Nokton 40/1.4 good bokeh photos...

[sychan]

Its nowhere as nice as my 85/1.8 Canon LTM, but I don't think there's anything to complain about once you learn how to use the lens.

 

[Justin Viiret]

I like it too -- you can get really nice looking, smooth shots from the Nokton. I get the occasional harsh edges in the background with close-up subjects with the lens at f1.4 or f2, but it's not that distracting, I don't think...

jv (hi people, I'm a lurker 😉 )

 

[sockeyed]

Gorgeous shots, sychan and Justin. My experience is that the bokeh really cleans up at 2.8 and smaller. He's a shot at around 4 or 5.6.

[Justin - what films are you shooting?]

 

[Justin Viiret]

Well, I'm shooting all sorts of things -- currently very enamoured with Fuji's Neopan 400 film. 🙂

These two shots, though: the first one is Tri-X at 400, and the second is Provia 400f slide film. Both available light, both shot at 1/30 or 1/60 at f/2, I think.

jv

 

[sockeyed]

Are you happy with the 400F? I love shooting slides, but have usually stayed away from 400 speed films because of the large grain. i've heard that 400F's grain is good, though.

 

[Meleica]

http://www.rangefinderforum.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=7874


sorry, but this is not nice bokeh at all....neutral at best.....

Dan

 

[Meleica]

on second glance - that really is bad bokeh - look at the very bottom left - looking at those leaves/branches is painful...


check out this bokeh from a Pentax 50mm 1.7M K-mount lens


http://members.aol.com/dcolucci/cart5.jpg

 

[Justin Viiret]

Hi!

Are you happy with the 400F? I love shooting slides, but have usually stayed away from 400 speed films because of the large grain. i've heard that 400F's grain is good, though.

The 400f I got for a steal on ebay, four rolls for about AU$25 or so, _much_ cheaper than the retail price. It's expensive film. You do get very small grain, though, and good colour reproduction -- better than any 400 colour neg film I've used. That said, I probably won't use it often unless I get another good ebay purchase. 🙂

on second glance - that really is bad bokeh - look at the very bottom left - looking at those leaves/branches is painful...

Oh, I don't think it's too bad, I've certainly seen much worse (though I tend to avoid leaves with this lens at wide apertures, actually) -- the Pentax shot you posted has nice background, I agree, though.

Some more examples from me, if people are interested:

Nokton shots: Flickr gallery for 40/1.4 Nokton
Harsh bokeh from the popular Canon 50/1.8 EF (SLR) lens: Photo of Rachel

The background in the Canon shot above is really striking -- a much more knowledgeable friend of mine has said it's an example of "ni-sen bokeh", apparently caused by over-correction of spherical aberration. I see it pretty often with that lens. 🙂

 

[Evgeny S]

I was seeking for Nokton but after seeing this picture I've rejected that idea. 🙁 Meleica is right: "No bokeh at all". Or very bad bokeh!
What is good bokeh... One example you can see on Rokkor Fan lens test (sorry it's SLR lens).

 

[aizan]

no fair, the beach shot is sand and people standing over the horizon. not a challenging scene at all. and the rokkor has cats eyes.

 

[sychan]

on second glance - that really is bad bokeh - look at the very bottom left - looking at those leaves/branches is painful...


check out this bokeh from a Pentax 50mm 1.7M K-mount lens

That branch isn't pretty, I agree, but for me, the standard for "bad bokeh" are my Nikkor F-mount primes ( 50/1.4, 50/1.8 and 85/1.8). Compared to them, I think the Nokton does very well. I think the Pentax shot is rather low contrast, which tends to smooth out the bokeh, so it isn't really a fair comparison.
The shot from the 200/4 lens can't be used for comparison because slower, tele lenses aren't really in the same league.

I don't think the 40/1.4 has genuinely nice bokeh, but I believe the complaints about it (especially compared to the cron-C) are vastly overblown. Bad bokeh complaints sometimes strikes me as a a symptom of gearhead hypochondria...

 

[taffer]

Justin, I tried to look for the bad bokeh on that Canon shot of yours, but in all honesty, I couldn't, because I could only see Rachel 😀

 

[Doug]

Seems to me the 40 Nokton's bokeh is "normal" looking for modern well-corrected lenses. It can look unpleasant at times, but not all the time, depending on aperture, relative distance and the nature of the background, and lighting. It's interesting to see users finding ways to avoid the circumstances that lead to the unpleasant look! I can learn from this in using my own lenses.

 

[DaveSee]

Just out of curiosity, which 40 Nokton are you all using? Not that lens coating would make that much difference... or maybe it does? I have the single coat, and have only just begun to exercise it with both color and B/W films and--given this thread--whether its smoothness/harshness is flim type related.

rgds,
Dave

 

[DaveSee]

Justin, I tried to look for the bad bokeh on that Canon shot of yours, but in all honesty, I couldn't, because I could only see Rachel 😀

Yes, she is distracting in this bokeh context 😉 but that building's roof is a bit too flat!

 

[David Kieltyka]

Folks who've used the Leitz 40mm Summicron-C or the Minolta Rokkor version should recognize the out-of-focus character of the Nokton. It's essentially the same. I think the lens' character just goes along with this particular focal length range (35–40mm) and the optical design used. Even the alleged "bokeh king" 4th gen. 35mm Summicron has this look. I have the 'Cron-C and the Nokton and find it hard to tell them apart when looking at photos.

The new 35mm Zeiss M-mount Biogon has very smooth bokeh, but its optical design is quite different to the double-Gauss formula used by the Nokton/Summicron/Rokkor.

-Dave-

 

[Justin Viiret]

Just out of curiosity, which 40 Nokton are you all using?

Mine's the multicoated version, with a B+W UV filter on it. I'd be quite curious to see a comparison between the SC and MC versions, too. Does anyone here have both (for some odd reason? 🙂 )

Justin, I tried to look for the bad bokeh on that Canon shot of yours, but in all honesty, I couldn't, because I could only see Rachel 😛

Ah, yes. Instead of avoiding high-contrast, busy backgrounds, another technique for minimising the effect is to photograph good-looking subjects. 🙂

jv

 

[sychan]

I'm also using the MC version. On the Contax G, I felt that the 45/2 planar had really wonderful bokeh and striking colors - maybe the Zeiss planar for M mount will be the same?

 

[MCTuomey]

What Doug said. At this focal length and given the type of construction, the shooter needs to adapt. Stop down, and bokeh will improve. In low light where you've got to be wide open, "bad bokeh" will be mitigated by the shadows. I think Sy is right. Obsessing over lens characteristics is a symptom ... get out and shoot and "run what ya brung." A shooter with solid knowledge of his/her modest glass will trump an inexperienced shooter with magnificent glass every time.

I'm certain my glass is better than I am.