Fun with Sima SF 100mm f2 Soft Focus Lens -- Part 2

I forgot to mention that this lens is also a macro lens.  There are advantages for a lens with sliding focus.  To get macro, you simply pull the inner tube out as far as you can get focus.

There is no helicoid in this lens, as you can see from the picture from the last blog entry.  Focusing is achieved by sliding the inner lens tube in and out.  Once in focus, you hold the inner tube and press the shutter on your camera.  That's it.  This sounds awkward to use, but it isn't. It's as fast as any manual focus lens.  The beauty of a lens like this one is that you don't need "critical" focus.  If it's slightly out of focus, the picture will be just a bit more soft, instead of blurry.

In use, I found that wide open at f2 is not usable, because the effect is too soft and you won't see much details.  The best compromise is set the lens to f4 with the supplied aperture disc.  At f4, the images are still soft, but it creates more depth of field and improved contrast and sharpness, as well as better details.  From f5.6 on, the lens behaves almost like a normal lens, except the colour is still wacky, and you lose that soft effect.  This is similar to the Canon 135mm f2.8 SF lens, which I will talk about in a future blog entry.

Soft focus lens is a special application lens that has limited use.  Great for women, or couples to create that romantic/dreamy quality.  I especially like it in black and white, but for certain subjects like flowers under certain light conditions, colour is also very enjoyable.  Just don't expect accurate colours from it, that's all.  As a specialty lens, which you won't use too often, it's probably not a good idea to buy an expensive dedicated soft focus lens, unless you can turn off the soft effect.  The Canon SF 135mm f2.8 and Nikon 135mm f2 DC can turn off the effect and can be used as a normal lens, but I am not sure about other soft focus lenses.

I found that strong, directional lighting can create some very nice effects, especially in the evening, or early morning light.  Back lit subjects are usually disastrous because the flare and internal reflection can make the images appear to be in a thick layer of fog.  In normal photography, you would avoid direct lighting, because that would create shadows or the picture will look harsh, but for this lens, it's best used this way.  The strong light will create a luminous, very pleasing soft effect.

Rose in the evening light -- Pentax *ist DL & Sima 100mm f2 @ f4.  Larger Picture.

Megan -- Canon 5D & Sima 100mm f2 @ f4. Larger Picture.

Fun with Sima SF 100mm f2 Soft Focus Lens -- Part 1

Almost all major manufacturers makes a soft focus lens.  Canon has the SF 135mm f2.8, Nikon has the 135mm f2 DC, Pentax has the 85mm f2.8, FujiFilm has the 85mm f4, and Minolta makes a 100mm f2.8 and a 85mm f2.8 Varisoft.  I don't know if Olympus ever made one.  If you know, please let me know.  All of these soft focus lenses are very expensive or rare, costing hundreds of dollars or more.

There are many ways to achieve the soft focus effect. There are lots of soft effect filters of all kinds, the more expensive (Zeiss Softar comes to mind) ones cost almost as much as a cheaper soft focus lens.  So, as you can see, you can get soft effect from very cheap to very expensive.  In the olden days as a poor student, I made my own soft focus filter by applying a light coat of Vasoline on a UV filter.  Still others use a stocking to cover a normal lens to soften the light.  Which way should you choose to go?  Vasoline is messy, soft filters are a nuisance to carry around and use, dedicated soft focus lenses have a narrow application and expensive.

There is a nice compromise.

Enter the Sima SF 100mm f2 soft focus lens.  The lens comes with 3 filters that goes in the front of the lens.  This filters makes the lens f4, f5.6 and f8.  Without the filter, it's f2.  This is one of the cheapest, yet the most fun lens I have.  Very often turns up on eBay and can be had for about $25.  Very cheaply built, this T-Mount lens is made entirely of plastic, even the mount.  The lens comes in two parts as tubes.  The focusing part has the lens element, and is smaller.  It goes into the other, larger tube which has a lens mount.  The lens element is very deep into the tube and very hard to clean.  The good thing is that this is a soft focus lens, a bit of dust will just add a bit more softness to the pictures!  If you must clean it, just put it in the dishwasher, and it will come out nice and clean.  Probably the only lens I know of that can be washed without fear.

The lens element is un-coated, and uncorrected, thus giving you lots of aberration -- the colours captured with this lens is unprodictable.  What you see on the view finder is almost never what you get.  It's kind of a nice surprise, sometimes.

Next part, we will talk about how to use this wonderfully cheap lens.

Sima SF 100mm f2 plastic soft focus lens in its basic parts. Left is the outer tube that houses the inner tube with the lens element (middle), and on the right is the lens filter made of plastic. Larger Picture.

Megan -- Canon 5D & Sima SF 100mm f2 @ f2. It's a bit too soft at f2. Larger Picture.

Cube -- Canon 5D & Sima SF 100mm f2 @ f4. Larger Picture.