Neare
Well-known
f1.5 Sonnar. =)
maddoc
... likes film again.
Noctilux or 5cm Summarit 1:1.5 LTM:
back alley
IMAGES
zm 50/1.5
Bingley
Veteran
raid
Dad Photographer
The CZJ 5cm 1.5 and the 2.0 both have beautifull OOF rendering.
I think that the Pentax 43mm 1.9 and the Tessar 50mm 2.8 also have great OOF behavior. There exist many excellent 50mm lenses out there, so we pick the lenses we like.
I think that the Pentax 43mm 1.9 and the Tessar 50mm 2.8 also have great OOF behavior. There exist many excellent 50mm lenses out there, so we pick the lenses we like.
1943 5cm F1.5 Sonnar "T" in LTM.
Canon 50/1.5 "Sonnar" formula lens, at F2.
Canon 50/1.5 "Sonnar" formula lens, at F2.
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raid
Dad Photographer
The Sonnar lenses have great bokeh. Period.
Richard G
Veteran
C Sonnar maybe at f2 or 2.8.
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mark-b
Well-known
Collapsible Summicron, wide-open at F2:
Beautiful photograph. The bokeh looks familiar; only because I have the same lens!
The Sonnar examples (esp. from) Richard G and Brian Sweeney all have a very appealing, traditional look to me.
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noimmunity
scratch my niche
To my eyes the DR cron has obvious merits (tonality being the major one), but excellent bokeh is not one of them. The Sonnars win on that one IMHO, primarily because of the smoothness, not just of the OOF, but also of the transition, but the old Canons show that the Double Gauss design is no slouch, either.
Best deal in bokeh: Canon 50/1.8
Best overall smoothness and transition: ZM C Sonnar
Most classic: Uncoated wartime Sonnar
Dreamiest bokeh: Canon 50/0.95 and Noctiluxes
Swirliest bokeh: Summitars and Noctiluxes
Best deal in bokeh: Canon 50/1.8
Best overall smoothness and transition: ZM C Sonnar
Most classic: Uncoated wartime Sonnar
Dreamiest bokeh: Canon 50/0.95 and Noctiluxes
Swirliest bokeh: Summitars and Noctiluxes
p.giannakis
Pan Giannakis
Helios 44-M4 at f2
Makten
-
How could we tell from such a closeup? Sort of any lens will give buttery smooth blur at that distance.
It's not just you. Many people seem to think that more blur = better bokeh. I'm not one of those.
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If smoothest possible blur is what you want, the Sigma 50/1.4 for SLR should be on the throne.
I actually sold it because it was too smooth. Boring. So I got a Nikkor 50/1.2 instead (for SLR), which is about as smooth when stopped down, but gives total chaos when wide open.
f/1.2
f/2
A perfect combination of very different characteristics!
wintoid
Back to film
Not particularly. I don't own the E46 any more, but have a v2 E43 and a tabbed Summicron now, and I miss the E46 more than anything I've ever sold. The E43 is just as good, but I shoot a lot in the close range, so I end up using the Summicron more. I should probably sell both and get another E46, but too much inertia
I thought the E46 had the best bokeh, best all round signature, and utter flare-proof-ness of any lens I've owned.
ferider
Veteran
Maybe it's just my particular DR. I have failed to create busy backgrounds with it, even though I tried:
And it has the typical classic Leica shallow DOF, less than you expect.
I have however created the occasional double lines and asymmetric background circles with every Sonnar that I tried, except the new ZM version. The strength of most 50mm Sonnars is center emphasis, compactness and flare resistance, not bokeh.
Bokeh is of course very personal, and my taste has changed over the years. I like lenses were the OOF behavior attracts/leads to the subject in focus. Not when the viewer gets attracted to funky background circles. If your photo attracts the viewer to the background, there is something wrong with it, IMO: it is called background for a reason And, while I used to shoot them myself, I find photos with sun-lit leaves in the background (demonstrating "good bokeh") now quite meaningless. They do not represent a typical use scenario, unless 90% of your photos are of trunks, branches and leaves. Even optically, they mostly say something about coma of a lens wide open, not about typical in-use OOF and its transition.
The faster classic Leica/Mandler lenses, at less than 2m distance, all have veiling flare, and performance really gets quite bad when getting close. While one of the Summicron strength is close up performance (as often needed for portraits), 50mm pre-asph Noctilux and Summilux were optimized for journalistic application, and are, very close, quite soft and flairy, not too useful, unless you only show web images, or like the Leica "glow".
My 2 cents
Roland.
And it has the typical classic Leica shallow DOF, less than you expect.
I have however created the occasional double lines and asymmetric background circles with every Sonnar that I tried, except the new ZM version. The strength of most 50mm Sonnars is center emphasis, compactness and flare resistance, not bokeh.
Bokeh is of course very personal, and my taste has changed over the years. I like lenses were the OOF behavior attracts/leads to the subject in focus. Not when the viewer gets attracted to funky background circles. If your photo attracts the viewer to the background, there is something wrong with it, IMO: it is called background for a reason
And, while I used to shoot them myself, I find photos with sun-lit leaves in the background (demonstrating "good bokeh") now quite meaningless. They do not represent a typical use scenario, unless 90% of your photos are of trunks, branches and leaves. Even optically, they mostly say something about coma of a lens wide open, not about typical in-use OOF and its transition.The faster classic Leica/Mandler lenses, at less than 2m distance, all have veiling flare, and performance really gets quite bad when getting close. While one of the Summicron strength is close up performance (as often needed for portraits), 50mm pre-asph Noctilux and Summilux were optimized for journalistic application, and are, very close, quite soft and flairy, not too useful, unless you only show web images, or like the Leica "glow".
My 2 cents
Roland.
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sonyleica
Member
50 M Hexanon F2 wide open
mfogiel
Veteran
I like many 50mm lenses for the bokeh, and to my eye there are 3 schools of thought about a "good" bokeh : 1- creamy and mellow (Sonnar type) 2- articulated and paintery (DR Summicron type) 3 - swirly and wild (Noctilux type) It is difficult to say which is "best", but generally, when I like the bokeh to produce just some nice, separated and unobtrusive background (portraiture) I use Sonnar type lenses or Planar type for general shooting, for the articulated and paintery, the DR Summicron, Collapsible Summicron or old Collapsible Elmar, for the swirly and a bit wild, the Noctilux and Summitar. Here are some examples.
Group 1:
C Sonnar
Canon 50/1.2
Planar 50/2
Group 2:
Elmar 50/2.8 Collapsible (old)
Summicron Collapsible
DR Summicron
Group 3:
Noctilux
Summitar 50/2
I think the Summarit 50/1.5 is showing this effect even more, but I have never owned this lens.
Group 1:
C Sonnar
Canon 50/1.2
Planar 50/2
Group 2:
Elmar 50/2.8 Collapsible (old)
Summicron Collapsible
DR Summicron
Group 3:
Noctilux
Summitar 50/2
I think the Summarit 50/1.5 is showing this effect even more, but I have never owned this lens.
Mablo
Well-known
I'm afraid to place my humble picture after mfogiel's fabulous shots but here we go. Canon 50mm/1.2.
raid
Dad Photographer
I just got some film back today from the CZJ 5cm 1.5. Here are some examples.
I wanted to make sure that the lens is OK before I take it with me to Egypt as my main lens.
I wanted to make sure that the lens is OK before I take it with me to Egypt as my main lens.
Krosya
Konicaze
Raid, I like the last photo. Looks like you have a good lens there.
Raid- looks fine to me. The uncoated Sonnar 5cm F1.5 is my favorite 50.