The ultimate Bokeh thread; pics please

[menos]

Here is 5cm ƒ1.5 Summarit + XOONS bokeh on a sunny, but over clouded day:

aperture was ƒ2

and a crop - watch that funky Summarit bokeh!

some swirly bokeh from the Summarit:

 

[menos]

I am really digging the 5cm ƒ3.5 Elmar, since I found out about it's beautiful, beautiful, soft bokeh - watch that background far away (especially the transitions from bright sky to dark background - modern lenses murder any beauty in such things)!

Most pleasant background rendering, when focussing further away:

I am really into these old lenses now, who would have thought !

 

[Argenticien]

Rolleiflex 2.8E Planar, at perhaps f/4 or f/5.6 I think. Efke R50 souped in Ilfosol 3.
--Dave


FDC and Flower Boxes by Argenticien, on Flickr

 

[ferider]

Roland, I didn't use your 90 Elmarit yet - this will be one of the upcoming lenses, to shoot extensively ;-)

Looking forward Dirk. Here are a couple to bridge you over, taken with your lens (90/2.8 M-mount Elmarit):

Roland.

 

[kokoshawnuff]

Summicron 50 (current), Tri-X

 

[Greyscale]

Yashica TL Electro X ITS, Yashinon-DX 50/1.7

Yashica TL Electro X ITS, Yashinon-DX 50/1.7


021_021 by Greyscale3, on Flickr

 

[zthee]

Carl Zeiss Planar T* 110mm f2 FE (Shot at f2) - Kodak Tri-x 400 - Hasselblad 203FE

 

[philosomatographer]

Skyward Pots

OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.2, Ilford Pan F

Receding Tables

OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.2, Kodak TMY400-2

Lord of fake mice

OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.2, Kodak TMY400-2

​

 

[jcrutcher]

M9, 75mm Summarit wide open (F2.5)

 

[seakayaker1]

MP ~ 90/2.8 Elmarit

 

[jcrutcher]

MP ~ 90/2.8 Elmarit

Nice job Dan! I like how you put bikes in a lot of your photo's.
Jim

 

[menos]

Roland, thanks a lot for the 90 Elmarit reminder ;-)
Yes, yes, it's still unused … I promise, I'll change that in some time …

Beautiful bokeh it does in my opinion - not so crazy, as some of the older lenses (the Canon Sonnar tele lenses for example), but also not as smooth and edge-less, as the most modern lenses.

 

[jmanivelle]

Yesterday's shots, M8 + summilux 35 pre ASPH

Gilson 2 by careca2013, on Flickr

 

[blauvelt]

leica IIIc 1.5f/50mm Summarit, fuji velvia 50 pushed 1 stop.

 

[jcrutcher]

M9-P, 75mm summilux

 

[menos]

75 Summilux bokeh - how can you not love, what this lens does with backgrounds?

50 Summicron Leica 1913-1983 (tabbed v4):

 

[philosomatographer]

I have to say, it appears as if most Leica M-mount lenses produces considerably ugly (harsh) bokeh, except for a few very special ones (e.g. 75mm f/1.4 Summilux).

Thank you so much everybody who has contributed to this massive thread - never has such a collection of images been available in one place to draw such a distinct conclusion from. Since more than 50% of the Leica M images really do show what is undeniably ugly bokeh, there is no longer any denying this fact:

Leitz may be able to make some really sharp, small, well-made lenses, but not even they can make lenses that are guaranteed to produce good bokeh.

Bokeh "style" is actually not that important to myself. At least now we have a giant image collection to point to.

I myself have come to a conclusion: 99% of lenses made cannot be all of: fast aperture, high resolution, and have good bokeh. "Slow" lenses always produce the best bokeh (e.g. if we're talking M-mount, nothing that I have seen beats the Voigtländer Heliar 50/3.5) but they produce "less of it", which is why slow lenses on medium- and large format will always beat 35mm lenses when it comes to quality (and quantity, due to larger film size / physical aperture size for the same f-number) of bokeh.

I am not stating the above as facts, just my experience. But what is indeed a fact is: statistically speaking - with a reasonable sample size (this giant thread) - Leica M-lenses produce bad bokeh, just like most other 35mm lenses.

 

[efix]

Bokeh for Bokeh's sake. M8 + Planar 50 ZM.

 

[philosomatographer]

Time and Space

(Schneider-Kreuznach APO-Symmar 150mm f/5.6, 4x5in Ilford HP5 film, Linhof Technika)
​

 

[menos]

Time and Space
(Schneider-Kreuznach APO-Symmar 150mm f/5.6, 4x5in Ilford HP5 film, Linhof Technika)
​

A photo speaks more than a thousand words 😀
Your post before could have easily understood as a Leica rant, but backing it with this beauty of bokeh makes your point clear.

I fear though, the issue with bokeh is not a Leica made one, but generally a smaller format issue.
Only when one goes the efforts, to use the fastest of lenses or specific designs, that make background smooth, like the latest ASPH 50/1.4, 75/2 or, as you stated certain slower lenses (a 135/3.4 APO can do real magic in this regard), you will get smooth bokeh, as you like.

For some though, certain specialty lenses have something going for them for their crazy bokeh (take the 50/1.5 Summarit for example or in a milder dose the 50/2 Summitar, …).

I love the Leica stuff, but in regards of truly outstanding background rendering, it is limited to certain special lenses (unfortunately those are getting costly nowadays) or to move to a larger film format entirely.

But then again, isn't it sometimes the flaws, that we feel so dearly about something, that makes them unique and special ;-) ?