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90mm f2.8 lens bokeh- no such thing as a stupid question...but

13

Comments

  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    FoxT wrote: »
    I agree - my (improved ) understanding of bokeh is that it is the rendition of out-of-focus highlights, and I don't see any in this pic.

    Careful now, it's a flipping minefield out here.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    FoxT wrote: »
    I agree - my (improved ) understanding of bokeh is that it is the rendition of out-of-focus highlights, and I don't see any in this pic.

    I wasn't going to comment, but since you asked (before you edited your post):
    humberklog wrote: »
    Now I'd have that that's good control of DOF but not Bokeh. Am I way off?

    I'm not really sure it evidences good control of depth-of-field. It's certainly shallow depth-of-field, although I don't think there's really much evidence of control other than making it as shallow as possible for that composition.

    The bokeh is fairly neutral, but you can see a slight edge to some it that may become bothersome in certain circumstances if you want to be really anal.

    The ironic thing is that I'm not fighting this these points because I think bokeh is very important, but because I think it isn't (or at least that its importance is greatly overstated and that the term is misused to the point that it could be considered harmful).


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    charybdis wrote: »
    I wasn't going to comment, but since you asked (before you edited your post):



    I'm not really sure it evidences good control of depth-of-field. It's certainly shallow depth-of-field, although I don't think there's really much evidence of control other than making it as shallow as possible for that composition.


    The ironic thing is that I'm not fighting this these points because I think bokeh is very important, but because I think it isn't (or at least that its importance is greatly overstated and that the term is misused to the point that it could be considered harmful).

    Yeah good point but from my side of ignorance I'm always a bit impressed when someone does that really shallow stuff as I can't (never bother) to.

    "Harmful"? How so? (Not a pedantic question but just a very curious one as I too hope to reach the dizzy heights of knowledge like FoxT and at some point become "improved" in my understanding).


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,992 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    charybdis wrote: »
    That is true, but I still don't know what you think it proves.

    I'm not surprised.

    I was mostly posting to see if you absolutely, positively, with no exceptions, always had to get the last word in. You passed.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    humberklog wrote: »
    Yeah good point but from my side of ignorance I'm always a bit impressed when someone does that really shallow stuff as I can't (never bother) to.

    It's very easy. Focus on something quite close to the camera against a more distant background (preferably with purty lights and whatnot). Large apertures and longer focal lengths help, too.
    humberklog wrote: »
    "Harmful"? How so? (Not a pedantic question but just a very curious one as I too hope to reach the dizzy heights of knowledge like FoxT and at some point become "improved" in my understanding).

    It just seems like a lot of people are caught up with the idea that shallow depth-of-field automatically makes a photograph good and they use (or subscribe to) the nebulous misconceptions of "bokeh" to try to lend legitimacy to the practise.

    Don't get me wrong, I think there is a time & place for shallow depth-of-field, but nifty-fifty aperture-priority insta-art has really begun to grate on me.

    I think it's a very useful thing to do when learning about photography, it just seems like people get stuck in that phase and it ends up making what could've been a good photographer (or photograph) worse due to their compulsion to have as shallow a depth-of-field as possible.

    That said, I don't really think it's fair to constantly be critical of others' photographs, particularly if they're happy with them, but I do think criticising the misuse of certain terms and better explaining them can be instructive.
    cnocbui wrote: »
    I was mostly posting to see if you absolutely, positively, with no exceptions, always had to get the last word in.

    Me too.

    You passed.

    Wait.

    Crap.

    (Also, does this mean you were saying silly things on purpose?)


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  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    charybdis wrote: »
    It's very easy. Focus on something quite close to the camera against a more distant background (preferably with purty lights and whatnot). Large apertures and longer focal lengths help, too.



    It just seems like a lot of people are caught up with the idea that shallow depth-of-field automatically makes a photograph good and they use (or subscribe to) the nebulous misconceptions of "bokeh" to try to lend legitimacy to the practise.

    Don't get me wrong, I think there is a time & place for shallow depth-of-field, but nifty-fifty aperture-priority insta-art has really begun to grate on me.

    I think it's a very useful thing to do when learning about photography, it just seems like people get stuck in that phase and it ends up making what could've been a good photographer (or photograph) worse due to their compulsion to have as shallow a depth-of-field as possible.

    That said, I don't really think it's fair to constantly be critical of others' photographs, particularly if they're happy with them, but I do think criticising the misuse of certain terms and better explaining them can be instructive.

