S100 bokeh

Just wondering from some other S100 owners if this bokeh is what you would expect from the S100..I'm slightly zoomed in so at f/3.5, manual focus to take the tree out of focus.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …/61744772@N06/6​574561999/

Wow...diffractive optics?

Looks like the same weird concentric circles dealio the 70-300 DOs suffer from...

LowriderS10 wrote in post #13601756
Wow...diffractive optics?

Looks like the same weird concentric circles dealio the 70-300 DOs suffer from...

That's exactly what I was thinking too. Might explain how they got a 5x zoom in such a small package. It's not as bad if you are zoomed all the way out at f/2. Either that, or mine has a problem.

Yep.... the bokeh balls look like rifle targets, but the out of focus areas don't really have halo's that one would expect out of diffractive optics.

davidc502 wrote in post #13611678
Yep.... the bokeh balls look like rifle targets, but the out of focus areas don't really have halo's that one would expect out of diffractive optics.

Are you saying that is how they all look from the S100 or just commenting on mine? Just making sure I don't have an issue. I've also contacted Canon support and I'll post their response.

Keyan wrote in post #13611752
Are you saying that is how they all look from the S100 or just commenting on mine? Just making sure I don't have an issue. I've also contacted Canon support and I'll post their response.

No... absolutely no issue with your camera what-so-ever... I appologize if you took it that way.

This is the crux: Essentially all elements are made of various types of glass. One of the selling points about the S100 is the large zoom range in a small package. Perhaps, and I don't know this for sure is that the S100's optics may be made out of diffractive optics. This type of glass allows larger zoom ranges and lighter weight in smaller packages, but one of the tell tale signs that a lens may be constructed of (DO) diffractive optics is in the "Bokeh" or out of focus areas. Those out of focus lights look a little like rifle targets instead of being solid all the way through. This may be because DO was used in the construction. The out of focus areas that are unique to DO is just something that goes hand in hand with that type of optic. This can actually be a good thing as many people find DO lenses to have excellent bokeh qualities.

Best Regards,

David

davidc502 wrote in post #13611817
No... absolutely no issue with your camera what-so-ever... I appologize if you took it that way.

This is the crux: Essentially all optics/elements are made of various types of glass. One of the selling points about the S100 is the large zoom range in a small package. Perhaps, and I don't know this for sure is that the S100's optics may be made out of diffractive optics. This type of glass allows larger zoom ranges in small packages, but one of the tell tale signs that a lens may be constructed of (DO) diffractive optics is in the "Bokeh" or out of focus areas. Those out of focus lights look a little like rifle targets instead of being solid all the way through. This may be because DO was used in the construction. This isn't a 'bad' thing. It's just something that goes hand in hand with that type of optic.

Best Regards,

David

Yeah I am wondering if it has diffractive elements. If this is the way they all are then I won't worry about it, I am just used to the bokeh from my 60D, and in particular my 50mm 1.4, which is obviously a completely different animal. These bullseye balls only seem to show up in extreme out of focus dim points of light and 99.9% of the time you won't even have a shot with something like that in it.

I've been extremely impressed with this compact camera... So much so, I'm buying one for the wife.

She already has a SX100, but she needs something smaller, a little better in low light, and the S100 is quite a bit better in that area.

Yeah, that's definitely a little annoying, but I agree that it's a small price to pay for the big zoom in a little package...I'll take it! I can't wait to get my hands on mine...this Saturday or Sunday...soooo close

Oh yeah I'm loving the camera, don't get me wrong! The features and wide/fast lens with a decent reach combined with the dual wheel ergonomics and great IQ are awesome.

Confirmed from Canon support, that bokeh effect is possible and normal under certain conditions, now to stop worrying and go take some pics to add to the S100 picture thread!

Keyan wrote in post #13616214
Confirmed from Canon support, that bokeh effect is possible and normal under certain conditions, now to stop worrying and go take some pics to add to the S100 picture thread!

LOL --- You do that!

I called Canon's loyalty program to see if I could turn on of the other digital cameras I have and get a discount on the S100..... Unfortunately with it being so new, there are no referbished ones yet. The lady did offer me a discount on a G-12 or SX30, but those are too big. The wife just wants something small that she can stick in her pocket or purse.

Cheers,

David

P.S. waiting for some pictures......

Mine will get on a plane any minute (with my friend who's bringing it back) and should land in Korea in roughly 34 hours. I should have it sometime on Jan 1. Booyahhhhhh

What the OP's post shows is known as 'bright ring highlights'. This is not caused by diffractive optics.

This is caused by correction of spherical aberrations. Spherical aberrations are caused by the simple fact that most lens elements in cameras are spherical since this is cheap and easy to form.

The problem is, spherical elements do not focus all wavelengths to the same plane, and they do not focus all parts of an image to the same plane either. The result of a simple spherical lens design is that the lens will not be sharp. It will have nice bokeh though.

One way to fix spherical aberrations is to use expensive aspherical elements in the lens construction. This will make the lens sharp and will not hurt the bokeh. The problem is that this is expensive.

The other way is to incoporate a complex lens design with multiple elements to correct the softness of the spherical elemenents. This can also make for a sharp lens, but it will usually have bad bokeh.

Thanks for the info, very interesting how optics work.