bokeh on 24-35mm range, what is the best ?

[proenca]

I love the way my 50mm pre asph renders the out of focus ( aka bokeh ) area... its just gorgeous...

I would like to get a lens for my M8 that would be somewhat the same way if wide open, so far I found :

35mm F2 Summicron IV version - light, good bokeh
28mm F2 ASPH - not so light, still deciding on its bokeh
35 F1.4 ASPH - more harsh and more defined, but a stellar performer
40mm F2 ( from the CLE's ) - seems nice !

can someone throw some more lens into the equation ? And post some pictures to show the bokeh ! Would love lens in the 24-35mm range... please ?

Cheers

[proenca]

let me try to refine better : I would like to know lens with creamy bokeh ( as the summilux 50mm pre asph, noctilux, etc ) and easiness to throw areas OOF when close.

the larger mm we go, the harder, due to increased dof. so far my heart is almost set on the 35mm 1.4 since its easy to selectivly defocus something, due to its 1.4 aperture. any other ideas ? I would love the 28mm F2 but the 28mm vs 35mm makes it more difficult to get OOF areas no ?

[Eoin]

Having owned both the 35 Summilux and 28 Summicron Asph's I can make the following comments,
1, The 35 by nature of it's longer focal length and wider aperture gives more ability to throw the background out of focus. However this lens displays the sharpness and contrast fingerprint of the Asph's and can give a "clumpy" effect to strongly coloured backgrounds. Without a doubt this 35 is a superb lens with super colour and clarity no matter what aperture is used. The only limiting factor for me was the 35mm fov on the M8.

2. The 28 brings back the more natural 35 fov given the crop factor of the M8, it seems more natural to shoot with this focal length and the fov seems more general purpose, suitable for most situations. While the lens is an Asph, it hides this fact, opening up the shadow areas and does not seem to have the heavy contrast asph's are noted for. Colours as a result seem slightly muted, almost more natural and sharpness is there at all apertures. By it's very nature the 28 even at f:/2 has a tough time wiping the background but if your close enough to the subject and there is good distance between the subject and the background then it will produce a smoother wash with colours melting into each other rather than the clumps of the 35. Without a doubt there is more definition in the OOF areas but they are softer and IMO add to an image.

3 If I wanted to wipe the background into smooth tones I'd be using the lens you already have 50 pre-asph or 90 Summicron but then the compression of the longer FL may not give the result you're seeking.

Perhaps someone with the 35 Summicron v4 would chime in, but for me the 28 is attractive just by the very nature of the focal length.

[nrj]

The 35 v3 has lovely transitions to OOF and the OOF is rendered in a very pleasing, 'creamy' way whilst retaining colour and shape information. I chose to keep it over the v4 and f2asph for these reasons amongst others

Nik