The Soft Focus Optic is part of the Lensbaby Optic Swap System, for use with Lensbaby’s Creative Effects SLR Camera lenses, the Composer, Muse, and Control Freak.  The Soft Focus Optic allows photographers to turn their Lensbaby SLR lens into a soft focus lens by swapping out the installed optic and dropping the new Soft Focus Optic into the lens.  

Soft Focus Optic images are overall soft and diffuse, while somewhat sharper in the center than at the edges.  Photographers can control the degree of softness by using special soft focus apertures by themselves or in conjunction with regular Lensbaby aperture disks.

The Soft Focus Optic is different than Lensbaby’s previous optics, with a much flatter field of focus than the Double Glass, Single Glass, and Plastic Optics.  The images created by the Soft Focus Optic have a beautiful, soft quality throughout the image and do not feature the Sweet Spot of sharp focus and dramatic blur outside of that spot created by the Double Glass, Single Glass, and Plastic Optics.   Instead of bending the lens, photographers will typically point their Lensbaby straight ahead to achieve a classic soft focus look.

The Soft Focus Optic works with standard Lensbaby apertures, but also comes with three special soft focus multi-hole apertures that combine one large opening over the optic's sharp center with small openings over the optic's soft edges.  This hole pattern creates a sharp underlying image with a soft overlay.  Photographers can stack the soft focus apertures together or with standard Lensbaby apertures to vary the amount of softness.

Soft Focus Optic Features:

• Focal Length: 50mm
• f/2 to f/22
• Multi-coated optical glass doublet
• Creates images that are overall soft and diffuse
• Much flatter field of focus than other Lensbaby optics. Suited for variety of soft focus applications such as portrait, landscape, urban, and botanical photography
• Magnetic disk aperture system
• Degree of softness can be controlled by changing the special apertures, or stacking them with regular Lensbaby aperture disks
• With the soft focus multi-hole apertures, bright, out-of-focus points of light take on the hole pattern's shape.  Photographers can control this creative effect by using standard Lensbaby apertures or choosing a low contrast background.