The nifty fifty bokeh "problems"

[DocFrankenstein]

I've mentioned the unsatisractory bokeh of the 50mm 1.8 some time ago. I wasn't able to upload pictures up until this point....

This is the lizard pic taken with the 50mm prime:
http://andrew4137.fotopic.net/p9274070.html

For some reason... the left claw of the lizard is doubled. The plant behind the lizard shows up as circles.

When I take a pic with my 70-200... it's different. It's really smooth:
http://andrew4137.fotopic.net/p9279897.html

Same with the 18-55 zoom:
http://andrew4137.fotopic.net/p9274090.html


I have a lot of pics from each lens. This is the general pattern that keeps repeating over and over. For some reason 50/1.8 blurs stuff, but the edges of the blurred objects are sharp.

Anybody noticed that?

[mdude85]

Sort of. I too have had occasional problems with bokeh on the 50 mm 1.8. Here is a small sample.

http://mdude.homeip.net/bokeh.jpg

I see what you mean about edge sharpness.

[DocFrankenstein]

I think that's the major reason to go with 1.4 version. That one is MUCH more smoother.

[Persian-Rice]

Doc, I think you have an infamous "bad" copy. Although the bokeh on the 50 1.8 is not awesome, its not that bad either.

Atleast its a cheap lens.............not that hard to replace it.

[DocFrankenstein]

What do you mean by the infamous exactly?

Was there a batch of bad copies circulating around or something similar?

[evilenglishman]

I don't think its a bad copy issue. My 1.8 gives great soft bokeh UNTIL it comes across something of extreme contrast.

look at this typical example - the foreground flowers and all the other out of focus areas are great, except for the "criss cross" white lines and circles in the background which is actually a leaded window. There it is blured but has hard edges.

http://www.electricvenus.com/dump/flowers.jpg

[tpinchback]

What do you expect from a $70 lens? L image quality

[cmM]

the 50 1.8 has a 5 blade diaphragm.... it is expected that the bokeh is not as smooth as a lens with a circular diaphragm.

[Persian-Rice]

I said infamous because of all the "bad copy" lens complaints on the board lately.......... Including my own.

Evilenglishman, even though the boken is meh on that image, that's really nice, must be the colours...........

[Persian-Rice]

the 50 1.8 has a 5 blade diaphragm.... it is expected that the bokeh is not as smooth as a lens with a circular diaphragm.

You have point there......................you guys should try it with a star shaped cutout over the front of the lens, it looks awsome.

[evilenglishman]

....even though the boken is meh on that image, that's really nice, must be the colours...........

what does meh mean?

[Persian-Rice]

....even though the boken is meh on that image, that's really nice, must be the colours...........

what does meh mean?

you know.............meh*shrugs shoulders*

[evilenglishman]

nope, you've got me with that one :shock:

[DocFrankenstein]

nope, you've got me with that one :shock:
It's ok mate, you've probably never been to canada, eh? :wink:

meh... is a sound produced to express the felling of relative indifference towards a certain subject... may be also used to express near average quality of something.

I got a B on the test... meh... it only worth 5% of the total...

My mother in law drowned... meh...

Stuff like that

[defordphoto]

the 50 1.8 has a 5 blade diaphragm.... it is expected that the bokeh is not as smooth as a lens with a circular diaphragm.

You have point there......................you guys should try it with a star shaped cutout over the front of the lens, it looks awsome.

Post a sample.

[Persian-Rice]

the 50 1.8 has a 5 blade diaphragm.... it is expected that the bokeh is not as smooth as a lens with a circular diaphragm.

You have point there......................you guys should try it with a star shaped cutout over the front of the lens, it looks awsome.

Post a sample.

I took it with film, but I will hook it up tonight and post them tommorow.

[defordphoto]

Cool. I've wanted to putz with cutouts, but just don't have the time.

