[Leica] There IS a "boke" filter!

["Brian Walsh \(E-mail\)" <rbwalsh1@dcn.davis.ca.us>]

Check out

http://www.messia.com/IrisFilter/intro_en.html

The developer of the IrisFilter ("boke" filter) software says:

"What is "BOKE" filter?"

"In English, out-of-focus image is sometime called "blurred" or "softened"
but does not have a specific word. In Japanese, photographers often use a
word "BOKE" which means a part of image is out of focus. They often say
something like "This lens produces beautiful boke". Yes, beautiful boke is a
part of very important photographic effects. But did you know no software
existed to emulate the real boke-effect? Blurring or softening filters
employed in many image software even such as Photoshop do not reproduce real
boke-effects. Difference? The real photographic boke is not just blurred
image but it is an uniform spread of light over a lens aperture with a sharp
edge of the aperture preserved."

"Using IrisFilter, you can emulate the real boke-effect otherwise possible
only with an actual camera. You can use beautifully "boke"d image for a
background of you important imaging work. Since this is like a virtual
camera, you can enjoy changing the shape of the iris to whatever shape you
want --- circle, pentagon, hexagon, octagon, heat shape, diamond shape, or
any user pattern."