good soft focus portrait equipment?
AMN
filter. This is for personal use. But I have 2 problems.
1- Even with the softfocus filter, everybody looks terrible (reality).
Adults hate the look of themselves because it makes the slightest
imperfection really noticeable. Bags under eyes. Skin complexion problems.
It all shows really badly.
2- With the soft focus filter, the n80 has trouble focusing. My lens, by
the way, is not the one with the built in motor. The auto focus goes in
and out and won't stop on the subject. Now you could say "go autofocus"
but I can't because a) I'm shooting babies with adults and I bought this
autofocus base just because I need the relatively fast focus and b) Even if
I tried, I'm always shooting at f2.8 and that leaves little room for error
with the short depth of field. If I'm off by a little, I'm screwed.
I went to one of those Picture Studios in the mall, and they use medium
format cameras with a soft focus lens, manual focus, and their stuff looks
great. I was in one picture and I looked 10 years younger. And everything
still looked clear. I don't want the expense of medium format developing,
but I was sure tempted to just buy their equipment.
So I'm ready to throw something out (my lens or camera or filter or ...) but
I don't what, or maybe everything. I'm disappointed with all this. I'm
ready to switch manufacturers if needed. Give me a suggestion please of
equipment that makes everyone feel so young instead of looking 10 years
OLDER!!
Jeff Novick
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Yung Mah
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Iain Govan
Lighting.
Are you using direct light sources such as on-camera flash ?
The effect of the lighting you use will have a greater effect on the
harshness of the result than your equipment will.
/Iain
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Dilbertdroid2
pro zoom lenses in that focal range that has ever been made. Not the best
portrait lens. Sharpness and resolving power is not a big plus in a portrait
lens.
Problem no. 2 is that you put on a soft filter to soften a lens that you paid a
lot of money for sharpness. Soft filters are generally the equivalent of
shooting through vaseline on the lens, not the best visual medium.
Problem no. 3 is that you don't mention lighting. Nothing is more important
in portrait work than lighting. If lighting is not your primary concern, you
will probably not get very good portraits. Large, diffused light sources are
best. You can use simple things like white matte board as a reflector with
window light, all the way up through expensive strobes with big soft boxes.
The important thing is to minimize sharp shadows and point light sources. You
can still get good facial modeling with light and shadow with diffuse light
sources.
Problem no. 3 is that you don't mention film. Film is important too. Avoid
high contrast films and highly saturated films like Fuji Velvia. Fuji Sensia
and Kodak Portra are some films that work well for portraits and skin tones.
You also mention the photo studio with a soft focus lens (very often a Mamiya
RZ 67with the 180mm SFT) but probably don't realize your photos have been
retouched to take out things like eye crinkle lines. This is one of the
easiest ways to make a subject look younger. Same thing can be done in
photoshop with pictures that have been converted to digital form. The soft
focus lens, however, is a different story. Most of these lenses use spherical
abberation to create an effect that reduces or eliminates small details while
keeping larger details sharp. Photos taken with proper lighting and lens
setup with this type of lens don't really look soft or diffused but still have
a great "soft" quality that lends itself to portraits.
Peter M (Remove the 12x12 in my e-mail to reply)
I know you said you don't want to manual focus, but I did it for years
with kids, dogs, etc - practise.
>So I'm ready to throw something out (my lens or camera or filter or ...) ..
Rather than throwing out - do you have an old camera body? I made a
soft focus lens about twenty years ago from an orange juice tin for
the barrel and a magnifying glass for the lens. Focused by sliding the
two parts of the barrel, attached one end to a mount for my Nikon FM2.
Got some prize winning nudes, but then they weren't moving too fast!
Peter M.
