I have never approached the beauty of the Softar on Medium format with anything other than the real thing.
No Photoshop action duplicates the gentleness of the softening affect, while at the same time, holding the contrast.
I have upgraded to medium format Hasselblad H5D. The viewfinder, while not as large and easily viewable as the film Blad, is nevertheless, much much better than a Dslr. It's possible to manually focus pretty accurately. This brings back the possibility and hope of using on lens soft filters for portrait again.
The beauty of the Softar, is that it does not look 'soft'. It has a sharp image overlaid with a light, soft image. Normal diffusing filters are a poor, very poor second cousin to this work of art filter.
Alas, all my Softars have worn out, scratched and damned hard to focus through. I need a permanent, replaceable solution to my soft focus woes and deficiencies. I feel my life is not quite complete with out it.
In my quest for softening fulfillment, I found myself observing the Hoya website. Their Softons have the same little lenses etched into the surface of the filter. My heart missed a beat. This is the same technique that Softar uses, it gives that sharpness on top of softness.
Has anyone used the Hoyas on a medium format camera, film or digital? The example that they give on the Hoya website is abysmal. Possibly shot with a 35mm. That sensor size being too small to give the subtle look of the Blad/Softar combo.
Here's the Hoya
http://www.hoyafilter.com/hoya/products/pro1digitalfilterseries/pro1dsoftona/The attached image is Blad/genuine Softar combo from 25 years ago
PS. Please, no Photoshop action suggestions. They don't cut it.