Is it worth buying a soft focus filter for portrait photography?

Does a soft focus filter really work where it softens the over all pictures? or is it just as good using photoshop ? If the filter is worth while having. I would like to use that instead so it would cut down my time using photoshop

Not really ...

While there are times when a "misty" look is wanted, most of the time, something in the image frame has to be sharp or the whole image looks soft.

Kodak publishes a product called "GEM airbrush" which is a plug-in for Photoshop CS. It works very well and you can fine tune it as necessary.

http://www.kodak.com/global/en/professio...

I agree that some elements should remain sharp to give the feeling of focus to an image. use the filter only as a last resort if you can.

but I would disagree with using photoshop to get that effect. 99% of the time softening for portrait photos can be done by simply adjusting the camera settings. try increasing/decreasing your depth of field and focusing manually to get the effect you want.

Agree with fotoace on this. I actually have a Softar filter made by Heliopan, which is quite expensive. However, I never use it any more for portraits. It does just what a filter of this type is supposed to do... it softens EVERYTHING. When the eyes and lips and things such as earrings go soft, the whole photo just looks like it is out of focus instead of really looking better. I prefer to do softening in Photoshop where I can apply it only WHERE I need and want it.

Some landscapes can look good with the filter though.

steve