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Bokeh


Cuthbert

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Less interested? I hope not. 

I like the drawing of the leica lenses; 

In my perception,

  •  the 'old' signature of Leica was creamy, and I have compared these to the Canon lenses. 
  • The Zeiss lenses I have always compared with Nikons: the sharpness is good but the drawing quickly turns harsh when stopped down. Still, I like the Zeiss 28 I have, but avoid the setting around the 5.6 range.

 

The new signature of Leica seems to be towards Zeiss, and this I like less. High sharpness, but quick loss of structure with stopping down. 

For example I have 'hard' examples from my newer 50mm summicron and 90 mm Elmar-M. Here I too have found I must avoid certain openings. 

 

I will select new lenses on a very high Bokeh quality. No fast fall-off, but I gladly accept a less high resolution - that is just good for the tests, but Leica owners traditionally have been loyal specially for the distinct quality of rendering  - not the ultimate sharpness. Absence of praise can be seen as brand loyalty, trust.

 

There are many posts on the forum showing the love of the drawing of the Leica lenses. 

 

Bokeh has to do with at least three things:

  1. the form of the diaphragm (and better have 9 than 5 blades)
  2. the form of the cone of sharpness, 
  3. the relationship between sharpness fall-off in front of and behind the plane of focus

and yes, we SEE that.

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Most people look at the phenomenon as a wide-open something. For me its not solely that. It is about being able to get a good shot. The ease of focus, of having a pleasant background.

 

Take this shot:

 

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I prefocussed quickly on the shoes or the edge of the 'a', had to step around a few people, frame and shoot, within five seconds, and this lens I knew gives just enough "headroom" closed a bit, in the depth to get the girls good.

 

 

But maybe this is a very personal way to look at bookeh, and you would like to look at the wide open phenomena only. 

 

 

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While it is important to have a good balance between DOF and bokeh area, some tricks like 3D bokeh (AKA bokeh in the background and foreground of the subject) are possible just with fast lenses, for instance this shot...a little overexposed but it's a good example:

 

28ldo7.jpg

 

This is an example of more traditional stepped down bokeh at f4.0:

 

w8aijq.jpg

 

Still, I think the Leica shooters are much interested in bokeh than people with SLR, the number of answers to this thread prove that.

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Still, I think the Leica shooters are much less interested in bokeh than people with SLR, the number of answers to this thread prove that.

 

Maybe because Leica lenses have always provided a pleasant drawing and pleasing backgrounds and have a renown for nice colors. These characteristics were part of the imago, brand image. 

 

 

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35mm @ F2

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I do agree that my Canon lenses (that I can now put on the M240) are very pleasant (that is why I selected the brand).

But Zeiss is harder in drawing and some of their lenses quickly give way to a harsh bokeh when stopped down a little bit. Still I like them.

 

What is the Leica glow anyway? Is is a positive shadow?

 

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100% crop. It does shine a bit  :wacko:

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Leica MP + Kodak Portra 400

MacroElmar 90 + M-Adapter

Tripod

 

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Best

Henry

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Out of curiosity you guys have problems focusing with rangefinders with fast lenses?

 

I must confess I have some, especially in dark light, however these two guys came out decently with my Leica IIIb and Industar 50, not the bokehst lens around:

 

xqcoyb.jpg

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I have no problem with fast lenses. Neither with handling them fast.

 

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Summicron-50 at F2; /1/3000 

 

& as you can see the bee has been caught full of attention of the sweet 'frame' that has been given.

Edited by Alberti
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I have no problem with fast lenses. Neither with handling them fast.

 

attachicon.gif0806 024_2 C1 1.jpg

 

Summicron-50 at F2; /1/3000 

 

& as you can see the bee has been caught full of attention of the sweet 'frame' that has been given.

 

Out of curiosity, which camera have you used for this pic?

 

And IMO a f2.0 lens is not fast, it's standard...the DOF of a 1.4 or 1.2 becomes troublesome to focus.

Edited by Cuthbert
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M8; and yes with 1.4 and 1.2 the DoF plane becomes smaller, but focussing with a RF is traditionally seen as best (compared to screen);

some autofocus camera's come close in precision, might offer amateurs a better option, but then, you never know what is in focus. 

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I'll post two.

 

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(focusing at closest distance 0.8m)

M7 Summarit-M 50/2.5 Ilford XP2

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M8; and yes with 1.4 and 1.2 the DoF plane becomes smaller, but focussing with a RF is traditionally seen as best (compared to screen);

some autofocus camera's come close in precision, might offer amateurs a better option, but then, you never know what is in focus. 

 

Anybody and his dog can focus with the back of a digital camera, I was talking about the real thing, and to be honest the ghost image of a RF is not easily seen in dim light nor it's faster than the bright screen of a SLR like the Canon F-1N or the Pentax LX in dim light.

 

Sooner I'll expect the owner of an autofocus Eos 1 come here and say "I have no problems focusing with my 50 mm f1.0 at minimum distance in nightime!" :D

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I'll post two.

 

attachicon.gifF1000025.jpg

 

(focusing at closest distance 0.8m)

attachicon.gifF1000022.jpg

M7 Summarit-M 50/2.5 Ilford XP2

 

Pretty, I got one similar to your second image:

 

28s1zme.jpg

 

Not much bokeh tough...and the scan is pretty bad (I assume these guys are good at adding fake grain to films), however it was taken with my M3 and DR Summicron at f2.8.

Edited by Cuthbert
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I don't have an EOS1, but does the EOS5 count Cuthbert?   ;)

 

 

Photo below shot with the goggled f2.8/135mm Elmarit. The focusing isn't as light as my normal lenses so I'm considering to have it serviced to see what it does. Find the older lenses work very nice on the M240. 

16948978751_ce954aec11_b.jpg

5 seconds before impact by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr

 

 

Photo below with the same combination, but if correct shot on f2.8. 

16923973366_5d75431712_b.jpg

- by Tookaphotoof, on Flickr

 

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