Peter E Mezciems, MD, CCFP, FASAM, Listowner ADD_MED
<pm...@sympatico.ca>, Tel: 519-824-1010, ext 159
Post Traumatic Stress Recovery Unit, Homewood Addiction Division,
150 Delhi Street, Guelph ON N1E 6K9 Canada
Bob Hickey
umbrella, and shoot the flash THRU it. They're cheap. For babies, you
can shoot down, as people get older, you can aim the lite level, and for
middle-age, you have to keep the umbrella low, and shoot slightly
upward. Wrinkles and creases form downward, and to fill their shadow,
the lite must come from below. Get 2 small pieces of nylon mesh
fablic, 1 piece black, 1 white, and rubberband one around the lens. You
want the kind that you can't hardly see thru the viewfinder. Or Tiffen
makes them with the mesh inside. "Hollywood" somthing. The point
is: you want the lite at least twice as big as the subject, then soften
that. Last; get a good low contrast portrait film. I've had good
luck with NPS, but there's others. The saturated films can create a
chalky white holloween look. There's a thought. Good luck.
Bob Hickey
"You can see a lot, just by looking."
Joseph Meehan
Buy a cheap UV filter (you could use plain glass, but they are harder to
find and are likely to cost more.). Get some petroleum jelly. Goop some on
the filter. Put most of it on the outside edges. Play with it and add or
clean the filter as needed to get the effect you want. With the center
clear, your auto focus is likely to work better, but it does depend on the
camera.
As for auto focus, I suggest giving it up. Fine if it works for you,
but my personal experience is it is not going to work well with what you
want. Try this. Select the distance first, then make sure you (the
photographer) are that distance away from the subject. It is a technique
that was used long ago in the old SpeedGraph days of my misspent youth when
I tried to make a living in photography. It takes a little practice, but it
really works well once you get the feel for it.
--
Dia 's Muire duit
Joseph E. Meehan
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Anthony Zipple
AMN
with no digital anything and no retouching.
"Dilbertdroid2" <dilber...@aol.com> wrote in message
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AMN
see it. A couple of vague references but nothing really. Could you
explain?
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AMN
under complete cloudiness, a couple hours before sunset.
"Iain Govan" <ia...@landofnod.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
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AMN
Yes, I used the soft focus filter because I don't see another option. I
can still use the lens for sharpness otherwise.
Lighting? I've thought about buying an umbrella-style flash but I really
want something easier for personal use. Would an add-on-top flash be any
good to help make things softer?
Ah, film. I use the standard Kodak Gold 200 ASA. Would the other films
you mentioned be better for bags under eyes or making one's complexion look
smoother?
Thanks!
"Dilbertdroid2" <dilber...@aol.com> wrote in message
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Joseph Meehan
come second. The great oil artist as well as the great photographic artist
are known for their use of light above all else. There is a reason for
that.
Stop by the library or the book store and get one or more books on
photograph lighting. There are a number of ways of providing great lighting
and not all of them are expensive, but none of them are done with a single
on camera flash. (Having said that, there are some people who can do
wonders with just that, but they are the exception.)
--
Dia 's Muire duit
Joseph E. Meehan
"AMN" <newsCAPSgr...@DELETEALLCAPSyahoo.com> wrote in message
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> Is the 85mm f/1.8D AF Nikkor lens softer?
>
...
The Dave©
had a "soft focus" mode. Apparently, what it does is take two pictures on
the same frame, one in focus and one slightly out of focus. You can use any
current EF lens. Because these are two of the earlier Rebel models you
could probably pick one up from eBay or some other source relatively cheap.
Zeljko Kardum
>
> Problem no. 1 is that you've purchased one of the sharpest, best-performing
> pro zoom lenses in that focal range that has ever been made. Not the best
> portrait lens. Sharpness and resolving power is not a big plus in a portrait
> lens.
Open aperture up to 2.8. Problem no.1 solved.
Take Kodak slide film ISO400 Ektachrome (personally I hate it), shoot in
a open shade and that's it.
Kardum
http://www.kardum.com/
Martin Francis
Use a tripod.
Use Reala or one of the other neutral colour films (Portra NC, for example)
For soft focus, consider a dedicated soft focus lens or one of the high
quality filters.
Buy a book on portraiture.
--
"Everyone's always in favour of saving Hitler's brain, but when you put it
in the body of a great white shark, ohh-ohh-ohh, suddenly you've gone too
far!"
-- Prof. Hubert Farnsworth
Yung Mah
Is a place to buy Softars, they are filters, but is the standard in the
industry for soft focus, they are normally used in medium format cameras, as
in the studio that you had your pictures done.
