What the heck is bokeh ???

[who me?]

I have seen many use this word to describe lenses but I am not sure what it is implying. Is it like useability or the feel of the lens or it's build quality?

I had to ask.

[Hatem Eldoronki]

It's referring to the blur in the background of an image. Different lenses have different blur 'effects', and the way that blur will look depends on how the aperture blades are constructed. The more that effect looks like round shapes, the more desirable it would be, or, the better bokeh that lens would have.

[tommykjensen]

Here is an example of bokeh (http://photo.klein-jensen.dk/photohtml.php?n=HarrisHawk1.jpg)

The blurred background is what is referred to as bokeh.

[Jesper]

Tommy, do you mean those letters in the background? :lol:

Here is the description from the dictionary at photonotes.org (http://photonotes.org/cgi-bin/entry.pl?id=Bokeh).

[hmhm]

The important point here is that different lens designs "render" out-of-focus blur in different ways. We're not just talking about more or less depth of field, this isn't dependent solely on parameters common to all lenses, like aperture, focal length, subject distance, etc., this is truly dependent on that specific lens design. For example, the number of blades on the diaphragm has an impact, and for an extreme example, mirror telephoto lenses tend to yield a peculiar "ring" artifact in out-of-focus areas.

So bokeh doesn't just refer to out of focus blur, but rather an aesthetic, subject judgement of the quality with which a particular lens design renders that blur.
-harry

[tommykjensen]

Tommy, do you mean those letters in the background? :lol:


Yes that is my special kind of bokeh, I had to add those because I found out several websites using this image to demonstrate bokeh - but they did it without my permission.

[Roger_Cavanagh]

Some goods links here:

http://www.rogercavanagh.com/links/art-photography.htm#bokeh

Regards,