AFAIK I'm one of only two list members with this lens, at least at the time
of the lens census a few months ago. I bought it at an insanely low price
($AUS90!!) and when I asked the store (L&P Photographics in Sydney) why,
they said Pentax wasn't pro gear so didn't hold good resale value. As I
almost never sell (I run my gear into the ground) that attitude suits me :)
Anyhow, this lens supposedly performs conventionally at f8 and smaller
although I can't confirm that as I've only ever used it for portraits at
f5.6 and wider. At f5.6 it's subtly soft, at f4 it's has nicely balanced
halos of diffuse light and at f2.8 it's extremely soft focus. Even so
there's always a core of sharp image at the centre of the diffusion, and
there is no sign of chromatic aberration amongst the softness. The bokeh is
unusual and I really should do a wider test of it. The out of focus area
forms a distinct cloud of softness but with a short transition to the
background rather than merging away into the background as is more common.
The best filter to get this effect is not the clear centre spot kind, but
the sort that has tiny irregularities molded over the whole filter surface
(I have a Cokin, the effect can probably only be molded in acrylic anyway).
Zeiss Softars (concentric etched circles) are the best glass soft focus
filters around if you must have glass.
regards,
Anthony Farr
----- Original Message -----
From: "cwo 20995" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, 15 February 2001 1:49 AM
Subject: 85mm 2.8 Soft Focus
> Does anybody knows if the 85mm 2.8 Soft Focus works as
> a "normal" lens (without the soft feature)?
>
> Claude
>
> PS. Congratulations to you all - the list is really cool.
>
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