Bokeh!!

JD, I can't say I like the specular highlights in that Voigtländer shot - although in this case those turned out quite well, and not too irritating.
I've seen such stuff before, and although "interesting", I can't say I'm pleased to see such ringlets in a shot.
One recent example, which my brother sent me a while ago, is particularly irritating. Shot with an old manual Minolta SRT and Minolta 50/2 lens:
 
Retina IIa on FP4+. I don't think this was shot wide open either.
 
denishr said:
JD, I can't say I like the specular highlights in that Voigtländer shot - although in this case those turned out quite well, and not too irritating.
I've seen such stuff before, and although "interesting", I can't say I'm pleased to see such ringlets in a shot.
One recent example, which my brother sent me a while ago, is particularly irritating. Shot with an old manual Minolta SRT and Minolta 50/2 lens:
Click to expand...

Oh, I agree- the oblong ovals look a bit funky, but still, the lens has a pleasing look. I've been shooting the lens to see if I do like it- and as it turns out, it's quite pretty under almost all conditions I can find. I'm working on some other images right now to demonstrate the Bokeh better...
 
JD, your photos prove that you have to know your lens to bring out the best from it! Your shots show a very ingenious use of the lens "faults" :)
Apart from less than ideal rendering of those "rings", the lens has a very pleasing "character", at least for me.
I've noticed that there are very few lens which can render those specular, "pointy", sources of light in a pleasing way.

Here's another - Summicron M 50/2 collapsible...
 
ALL very attractive images! Bokeh is just another play-toy!
Denis, the Summi is quite obviously very sharp- and the out-of-focus highlights are very gentle. I like the look.

Oscar, the 5 sided speculars/highlights have never bothered me. The Best Lens Ever (Mamiya Universal 100mm f/2.8) has them too, and they've never made any distraction for me in any photo I've taken.

I think this thread really demonstrates that rangefinders are indeed "people cameras."
 
Another. Voigtlander Prominent with the Nokton 50mm f/1.5, wide open, Kodak T-Max 100 shot at 1600 and slightly pushed in T-Max (12 minutes, 70 degrees!)
 
Interesting shape on the x-Mas tree lights, Brian. I'm beginning to wonder if the ones on my Nokton are like that- and apparently from mechanical vignetting, or something to that effect. I was looking at some of my other shots, and they do show a loss of light in the corners.
 
bmattock said:
The lens is a Canon FL 135mm f2.5, wide open as you suspected. Sorry, an SLR!
Click to expand...

But, you can use the same lens on a Canon 7 or 7s... if you can find the RF version, and a Canon Mirror Box 2 to mount it on!

(And if you've got all that stuff, I'd love to see pix!)
 
Not wide open, but 1/30th sec. @ f/2 (Fuji Neopan 400, Carl Zeiss f/1.5 50mm Sonnar (c. 1953-61).

Pherdinand said:
I just wonder what the Sonnar 50/1.5 will do - with the lots-of-iris-blades (13 or something), around f/4 the iris has a funky sunflower-shape. Anybody, any experience with it? [/B]
Click to expand...
 
Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton, Prominent Mount (Fuji Neopan 400, 1/15th sec. @ f/1.5).

jdos2 said:
Interesting shape on the x-Mas tree lights, Brian. I'm beginning to wonder if the ones on my Nokton are like that- and apparently from mechanical vignetting, or something to that effect. I was looking at some of my other shots, and they do show a loss of light in the corners.
Click to expand...
 
And here's a similar shot using the Cosina Voigtlander 50/1.5 Nokton Asph. (Tri-X @ 800, 1/30th sec. @ f/1.5), if you want to compare vintage w/modern glass.
 
This was taken with a 90mm pre-war uncoated Elmar mounted on a IIIc Leica. The film was FP-4 and the aperture approximately f/4.5.

Walker
 
The film was, again, Ilford FP-4. The camera was a Kiev-4A with a Jupiter-9 85mm f/2 lens. Taken wide open under florescent lighting at approximately 1/25.

Walker
 
Bokeh

Bokeh

The bokeh adjustment stand - sometimes it's left to the photographer to render himself pleasantly out of focus. (Beerkeh?)

(CV APO 90/3.5).
 
A typical situation, which I use in testing new lens bokeh is to sit your subject in shade, with a tree behind, so you have many "pointy" sources of light coming from behind. Another possible situation are shots in cafés, etc. - indoors, like JD's shots, or my portrait above - where you have multiple light sources in the background.

I've also noticed that my Jupiter 12 has a very peculiar tendency to render such specular highlights as triangles - more prominent in the corners/edges of the frame.
I've noticed the same in the furcafe's Sonnar "tatooed DJ" shot above. Sonnar renders those more pleasantly, though.

Did any of you who use J12 notice the same?
Here's an example - it's a lousy shot, bur illustrates the issue. In the center of the frame, you get circles, but towards the edge, those turn to triangles, which can be very irritating sometimes.
I wonder if this is characteristic of Jupiter 12 (Zeiss Biogon?) design, or is it just my sample?
 
I probably haven't done as much testing as you have (@ least not for the purpose of testing boke), but I associate triangular highlights (& yes, towards the edges of the frame) most often w/pre-WWII Sonnar shots taken wide-open, which may accord w/the fact that the Jupiters are based on pre-WWII Zeiss designs. I haven't noticed it as often w/shots taken using my post-WWII Zeiss lenses (Sonnar or Biogon--I don't have a pre-WWII Biogon only Sonnars), but will have to root around in my archives to confirm. The Noctilux also does the triangle specular highlight thing (the Noct's Sonnar-like behavior may be why I'm not as bothered by its notorious boke as others).

denishr said:

I've also noticed that my Jupiter 12 has a very peculiar tendency to render such specular highlights as triangles - more prominent in the corners/edges of the frame.
I've noticed the same in the furcafe's Sonnar "tatooed DJ" shot above. Sonnar renders those more pleasantly, though.

Did any of you who use J12 notice the same?
Here's an example - it's a lousy shot, bur illustrates the issue. In the center of the frame, you get circles, but towards the edge, those turn to triangles, which can be very irritating sometimes.
I wonder if this is characteristic of Jupiter 12 (Zeiss Biogon?) design, or is it just my sample?
Click to expand...
 
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