    Thanks for the tip on DOF but it's just not my thing.

    Cracking answer for the rest as well too.

    Oh and completely off topic (but the threads kinda rolling like that)...are you a boy or a girl?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,204 ✭✭✭FoxT


    I think shallow DOF has its place, but I dont go running around looking for 'Bokeh'....So just went & shot these a few mins ago..

    IMG_1127.JPG

    I think the reflections off the keys in the background is bokeh. It is an OOF highlight. Lots of other areas in the pic are oof , but they are not highlights.


    In this one, I would regard the oof highlight on the bottle as Bokeh:

    IMG_1129.JPG

    Am I on the right track with this? Or, is the entire oof areas on each pic 'Bokeh' ?

    It occurred to me while I was shooting them that the no. of iris blades was completely unimportant - as shot wide open.


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    FoxT wrote: »

    I think the reflections off the keys in the background is bokeh. It is an OOF highlight. Lots of other areas in the pic are oof , but they are not highlights.

    Bokeh's not about Thinking it's Bokeh but doing it with Bokeh, no?

    It's moving in parrallels of consideration and empathy with both the fore and background, no?


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    drift front
    fore to bubblicious
    and to front


    I'm going Haiku
    For le****su
    moo moo.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    humberklog wrote: »
    Thanks for the tip on DOF but it's just not my thing.

    Cracking answer for the rest as well too.

    Oh and completely off topic (but the threads kinda rolling like that)...are you a boy or a girl?

    I'm male (although I can understand why you'd think otherwise, given my mythological namesake).
    FoxT wrote: »
    I think shallow DOF has its place, but I dont go running around looking for 'Bokeh'....So just went & shot these a few mins ago..

    https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_QUZCzGXHyzw/TVhq9U9ncWI/AAAAAAAAMqo/ucfLOfpibIg/s400/IMG_1127.JPG

    I think the reflections off the keys in the background is bokeh. It is an OOF highlight. Lots of other areas in the pic are oof , but they are not highlights.


    In this one, I would regard the oof highlight on the bottle as Bokeh:

    https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/_QUZCzGXHyzw/TVhrJ-15qdI/AAAAAAAAMqs/90ONoKs94rY/s400/IMG_1129.JPG

    Am I on the right track with this? Or, is the entire oof areas on each pic 'Bokeh' ?

    It occurred to me while I was shooting them that the no. of iris blades was completely unimportant - as shot wide open.

    I don't really think you're on the right track.

    The out-of-focus highlights aren't bokeh, they're out-of-focus highlights.

    It might help if you think of the term "bokeh" in a similar way to how you'd think of the term "colour rendition" (I'm not saying that they're directly related, just that the terms are used similarly). Lenses render colours differently: colour rendition is a characteristic of lens design. In the same way, lenses render out-of-focus areas of an image differently: rendering of out-of-focus areas is a characteristic of lens design.

    You could kinda point to a specific portion of an image and say "that's colour rendition", and you wouldn't be entirely incorrect, but it would be a strange way to use the term and isn't really a meaningful statement.

    In the same way, pointing to a specific portion of an image and saying "that's rendition of and out-of-focus area", or "that's bokeh", wouldn't be considered entirely incorrect, but it would be a similarly strange thing to say.

    Bokeh is a property of a lens, not of an image.
    humberklog wrote: »
    drift front
    fore to bubblicious
    and to front


    I'm going Haiku
    For le****su
    moo moo.

    Bokeh is something
    You probably should ignore
    And focus elsewhere.


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  • Moderators, Education Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,686 Mod ✭✭✭✭melekalikimaka


    2670379829_5acc821b78_z.jpg

    bokeh, not the most beautiful, but clearly defined...







    imo


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,722 ✭✭✭DaireQuinlan


    bokeh, not the most beautiful, but clearly defined...



    imo

    A response planned, but
    'melekalikimaka'
    takes up all the space


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,407 ✭✭✭Promac


    Bokeh is just the quality of the out of focus area in a shot. Is it out of focus, and does it look nice? If yes - nice bokeh. If no - not nice bokeh. It's well enough defined at this stage and the definition is hardly a subjective thing - sure, deciding if a specific shot has good or bad bokeh is subjective but the definition of bokeh itself isn't.

