What camera lens helps soften a portrait?

Question

What camera lens helps soften a portrait?

Answer 1

softening a portrait is accomplished through setting in the flash, using indirect light, and the use of certain filters on the lens.  

Answer 2

I think Nikon makes a Soft Focus Lens (probably very expensive), other than that you can smear vaseline on the lens face.

Answer 3

Not so much the lens.

Have found a short telephoto works well to eliminate distortion  on  head shots & a soft focus kills too much "detail"...tips from an old pro friend.

Can also take wider shots ,  then crop & enlarge the portrait area.

Soft or natural lighting as well as the old nylon trick work .

Could use a neutral filter w/ a little vaseline on it also ( really old)

Best regards

Answer 4

I have a Mamiya 150mm soft focus for an RB67 which shoots 120 film.

You can soften the focus in a variety of ways.  If you don't have a SF lens, you can use a diffusing filter that screws on to your camera lens like any other filter.  They will come in various grades of diffusion, so you have to pick one you like.  

If you are printing your own photos, you can also use a variety of things to do your job.  There has been one suggestion of a nylon stocking, that works, but I started out using a piece of celophane and moving it around for a couple of seconds between the enlarger and the easel.  I have heard of people who blew cigarette smoke to diffuse

Answer 5

Woman's nylon stocking over the lens will do it.

Answer 6

DL's right.  You matter way more than your lens.

If you want the whole thing thing softer just throw it out of focus a bit.  That thing about the stocking over the lens might be interesting.  But if you're talking about the background being thrown out of focus and your subject being sharp then you're talking about aperture.

Set your aperture as high as it can go (which will actually be a lower number, weird I know) like f2 or f2.8 and that will achieve that effect for you.

Good luck.

Answer 7

its not the lens. its the photographer.

get your camera out of auto mode.