Zeiss Softer Filters
The original Zeiss Softars are special plastic discs with small built in
mini diffuser lenses. They are the optimum in soft focus filters. In
comparison with other diffusers, the Softars maintain a certain basic
sharpness at any aperture for greater depth of field without changing
softness. The Softar has long been a basic requirement for the portrait
photographer.
Softars may be combined with each other. Making other strengths for
individual creativity Softars are available in three strengths (#1, #2 & #3)
in all popular sizes 52 mm to 105 mm. Special sizes for Hasselblad and
Rollei lenses.
Softar I, II Ziess: (B+W ) Special lenses with mini diffuser lenses randomly
arranged Softars can be used at any f/stop without changing the degree of
softness. Softars can be used together to increase the softness. Not
available in 60E size
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Jack A. Zucker
soft than the other. They are very similar to the Zeiss Softar filters which
cost about 5x as much. I never could understand the logic of paying for
Zeiss quality glass when you are trying to degrade the image. The Hoyas are
about $28/ea from B&H
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Dilbertdroid2
80-200, especially when opened all the way.
<<Yes, I used the soft focus filter because I don't see another option. I
can still use the lens for sharpness otherwise.>>
You might want to try the Zeiss Softar that other people are mentioning. The
only problem is that these filters are very delicate and very expensive,
especially in the large sized needed for the 80-200.
<<<Lighting? I've thought about buying an umbrella-style flash but I really
want something easier for personal use. Would an add-on-top flash be any
good to help make things softer?>>>
No, it will make things worse. A white reflector is cheapest. There are
many different kinds available from different suppliers. I'd recommend one of
the round collapsible reflectors about 1 meter to 1.5 meters in diameter.
Photoflex makes some very nice ones, including reflectors with gold on one side
(makes the light warmer) and white on the other side.) Use a large window as
your primary light and use the reflector next to the camera to reflect window
light onto the shaded side of the subject to reduce the shadows. Use a tripod
to steady the camera.
<<<Ah, film. I use the standard Kodak Gold 200 ASA. Would the other films
you mentioned be better for bags under eyes or making one's complexion look
smoother?>>>
The other films I mention have lower contrast, which does help with bags and
the complexion in that they reduce the difference in contrast between the
lightest and darkest areas of the picture. They also have much finer grain
than 200 and better flesh tones.
Dilbertdroid2
Just how do you figure that? the 80-200mm f2.8 Nikkor is still professionally
sharp wide open-- although the background will tend to drop out.
AMN
before.
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David Kieltyka
> http://members.aol.com/filtershop/
>
> Is a place to buy Softars, they are filters, but is the standard in the
> industry for soft focus, they are normally used in medium format
> cameras, as in the studio that you had your pictures done.
Just to note: Softars are available all over the place online, not just via
AOL (blech!). I've used a #1 on an 85mm Zeiss Sonnar with very nice results.
-Dave-
James Meckley
>
> I should add that I'm using the TIFFEN SF/X 2. I didn't specify the brand
> before.
Yes, this information is very important. I assumed you were talking
about a Nikon No. 2 Soft filter, which is *very* extreme in its effect.
The Tiffen SF/X No. 2 is very subtle; I can understand how you might
have trouble seeing its effect. I suggest you try a No. 3 or No. 4 in
the same line, or more to the point, one of the following, each of which
has its adherents:
Nikon No. 1 Soft
Zeiss Softar No. 1 (as previously suggested and discussed).
Both are stronger and provide a more beautiful effect than the one you
are using.
James Meckley
Zeljko Kardum
How do I figure that? I shoot with this lens!
"Sharp wide open"? Yes, but soft. (and I'm not talking about the
background).
Kardum
http://www.kardum.com/
Dilbertdroid2
soft. (and I'm not talking about the background).>>
With statements like that, they should name a detergent after you... OxyMoron.
Zeljko Kardum
Sorry for my ignorance... but I did not get it.
Was that joke? Good joke? What's OxyMoron???
You can not imagine that something is sharp, but not as sharp as it is
when you stop lens down? That's precisely what happen with Nikkor
80-200/2.8 at 2.8. I'm not talking about backround sharpeness and light
fall-off... I'm talking about sharpenes in a center of a picture.
Kardum