    Wikipedia explains it best (as usual):
    Bokeh is often most visible around small background highlights, such as specular reflections and light sources, which is why it is often associated with such areas.However, bokeh is not limited to highlights; blur occurs in all out-of-focus regions of the image.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,992 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    charybdis wrote: »

    (Also, does this mean you were saying silly things on purpose?)

    At the end there, yes. I ceased being bothered enough to waste time countering casuistry.

    For instance, you said:
    There's a Pentacon 135mm f/2.8 lens that has 19 aperture blades, for example. Why would they put so much effort into building a lens for this expressed purpose, only to fall short on the number of blades?
    In answer to my reply where I mentioned 'the law of diminishing returns'. My answer to your question would have been the same as that I had already given.

    As for Zeiss. I couldn't be bothered with the long answer, but it would have had something to do with when did Zeiss design lenses for Hasselblads, when did the Japanese concept of Bokeh become more widely known in the west, and why do Zeiss now design a lens with 9 blades instead of 5?

    Engineers tend not to put 9 wheels on cars when four will do, It would add unnecessary complication and cost. Engineers who design lenses would be no different.

    You asked what the fact so many highly regarded lenses having high blade counts proves? Nothing except the self evident fact they don't have 5. One could wonder why that is though. Since you have been so keen to point out a lens can have 5 blades, we know there is unlikely to be a mechanical reason why all those mentioned have nearly double that number. Therefore, logically, given what we know about engineers, there is likely to be some other good reason. I'll make a wild unprovable guess that it might be related to optical performance.

    You believe what you want to, and I shall do likewise.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 3,032 ✭✭✭jpb1974


    5444436789_2dee61be92_o.gif


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,204 ✭✭✭FoxT


    I don't see any Bokeh in the image above...


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,204 ✭✭✭FoxT


    cnocbui wrote: »

    Engineers tend not to put 9 wheels on cars when four will do, It would add unnecessary complication and cost. Engineers who design lenses would be no different.

    You are absolutely correct here - unfortunately, engineers have to do what Product Managers tell them to do!! I suspect that in many cases 7,8,9....19 blades are designed in for marketing purposes - ie 'this lens has 9 blades so therefore is better than the 5-bladed one'

    This kind of thing happens all the time....

    On cars, the trend is for alloy wheels with wide, low-profile tyres. This is not, in general, an optimal solution from an engineering or a cost point of view.

    On compact cameras, you have all kinds of features that many people will never use (gimmicky in-camera editing functions etc) - and some features that are positively unhelpful (digital zoom), and some that are sub-optimal (pixel density too high, at the expense of high ISO performance ) for marketing purposes.

    -FoxT


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,992 ✭✭✭✭cnocbui


    I fully agree, however... :D, one of my 9 bladed Zuikos was made in 1984. I certainly never came across any reference to bokeh until the late 90's and none of the marketing gumpff I have from the period makes any reference to blade count. The only reference was in the technical specs for lenses.

    Maybe it was a very subtle understated Japanese thing where it was included for those in the know or they kept such references to the Japanese market literature and not the external market stuff because they thought it wouldn't be understood?

    I haven't been shopping for lenses for a while, is it common for blade count to be touted in the marketing blurb these days?


  • Closed Accounts Posts: 4,204 ✭✭✭FoxT


    Blade count is not a headline feature, but it is not a 'small print' issue either. Lens reviewers mention it quite a bit, even going so far as to state whether the blades are rounded or not.

    I did a good bit of photography in the 80's then went on an extended break...back then , I'd never heard of it. But the web has lots of references to it now. I have no idea when it emerged or where it came from, or why a Japanese word is used, etc.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,567 ✭✭✭mloc


    I think Bokeh refers to the quality of the out of focus areas in the photo, not the extent of the DOF nor any compositional element of the photo.

    From an optical point of view, focal length, aperture, diaphragm shape and even sensor size will all play their part on the final Bokeh quality. While most people will agree on specific cases of good and bad bokeh, it's still highly subjective and you can't really measure it.

    Bokeh is most obvious where there are highly contrasting points of light in the background of a shallow DOF image. Here is an example of good bokeh (some might even call this "odd" bokeh, and the lens used is somewhat of Bokeh lover's staple):

    2080180373_9ef3483ac9.jpg
    anniina by Samuli Ikäheimo, on Flickr

    Unusually wide apertures can also lead to very obvious Bokeh:

    1203213253_81da774d14.jpg
    bubbling over by moaan, on Flickr


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,407 ✭✭✭Promac


    cnocbui wrote: »
    I haven't been shopping for lenses for a while, is it common for blade count to be touted in the marketing blurb these days?