[Persian-Rice]

I couldn't find it, but here is an example of something quick I made..I didn't have anything good to shoot, so I present you my out of focus modem. I think my star was too big, that why the ends are cut off, but who cares.

http://www.win-the-lotto.com/u/04/325/11/startest.jpg

http://www.win-the-lotto.com/u/04/325/11/star.jpg

[Olegis]

The 50mm f/1.8 MkII can produce some ugly bokeh indeed in some occasions :

http://www.pbase.com/olegis/image/30873404.jpg

Personally, I'm trying to keep the background uniform, without any bright spots / high contrast changes if possible.

[blackviolet]

The 50mm f/1.8 MkII can produce some ugly bokeh indeed in some occasions

yeah, it turned your portrait of the lovely girl into a multicoloured hairy beast - yeah those 3 extra blades really make a difference!!

[mr.photoguy]

what is bokeh?

[DocFrankenstein]

yeah, it turned your portrait of the lovely girl into a multicoloured hairy beast - yeah those 3 extra blades really make a difference!!
No.

But the human's eye focuses on the sharp objects of the picture. The bokeh is sharp and therefore distracts, thus making the overall picture less dramatic and less interesting.

[robertwgross]

what does meh mean?

If we look it up in the Acme dictionary, it means the audible sound of a roadrunner bird. "Meh, meh."

---Bob Gross---

[robertwgross]

what is bokeh?

It's sort of a Japanese term for the unfocused blur that sets the mood of the background. To some, it is the shape of the points of light. To others, it is the density of the points of light. But it sets a mood to the background.

It is often created by the structure of the diaphragm of the lens aperture. So, some good lenses are known to help create "good bokeh" and mirror lenses are known to help create "weird bokeh."

---Bob Gross---

[Pekka]

what is bokeh?

The out of focus area in photo - good bokeh is smooth, natural, off focus colors blend without oddities and bright spots do not blur as donuts or clearly multifaceted circles. Bokeh changes with aperture - this change can be read in MTF graphs.

And bokeh is not only background blur. Actually even more important is to have good bokeh on foreground :)

Here are couple of examples of good bokeh in front and back (85/1.2L, upper photo f/1.2 and lower f/3.2)

http://photography-on-the.net/stuff/HV8O6591.jpg

http://photography-on-the.net/stuff/HV8O7291.jpg

[evilenglishman]

I couldn't find it, but here is an example of something quick I made..I didn't have anything good to shoot, so I present you my out of focus modem. I think my star was too big, that why the ends are cut off, but who cares.


That's interesting!!!
I would like to see the results of a more expensive lens on the same thing.

[Persian-Rice]

I couldn't find it, but here is an example of something quick I made..I didn't have anything good to shoot, so I present you my out of focus modem. I think my star was too big, that why the ends are cut off, but who cares.


That's interesting!!!
I would like to see the results of a more expensive lens on the same thing.

Same result..............

[evilenglishman]

oh, what is the point of then?

[kalieaire]

dependent on lens quality and such, you can get creamy smooth bokeh to bokeh where circles turn into multifaceted shapes and such. sorta like in those old movies where they just unfocus and it turns into a hexagon or something.

you want it smooth so you draw attention to the subject vs the weird distortions in the background.


However, another form of photography is intentional blurring of background such as with pictures in cityscapes. what photographers do is just zoom in as close as they can with nothing in the camera, and the background blurs up and gives you these interesting shapes and stuff. it's really cool. too bad i don't quite have an example for you.

Something else you might want to consider is that with a larger aperture lens, the bokeh is increased back and foregrounds. the areas just become so much more blurred than before, it's also more pronounced with regular lenses when you focus up close because the focal plane is vastly reduced.

I think bokeh is way more interesting with Canon's TS-E lenses.

the 90mm would offer some interesting work because you can modify that plane of focus to go across your image diagonally and stuff and that really leads to some creative work as your medium is much more flexible. then again, for ~1000 new, it better help you out. :)

[blackviolet]

yeah, it turned your portrait of the lovely girl into a multicoloured hairy beast
No.

But the human's eye focuses on the sharp objects of the picture. The bokeh is sharp and therefore distracts, thus making the overall picture less dramatic and less interesting.

yes, i know exactly what he is saying - check out the massive pentagonal highlights at the back right. i totally agree the boken is harsh and undesireable.