This photo of my photoalbum was taken in Okinawa.

Because soft focus is a technical flaw, many older lenses had soft focus built in as a side effect of their construction. Newer lenses are optimized to minimize optical aberrations, but there are lenses such as the Canon EF 135/2.8 Softfocus[1] and Pentax SMC 28mm f2.8 FA Soft Lens, to name but a few, which have adjustable levels of spherical aberration at wide apertures. The effect can be disabled entirely as well, in which case the lens is quite sharp. Nikon produces a series of DC ("Defocus Control") lenses which are sometimes confused with the soft focus effect, but these are not soft focus lenses, as they do not introduce spherical aberration over the whole field. The soft focus effect is used as an effect for glamour photography, because the effect eliminates blemishes, and in general produces a dream-like image. The effect of a soft focus lens is sometimes approximated by the use of diffusion filter or other method, such as stretching a nylon stocking over the front of the lens, or smearing petroleum jelly on a clear filter or on the front element of the lens itself. It can also be approximated with post-processing procedures. Specifically, highlights in an image are blurred.

The Lensbaby is a type of simple lens combined with a bellows to create special effect photography on cameras which accept interchangeable lenses, mainly of the 35 mm or digital SLR formats. The focal length of the Lensbaby is approximately 50mm, making it a normal lens in 35mm format. The front standard can be manipulated off axis to move the sharpest area of focus (called the "sweet spot") to almost anywhere in the frame. You can therefore render the important part of your subject fairly sharp with everything else out of focus, even if it is the same distance from the camera. Aperture is controlled by a series of interchangeable discs (basically a Waterhouse stop). The Lensbaby naturally focuses at approximately 2 feet; closer focus is achieved by pushing the front of the lens out, and infinity focus is achieved by pulling the front of the lens toward the base of the lens. Results achieved with a Lensbaby mimic that of the Holga camera (though without the light leakage) or other toy cameras. There is extreme spherical and some chromatic aberration outside the central sweet spot. The lens produces oval bokeh that point to the sweet spot, as seen in the sample photo on this page. The effect is unique and well suited to portraiture, some landscapes, and product photography. The Lensbaby has no electronic components and does not communicate information to modern cameras. Because of this, some modern cameras may not recognize that a lens is attached at all and may require special settings to operate with the Lensbaby attached. Autofocus is unavailable on any camera because of the basic structure of the lens; additionally, the spherical aberration can make focus confirmation unpredictable or unavailable. For best results, the manufacturer recommends shooting in aperture priority or fully manual mode. The Lensbaby design also makes it impossible to include an index mark for infrared photography. However, infrared photography is certainly possible with the Lensbaby and very effective images have resulted. The Lensbaby is available in several different lens mounts: Canon EF (EOS), Nikon F, Minolta Maxxum/Sony Alpha, Pentax K, Olympus Four Thirds System, Leica R, Olympus OM, Canon FD, Minolta SR (MD), Contax/Yashica, and screw mount.