    In the reviews about lenses yeah, certainly. More blades gives a more rounded appearance to the highlights in out of focus areas. 5 blades = pentagons while 9 blades (especially curved) = nice smooth circles like in mloc's examples.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    Promac wrote: »
    Bokeh is just the quality of the out of focus area in a shot. Is it out of focus, and does it look nice? If yes - nice bokeh. If no - not nice bokeh. It's well enough defined at this stage and the definition is hardly a subjective thing - sure, deciding if a specific shot has good or bad bokeh is subjective but the definition of bokeh itself isn't.

    Wikipedia explains it best (as usual):

    Wikipedia
    is great but not prescriptive.
    Context is needed.

    And, your description
    Is at odds with the one in
    Wikipedia.
    cnocbui wrote: »
    At the end there, yes. I ceased being bothered enough to waste time countering casuistry.

    Fails to make a point,
    tries to claim he was trolling
    because he is mad.
    cnocbui wrote: »
    For instance, you said: In answer to my reply where I mentioned 'the law of diminishing returns'. My answer to your question would have been the same as that I had already given.

    I do not think the
    diminishing returns law
    applies in this case.

    It doesn't explain
    the Minolta STF
    having so few blades

    when you consider
    that it was over-designed
    for bokeh bestness.

    Surely such a lens
    over-designed to this end
    wouldn't skimp on blades.

    Unless, the effect,
    is greatly overstated,
    of diaphragm shape.

    The aperture blades'
    strong influence on bokeh
    is not established.

    Nobody has shown
    bokeh and aperture blades
    are associated.
    cnocbui wrote: »
    As for Zeiss. I couldn't be bothered with the long answer, but it would have had something to do with when did Zeiss design lenses for Hasselblads, when did the Japanese concept of Bokeh become more widely known in the west, and why do Zeiss now design a lens with 9 blades instead of 5?

    Engineers tend not to put 9 wheels on cars when four will do, It would add unnecessary complication and cost. Engineers who design lenses would be no different.

    You asked what the fact so many highly regarded lenses having high blade counts proves? Nothing except the self evident fact they don't have 5. One could wonder why that is though. Since you have been so keen to point out a lens can have 5 blades, we know there is unlikely to be a mechanical reason why all those mentioned have nearly double that number. Therefore, logically, given what we know about engineers, there is likely to be some other good reason. I'll make a wild unprovable guess that it might be related to optical performance.

    Many old lenses
    contain more aperture blades
    than any of those.

    Many old lenses
    contain less aperture blades
    than any of those.

    Have you considered
    the reason for lots of blades
    isn't for bokeh?
    cnocbui wrote: »
    You believe what you want to, and I shall do likewise.

    Subjectivity
    in reality along
    with it in bokeh?
    jpb1974 wrote: »
    5444436789_2dee61be92_o.gif

    I'm not sure what it
    is that you're referring to.
    "Beating a dead horse."

    Anyway, I think
    "Tilting against the windmill"
    is appropriate.
    FoxT wrote: »
    You are absolutely correct here - unfortunately, engineers have to do what Product Managers tell them to do!! I suspect that in many cases 7,8,9....19 blades are designed in for marketing purposes - ie 'this lens has 9 blades so therefore is better than the 5-bladed one'

    This kind of thing happens all the time....

    On cars, the trend is for alloy wheels with wide, low-profile tyres. This is not, in general, an optimal solution from an engineering or a cost point of view.

    On compact cameras, you have all kinds of features that many people will never use (gimmicky in-camera editing functions etc) - and some features that are positively unhelpful (digital zoom), and some that are sub-optimal (pixel density too high, at the expense of high ISO performance ) for marketing purposes.

    -FoxT

    It so happens that
    features are determined by
    what will sell better.

    If enough people
    think more blades means more bokeh
    they'll be catered to.
    cnocbui wrote: »
    I fully agree, however... :D, one of my 9 bladed Zuikos was made in 1984. I certainly never came across any reference to bokeh until the late 90's and none of the marketing gumpff I have from the period makes any reference to blade count. The only reference was in the technical specs for lenses.

    Maybe it was a very subtle understated Japanese thing where it was included for those in the know or they kept such references to the Japanese market literature and not the external market stuff because they thought it wouldn't be understood?

