'BOKEH'. What does it mean??

[back alley]

i'd like to know who sets the standards for what good fuzziness is?

oh my, donut shaped oof area = bad bokeh!
who sez?

joe

 

[Taipei-metro]

i'd like to know who sets the standards for what good fuzziness is?

oh my, donut shaped oof area = bad bokeh!
who sez?

joe

Who?
Akiyama Shotaro. A renowned photographer.
Who sez?
Japan Leica League, headed by Takanashi Yutaka, also a renowned photographer.

Just joking... 🙂

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Oh Yeah!

I remember when Mirror Lens Donuts were all the rage!

Bokeh: A good excuse for buying LOTS of 50mm lenses when one should do.

 

[Aardvark Aallen]

Good morning, all

This word 'bokeh' is new to me! In nearly 50 years of messing with photography, I have never seen this word before visiting this august website. Please would someone explain it to me and put me out of my confusion!!

Thanks a million 😕

these answers have a great deal of 'bokeh' ;-)

 

[jan normandale]

isn't that a tautology? 🙂
I'll re-use that acronym if you permit 😉

but there are also some Japanese lenses designed for bokeh only, eg
http://www.magnuswedberg.com/docs/STF-review/

Alec , knock yourself out! Use it all you want. ;-)

 

[Sonnar Brian]

Most people reduce it to harsh out-of-focus areas, ie "donuts" or "soft Blur". It is mostly caused by over/under correction of spherical aberration . Most wide-angle lenses and fast normal lenses are over-corrected and have "donut" like out-of-focus areas. Most telephoto's are under-corrected, and have a "nice" center-weighted smooth blur.

Shot 1 and 2: Nikkor 10.5cm F2.5, wide-open and closest focus.

Shot 3: Nikkor-S 5.8cm F1.4 SLR lens. (Very short lived)

Shot 4: Nikkor-S 5cm F2 SLR lens. (Very Short-lived)

 

[GeneW]

It has been described as the 'quality of out of focus areas' a lens produces. When some lenses are shot side by side, on a tripod, etc., you can see that some of the oof areas look nicer on some lenses than others. Sometimes the number of aperture blades contributes to a smoother look, sometimes the lens design.

When I first encountered the word bokeh, I thought it was nothing more than typical Internet bad spelling and that what was meant was 'bouquet'. Somehow I still think that fits -- as in wine experts talking about the bouquet of certain vintages.

It's not a deciding factor for me, but I think it's real, interesting, and maybe a bit precious.

BTW, Mike Johnston claims to have added the 'h' to the spelling, changing it from 'boke' to 'bokeh'

http://luminous-landscape.com/columns/sm-04-04-04.shtml

Gene

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

No, bo-keh.
Kurt M.

Thank you, Kurt. Somehow I knew that, when I cringed when I heard it pronounced otherwise, there was a reason behind it. 🙂

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

i'd like to know who sets the standards for what good fuzziness is?

oh my, donut shaped oof area = bad bokeh!
who sez?

I dunno, but apparently there's a publication with a scale. To me, it's like rating popcorn; either I like it or I don't, and I know when I get a burned kernel when it cracks in my mouth, nobody has to tell me.

 

[tom7ii]

This is a very good document, with examples of lenses experiencing good and bad "bokeh" - http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/ATVB.pdf

 

[ch1]

i'd like to know who sets the standards for what good fuzziness is?

oh my, donut shaped oof area = bad bokeh!
who sez?

joe

Joe,

As I understand it "bokeh" is more a subjective measure not an objective one . So to a great extent it is a "standard" based on "consensus" of what is "good" and "bad".

This is very "eastern" (e.g. Japanese) concept and can be difficult for "western" so-called rationalist minds to comprehend.

At least that's my guess.

George

 

[RJBender]

This is a very good document, with examples of lenses experiencing good and bad "bokeh" - http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/ATVB.pdf

It's a great article! I bookmarked it a few years ago.

So, bokeh depends to a large degree upon the shape of the diaphragm opening. We probably should avoid triangles!

The Rollei 85mm f/1.4 Planar has a triangle shaped diaphragm opening. I've heard that this lens produces triangles in the bokeh similar to those illustrated in the article. Triangles would definitely be "bad bokeh."

R.J.

 

[rayfoxlee]

Thanks, one & all - I now know!

I just love this website. Not only is it a mine of information (useful as well!), but you just know that, as you scroll down the various replies, the humour kicks in and it becomes more zany. Just the job when you can't sleep in the wee small hours! Darn fantastic!!

Ray