Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2002/01/02

[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]

Subject: RE: [Leica] Bokeh - proven myth ?
From: Dan Cardish <dcardish@sympatico.ca>
Date: Wed, 02 Jan 2002 11:30:27 -0500
References: <003e01c1939d$c4e6e7a0$633f4d18@gv.shawcable.net>

I think there is a basic misunderstanding of bokeh.  Every lens will have
regions of its image which is out of focus.  This out of focus area is not
synonymous with 'bokeh', from my point of view.  Rather, bokeh is an
indication of how this out of focus area looks, particularly in comparison
to similar images made with different optics under similar situations (same
f-stop, focal length, distance to main subject, etc.).  Naturally, the out
of focus area of an image made at two differing apertures with the same
lens will look different, but it would not be fair to say that the bokeh is
different.  

I often tell people that I like the bokeh of images made with my 75/1.4.
But to be honest, I don't have any other 75mm lenses to compare it with.
So I don't really know for sure that there is anything special about my
particular lens.  But it is capable of imaging a sharp foreground, and a
blurry background, nothing special about that.  

Someone posted an image earlier of a young child with a very blurry
background, to illustrate bokeh.  To me what it illustrated was shallow
depth of field.   It would have been interesting (though difficult to
accomplish in all likelihood) to see the same photograph taken with a
different lens.  That would have been a good illustration of bokeh.


dan c.


- --
To unsubscribe, see http://mejac.palo-alto.ca.us/leica-users/unsub.html

In reply to: Message from Ted Grant <tedgrant@shaw.ca> (Re: [Leica] Bokeh - proven myth ?)