5 Frames with a Minolta XD, 85mm f/2.8 Varisoft lens and Ilford HP5+

Hey photo makers. As part of my ongoing gas I recently acquired a MInolta 85mm Varisoft lens. Starting with a mint condition X-700/50mm f/1.7 setup gifted to me by a coworker a couple years ago I’ve now collected a decent amount of glass for it. A chance encounter with a Minolta XD at a local camera show last fall had me instantly in love with that body so I had to have one. In general I find 50mm a little too wide and 100mm a bit too long. The 85mm being right in the middle is my goldilocks focal length and after months of watching ebay finally scored one for a reasonable price and in great condition. Reasonable is relative given that 85mm are some of the most expensive Minolta manual lenses, but still a fraction of comparable Leica and Zeiss lenses. So a couple days later I was the proud owner of the Minolta 85mm f/2.8 Varisoft lens.

I’ve only shot this one roll of Ilford HP5+ at this point but I’m already happy with it. It’s a fantastic lens. Seems sharp even wide open and no vignetting. Didn’t notice any flare or ghosting but I wasn’t shooting in any conditions where that should pop up at this point. The Varisoft function seems like a bit of a gimmick as I preferred the shots without it or only lightly applied. It works as a standard 85mm lens with an extra ring around the barrel to adjust the amount of softness from 0 to 3, with 0 being none and 3 roughly equivalent to an 80s portrait studio lens coated in vaseline.

Focus throw is exceptional which makes it easy to get good focus. Which I expected from a high end prime Minolta manual lens and was not disappointed. The Varisoft feature does tend to complicate focus when at the 3 level by softening up the bottom half of the focusing split screen. I’m not sure if it was just my lens and age but when adjusting the Varisoft it sometimes moves focus a little bit which adds to that difficulty. Overall most of the shots I took at Varisoft 3 I didn’t like that much. It’s also bulkier than either my 100mm or 135mm lenses, but not unwieldy by any means. I think it feels better in my hand.

This series of shots I think really captures the spirit of the lens. Was a shadier spot so I opened the lens up all the way to f/2.8 and then got one frame at each Varisoft setting. Without any softening I just love how the lens looks but I do prefer a bit of a sharper bokeh, which some people don’t like.

Varisoft 1 takes some of the sharpness out of the bokeh and gives it a bit more of a painterly kind of look that is more commonly associated with “good” bokeh. It also starts to soften everything up while keeping the detail.

Varisoft 2 keeps pushing the effect, getting into dream like territory with some glow to the softness while still keeping details.

When the Varisoft is taken all the way to 3 it becomes almost too much with such a narrow depth of field. I think I missed the focus for reasons already mentioned, as the rocks in the back seem more focused than the other frames. I think there may be a sweet spot that I haven’t quite found yet for aperture and range to get some good results at Varisoft 3. The softening may also be a stronger effect when using colour film. Next up is going to be a roll of Fuji Superia 200 or 400 and some portraits to put that theory to the test.

HP5+ at 400iso probably wasn’t the most ideal stock to shoot on the bright day that I chose, but it’s consistency and being developed at home in Rodinal is super predictable and my first choice testing gear to eliminate other variables. That said, it ended up being a plus as the higher shutter speeds let me get this shot where I didn’t notice that I caught the bird in the top left until I scanned them and then was so fascinated with it in mid flight that I didn’t notice the other bird kind of hidden in the branches on the right also in mid flight.

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