    I haven't been shopping for lenses for a while, is it common for blade count to be touted in the marketing blurb these days?

    It's almost as if
    number of blades and bokeh
    are unrelated.

    Many non-Japan
    lens manufacturers made
    lenses with more blades.
    FoxT wrote: »
    Blade count is not a headline feature, but it is not a 'small print' issue either. Lens reviewers mention it quite a bit, even going so far as to state whether the blades are rounded or not.

    I did a good bit of photography in the 80's then went on an extended break...back then , I'd never heard of it. But the web has lots of references to it now. I have no idea when it emerged or where it came from, or why a Japanese word is used, etc.

    The reality
    is that nobody has shown
    strong links between them.
    mloc wrote: »
    I think Bokeh refers to the quality of the out of focus areas in the photo, not the extent of the DOF nor any compositional element of the photo.

    Saying "quality"
    without qualification
    is just meaningless.

    Although, I would say
    I broadly agree with much
    that is in this post.
    mloc wrote: »
    From an optical point of view, focal length, aperture, diaphragm shape and even sensor size will all play their part on the final Bokeh quality. While most people will agree on specific cases of good and bad bokeh, it's still highly subjective and you can't really measure it.

    Aspects of bokeh
    can be measured easily
    and then classified.

    Sensor size has no
    affect bokeh, but it does
    affect depth-of-field.

    Shallow depth-of field
    is not the same as bokeh.
    You are conflating.

    RE: preferences,
    There's no accounting for taste,
    in bokeh or not.
    mloc wrote: »
    Bokeh is most obvious where there are highly contrasting points of light in the background of a shallow DOF image. Here is an example of good bokeh (some might even call this "odd" bokeh, and the lens used is somewhat of Bokeh lover's staple):

    anniina by Samuli Ikäheimo, on Flickr

    Unusually wide apertures can also lead to very obvious Bokeh:

    bubbling over by moaan, on Flickr

    Actually, both
    evidence "bad", "nisen", or
    "hard edged" bokeh.

    That's not to say that
    they're unpleasant images.
    But they are not "good".
    Promac wrote: »
    In the reviews about lenses yeah, certainly. More blades gives a more rounded appearance to the highlights in out of focus areas. 5 blades = pentagons while 9 blades (especially curved) = nice smooth circles like in mloc's examples.

    Again, I will stress
    this ain't the same as bokeh
    or much related.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 15,082 ✭✭✭✭Kintarō Hattori


    Why can't everyone do the gentlemanly thing and just agree to disagree. Otherwise you'll all be here this time next year................ or until the mods lock it from the frustration that it's surely causing!


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 16,624 ✭✭✭✭Fajitas!


    Why can't everyone do the gentlemanly thing and just agree to disagree. Otherwise you'll all be here this time next year................ or until the mods lock it from the frustration that it's surely causing!

    Oi! Don't be stifling important discussion.
    charybdis wrote: »
    ...

    Chary wins.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,407 ✭✭✭Promac


    charybdis wrote: »
    Self-indulgent twaddle

    Trollin.


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,393 ✭✭✭AnCatDubh


    or until the mods lock it from the frustration that it's surely causing!

    128867408781715196.jpg




    (I think this thread may have run its course - ding-de-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding)


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    AnCatDubh wrote: »
    128867408781715196.jpg




    (I think this thread may have run its course - ding-de-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding-ding)

    I really don't see
    why you'd close this thread so soon.
    It just seems a waste.

    People are learning
    discussing photography.
    One guy is butthurt.


  • Moderators, Music Moderators Posts: 10,816 Mod ✭✭✭✭humberklog


    Five cats no frogs
    banjo tunes
    thread remain


  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,393 ✭✭✭AnCatDubh


    charybdis wrote: »
    I really don't see
    why you'd close this thread so soon.
    It just seems a waste.

    People are learning
    discussing photography.
    One guy is butthurt.

    em, but you posted to a c-l-o-s-e-d thread...... you must have jedi like powers sir to transverse the ultimate close thread function of vbulletin. I bow to your greatness.

    anyhow wasn't responding to you :P


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  • Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 802 ✭✭✭charybdis


    AnCatDubh wrote: »
    em, but you posted to a c-l-o-s-e-d thread...... you must have jedi like powers sir to transverse the ultimate close thread function of vbulletin. I bow to your greatness.

    anyhow wasn't responding to you :P

    It was not you I
    was referring to. These are
    not the droids you seek.


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