Pro-Mist, Stewart.

I've used it for female portraits, but didn't like it nearly as much as the warm Soft F/X.

The Soft F/X filters are my favorites, because they don't lower the contrast as much as the other filters do. By the way, the Soft F/X filters are only available in grades 4 and 5 as a special order from Tiffen, as per an e-mail response I got from someone there over a year ago. I bought my grade 5 filter a while back.

I think the Cokin Pastel and the Black Pro-Mist give similar results.

Obviously there's no one filter that's right for all soft shots.

I'll have to do some more testing, and this time see if I can round up some good-looking ladies as the subjects.

Mike

[marcdsgn]

When you use Photoshop, you get a blur ... I believe that there are plugins for Photoshop that attempt to simulate real out of focus effects.

You don't need plug-ins to get the soft-focus effect. Here's the trick:

1) Duplicate your background layer.
2) Select the duplicate layer, and play around with Gaussian Blur to give it a slight blur.
3) Pull the layer's transparency down to around 50% or less.

What will occur is that the blurred layer will become transparent, allowing the sharp-focus background layer to show through. This quite accurately simulates a traditional soft-focus effect, giving the effect of a properly focussed image with a soft haze rather than a blur.

Once you're satisfied with the amount of transparency, flatten the image (ie:convert it to a single layer).

[amateur6]

marcdsgn's is a good start; there are other, more advanced tricks (I can provide step-by-step if anyone's interested, but I suspect not) -- and then there's this:

Trueblur Home

Considering that everything fixerlabs does is EXIF-adjusted, that means (well, *should* mean; I haven't actually bought any yet but they're on my list) that different aperture openings and lenses will generate different blurs. Which is pretty darn cool.

They're Photoshop plug-ins, BTW, aside from their resizing app, which is standalone and (purportedly) even better than Genuine Fractals.

[Myltlpny]

This is actually a very timely thread for me. I've been looking at getting a soft focus filter for my K100d. I knew the camera had some internal filters, but I prefer to compose the shot through the viewfinder, no electronically.
Of the digital filters, I prefer shot #2 of the violin. The other digital filters seemed to alter the overall definition, almost like it wasn't soft focus but out of focus, if that makes sense.
However, Shot #10 with the Tiffen filter seems the best overall. It has a nice focus and color, yet still has a softness to it.
While I'll probably do some experimenting with the internal filters, I think I will look into picking up a glass filter. It's not like I don't have a bunch already.
Thanks a bunch.

[CJCram]

I don't know if you're interested in this or if it's even close to an effect you would like, but you could try a Lensbaby. I recently got one and I'm very much enjoying it. It has a lot more blur than you are talking about, but it also uses a sharp "sweet spot". It's a tilt/shift lens so that you can increase the blur effect by slightly bending the lens if you like. The Lensbaby original is much more soft focus than the later versions, while the 2.0 and 3G have sharp sweet spots. I personally like this effect because you still have part of the photo in focus which draws your eye to that area, while soft focussing and blurring the rest. Here's a link to a photo I posted recently taken with the Lensbaby 2.0 (f2 aperture).

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/18512-finally-figuring-out-lensbaby.html

[Rickster]

Anybody here from the 'old school'?

You can cobble up just about any kind of soft filter you need with a cheap UV filter and some petroleum jelly. An old portrait pro taught me that trick ages ago.

[Tom M]

Anybody here from the 'old school'?

You can cobble up just about any kind of soft filter you need with a cheap UV filter and some petroleum jelly. An old portrait pro taught me that trick ages ago.

I was reading this thread thinking, I'm gonna give them all a dirt-cheap trick that works incredible well but, Rickster beat me to it.

[Mike Bokeh]

I don't know if you're interested in this or if it's even close to an effect you would like, but you could try a Lensbaby. I recently got one and I'm very much enjoying it. It has a lot more blur than you are talking about, but it also uses a sharp "sweet spot". It's a tilt/shift lens so that you can increase the blur effect by slightly bending the lens if you like. The Lensbaby original is much more soft focus than the later versions, while the 2.0 and 3G have sharp sweet spots. I personally like this effect because you still have part of the photo in focus which draws your eye to that area, while soft focussing and blurring the rest. Here's a link to a photo I posted recently taken with the Lensbaby 2.0 (f2 aperture).

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/18512-finally-figuring-out-lensbaby.html

The original is more of a soft-focus lens than other versions?
Lensbabies | Original Lensbaby Special Effects Lens | LBOPK

So, if it's roughly a 50mm lens, that would translate to a 75mm for digital, making it an ideal portrait lens. The image of the grassy meadow reminds me of the results my Sima soft-focus lens gave, which I miss due to the fact it has a Canon mount, and therefore unusable on my Pentax K100D.

I think I'll pick one up at B&H as soon as I can.

Thanks very much, CJCram. This is right up my alley.

Mike

[CJCram]

No problem I stumbled upon it accidentally but it's totally my style of lens. If you take a look at the website Lensbabies >>> Selective Focus SLR camera lenses (if you haven't already) you can get a better idea of the potential of the lens and what the differences are between the 3 models. They have some neat attachments too to make it a macro lens, a wide angle or aperture rings with different shapes.

[Mike Bokeh]

No problem I stumbled upon it accidentally but it's totally my style of lens. If you take a look at the website Lensbabies >>> Selective Focus SLR camera lenses (if you haven't already) you can get a better idea of the potential of the lens and what the differences are between the 3 models. They have some neat attachments too to make it a macro lens, a wide angle or aperture rings with different shapes.

OH, MAN! This is just what I've been looking for.

I'm very much into soft-focus portraits, and looking through the galleries, I can see that this lens gives results similar to my Sima soft-focus lens. See the Sima lens link in post #7.

Now, I just have to decide which lensbaby to get.

Thank you again very much, CJCram.

Mike

[TomInJax]

Anybody here from the 'old school'?

You can cobble up just about any kind of soft filter you need with a cheap UV filter and some petroleum jelly. An old portrait pro taught me that trick ages ago.

Another old school solution. Take a piece of ladies nylon hose, and stretch it out around a filter or just use a rubber band and stretch it out over the end of your lens. Try different colors - black, white, dark brown, etc. See which you like the best. This is something I used to use in my portrait studio and portrait photographers have been using it for decades! It is a very nice effect!

[Mike Bokeh]

Hello again, folks; I have a question: Which mount should I get for the Lensbaby?

Adorama and B&H both have the Lensbaby in the Pentax universal screw mount, and the Pentax K mount. Scroll down to about the middle of the page.

Does it matter?
lensbabies

Mike

[amateur6]

Hello again, folks; I have a question: Which mount should I get for the Lensbaby?

Adorama and B&H both have the Lensbaby in the Pentax universal screw mount, and the Pentax K mount. Scroll down to about the middle of the page.

Does it matter?
lensbabies

I shouldn't think that it would matter (considering the "aperture" set-up of a lensbaby) except that it's a heck of a lot easier to swap a K mount on & off than it is a screw-mount... In my experience, anyhow.

[marcdsgn]

Imagine walking into a pharmacy (drug store) on a Friday afternoon and asking for a pile of pantyhose and a tub of jelly!


... Ahhh, those sort of photos, eh??

[digitaldevo]

I used to use glass ones and occasionally in PS as well. But I now prefer the K10D built in soft filters to be honest, they are awesome! Expensive filter looks for nothing and nothing on the lens either!