About soft focus, heavy bokeh?

[pico]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

How would you all feel about the revival of the Thambar, or something like the Rodenstock Imagon in a similar focal length?

 

http://www.digoliardi.net/fl/pampas.jpg

[tobey bilek]

We have photoshop now which has vastly more control than a hard to focus lens. My 125 mm Imagon gathers dust for long periods.

[pgk]

These lenses already exist but from what I have seen get very little use. Reviving them seems somewhat irrelevant in such circumstances given that whilst the old lenses may be expensive, new ones are likely be equally costly.

[pico]

We have photoshop now which has vastly more control than a hard to focus lens. My 125 mm Imagon gathers dust for long periods.

 

With respect, we differ Mr. Bilek. Bokeh of the kind shown in my link cannot be made in photoshop, nor can photoshop really duplicate the old, variable brass soft focus lenses we enjoy with large format. I have a couple Imagons, too. I use them without the discs, and all wide-open. Quite a challenge! I cannot say I've ever made an image with one that I like. Yet.

 

Paul: The image I pointed to below was not made with a terribly expensive lens - a Canon f0.95 adapted to the M9. I prefer its bokeh to what I've seen with various Noctiluxes. It is a personal thing for certain. The Canon definitely hasn't the sharpness, but I've finally nailed the adaption to the focus issues. (All it took was three different Canon f0.95 lenses to get it right, but I sold them to break even.)

[Clive Murray-White]

I agree photoshop wont get you effects like that - I think there's another point that would preclude anyone bothering to revive lenses like this, they kind of fall into what some photographers call their "loony" lens category because they produce wild and unpredictable effects - I had a friend who had quite a selection of crazy, probably defective lenses, her favourite was one that just made spooky pictures (couldn't explain it any other way) she'd do a whole show using it and it worked for her.

 

So my advice is enjoy them, find a subject that you think really suits them and don't tell anyone how you did it!!

[250swb]

Zeiss did it recently with the 50mm ZM Sonnar, soft and glowing wide open with nice bokeh. Perhaps not an extreme example but at least they saw the market for a lens that exhibited a different look. CV do something similar with the single coated M lenses they make.

 

I have often thought that it would be nice for Leica (or anybody) to make a proper series of lenses with less contrast to get away from the harsh technical look that modern state of the art lenses can impart. I'm sure that on a digital M they would give that film look many people miss.

 

So yes, I vote for something more interesting in the lens lineup.

 

Steve

[giordano]

Advertisement (gone after registration)

I have often thought that it would be nice for Leica (or anybody) to make a proper series of lenses with less contrast to get away from the harsh technical look that modern state of the art lenses can impart. I'm sure that on a digital M they would give that film look many people miss.

 

Anyone can make a low-contrast lens. Just open up a modern state of the art lens and clean a few of the glass surfaces with a Scotch-Brite Stainless Steel scouring pad.

[tobey bilek]

With respect, we differ Mr. Bilek. Bokeh of the kind shown in my link cannot be made in photoshop, nor can photoshop really duplicate the old, variable brass soft focus lenses we enjoy with large format. I have a couple Imagons, too. I use them without the discs, and all wide-open. Quite a challenge! I cannot say I've ever made an image with one that I like. Yet.

 

Paul: The image I pointed to below was not made with a terribly expensive lens - a Canon f0.95 adapted to the M9. I prefer its bokeh to what I've seen with various Noctiluxes. It is a personal thing for certain. The Canon definitely hasn't the sharpness, but I've finally nailed the adaption to the focus issues. (All it took was three different Canon f0.95 lenses to get it right, but I sold them to break even.)

 

With due respect, depends on how skilled you are. Certainly gaussian blur will not due it. Besides we are not talking 8x10 cameras and contact prints which is where these lenses excelled. We are trying to get something from 35 mm format which is a different matter.

 

Cooke Optics ran a survey about 5 years back after they introduced the 245 mm lens for 4x5 and concluded there was not enough interest among small format users. So it seems we are stuck with the rare 125 mm imagon or the screw on attachments most of which are terrible, or photoshop.

[algrove]

 

I have often thought that it would be nice for Leica (or anybody) to make a proper series of lenses with less contrast to get away from the harsh technical look that modern state of the art lenses can impart. I'm sure that on a digital M they would give that film look many people miss.

 

So yes, I vote for something more interesting in the lens lineup.

 

Steve

 

Steve

Got just what you want. Just buy older pre-ASPH Leica lenses and voila!

[jaapv]

With due respect, depends on how skilled you are. Certainly gaussian blur will not due it. Besides we are not talking 8x10 cameras and contact prints which is where these lenses excelled. We are trying to get something from 35 mm format which is a different matter.

 

Cooke Optics ran a survey about 5 years back after they introduced the 245 mm lens for 4x5 and concluded there was not enough interest among small format users. So it seems we are stuck with the rare 125 mm imagon or the screw on attachments most of which are terrible, or photoshop.

Hmm. I think I know how to use Photoshop. But digital bokeh is not the same as oof ares produced by a good lens....

[Double Negative]

That's some... Interesting bokeh!

 

I prefer my bokeh (and everything else, as much as possible) to come straight from the camera. One click (of the shutter) and done. Photoshop is nice and all, but it's not the same.

[scsambrook]

I had the loan of a Thambar once - many years ago now - and was really intrigued with the results it produced. I hadn't fully come to terms with it when its owner came to "borrow it back" a couple of weeks later. Getting over the learning curve would be a lot quicker with digital than it was with film.

 

Given the current obsession with out-of-focusness I think there might well be a niche market for something on the same lines, provided the price stayed below stratospheric levels. Which, of course, eliminates Leica Camera as a maker. But the Thambar was not a particularly complex lens, so maybe a nimble-footed maker like Cosina could produce a modern incarnation to sell around the price of their 75mm f1.8. With a bit more ingenuity, the optical section might also be put out in mounts for digital reflexes . . . Should be fun to focus then:)