Please Explain Exactly What Bokeh Means

Hi Shooters. A new student photographer asked me to explain what the term bokeh means. All I could really do is show her by some images I shot with my 10D and a Tokina 80-200mm f2,8 zoom. I tried to also explain that lenses that have a constant aperature of f 1.2 1.4 2.8, etc. have the ability to produce a nice bokeh. Her lens is a standard
f 3.5-5.6 variable aperature and she really can't get much of a blurred background.

I showed her this image as an example of what bokeh means.

I guess if someone could explain in more technical terms how to define bokeh. And why only better "pro" lenses can achieve the effect. Thanks katt

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Im not sure of the exact meaning, but im sure any lens can produce it, just pro lenses do it better

nitekatt2006 wrote in post #2185283
Hi Shooters. A new student photographer asked me to explain what the term bokeh means. All I could really do is show her by some images I shot with my 10D and a Tokina 80-200mm f2,8 zoom. I tried to also explain that lenses that have a constant aperature of f 1.2 1.4 2.8, etc. have the ability to produce a nice bokeh. Her lens is a standard
f 3.5-5.6 variable aperature and she really can't get much of a blurred background.

I showed her this image as an example of what bokeh means.

I guess if someone could explain in more technical terms how to define bokeh. And why only better "pro" lenses can achieve the effect. Thanks katt

These links should give you a better understanding of what bokeh is:

http://www.luminous-landscape.com/essays/b​okeh.shtml

http://medfmt.8k.com/m​f/bokeh.html

http://www.bobatkins.c​om …aphy/technical/​bokeh.html


Too many people mistake bokeh to mean a blurred background but it's not as simple as that. Any lens can have bokeh. The question is whether it's good bokeh or bad.

i once read a great article on bokeh that explained how a lens would blur the areas that are out of focus and compared a whole ream of lenses for their bokeh.

the thing that surprised me was how the article described that what we see as a great bokeh ( in terms of a nice blurriness ) isn't necessarily the perfect shape that an out of focus point of light should be.

i wish i could find it again. IIRC it had a nice comparison of lenses like the 70-200L and a Sonnar 135 f3.5 polus a whole lot of others.

Bokeh is the blur in the background, usually created when a lens is used with a wider aperture (minimizing the depth of field).

Here's a link to a site I found on Google concerning its definition: http://dictionary.labo​rlawtalk.com/Bokeh

Here's another link with some more explanations: http://en.wikipedia.or​g/wiki/Bokeh

NiteKatt -

Background blur is the quality you're referring to. It's enhanced by the thin depth of field of large-aperature lenses. You can get the same effect with the lens she's using, just need enough separation between the subject and the background. Other factors that contribute to background blur (besides distance and aperature) are the sensor size and circle of confusion, and the final image size. The 50mm f1.8 will produce very blurred backgrounds.

bokeh refers to the quality of the blur, and is harder to define. Read through these threads: >>>one<<< and this excellent test: >>>two<<<

Thanks guys for all the links and resources about bokeh. It is a complex subject to understand and how it relates to the quality of lenses. I guess it gets into the physics of optics and really moves in to a real study to fully grasp the concept katt

I don't care about physics...I just want it to produce good bokeh. A few test shots with any lens can tell you if it has good bokeh.

SkipD wrote in post #2185350
Bokeh is the blur in the background, usually created when a lens is used with a wider aperture (minimizing the depth of field).

DavidEB wrote in post #2185360
NiteKatt -

Background blur is the quality you're referring to. It's enhanced by the thin depth of field of large-aperature lenses. You can get the same effect with the lens she's using, just need enough separation between the subject and the background. Other factors that contribute to background blur (besides distance and aperature) are the sensor size and circle of confusion, and the final image size. The 50mm f1.8 will produce very blurred backgrounds.

bokeh refers to the quality of the blur, and is harder to define. Read through these threads: >>>one<<< and this excellent test: >>>two<<<

What about foreground blur? I know that, generally, we may not want OOF objects in front of our main photographic subject, but in those cases where its present, is that considered bokeh as well?

runninmann wrote in post #2185514
What about foreground blur? I know that, generally, we may not want OOF objects in front of our main photographic subject, but in those cases where its present, is that considered bokeh as well?

I would assume that the same term applies.

What would be interesting to find out is whether a lens that is touted for its "creamy bokeh" (and I hate that term for some reason) produces the same sort of blur characteristic in front of the focus point as behind.

Most of the photographs I have seen which are samples of "bad bokeh" are usually just bad backgrounds. Harshly lit, over exposed and busy angular backgrounds will have an unpleasant appearance no matter how good the bokeh of the lens. You certainly don't need expensive "pro" lenses to have good bokeh potential.

Come to think of it, some of the great sport shooters that work with football, hockey and basketball get great blur/bokeh results. And comparison between background blur or bokeh seems to be different looks which I never really analyzed. katt

I am new here and i was also wondering what bokeh was. if i understand correctly this picture i took of a blue jay on some dieing sunflowers is good bokeh. right? This picture was taken with a Rebel XT and the 75-300 F4-5.6 III usm at full zoom. iso 250, f9.0, 1/500 sec. It was taken on the first weekend with the new camera. is was very surprised at how it came out. i like it

Okay, I'll be first, no image Squirt
C.

i had attached it but i guess i oppsed. lets try again. i did not see the error message saying my file was 1k over the limit me bad

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