Not another Canon vs. Lieca threads! - M Lenses Bokeh

[ezc203]

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Can't speak much about the 21 Lux, but I do have the 24 Lux and I'd say it has some beautiful bokeh! I mean sure it does not blur out the background as much as say a 75/2.0 or even a 50/2.0, but the way the bokehs are rendered in the 24 Lux and the isolation you get can is outstanding for a wide-angle lens.

 

Here's an example:

 

 

Even though its cropped and the man is at some distance from the camera, the fact that he is in focus and the woman seated directly behind is not is quite impressive (for me at least).

[faraz]

That is indeed very nice, my main complaint has been about abruptness in representing objects with sharp edges (like grass) in out of focus areas but this is fairly similar to 21mm (except around outer edges), if even a little smoother.

[Peter A Turner]

Blur in out of focus areas is highly dependent on focal length and camera-subject distance. My 90/4 at f/4 will produce 'better' bokeh (as you are referring to it) than you 21/1.4 wide open at the same subject distance. Because it's a 90, not because the 21/1.4 has bad bokeh.

 

At 5 ft, your 85/1.2 wide open has a estimated depth of field (DOF) of .07 ft, or 2.1 cm. At 5 ft, your 21/1.4 wide open has a depth of field of 1.48 ft, or 45 cm. That's the difference. Even longer lenses, even at f/2.8 and at larger camera-subject distances, will have less DOF than your 21/1.4, or even your 50/0.95. Read up on DOF and play around with this calculator for a bit.

 

As an aside, usually when people refer to the quality of bokeh, they don't mean the amount of back ground blur. In Nikor AIS photos, if you look at the blurred lights in the Noctilux photo, you'll notice that some of them aren't round and their edges are brighter than their centers. Likewise in the Canon shot, the blur of the yellow flowers has an interesting edge to it that makes them stand out a bit from more uniform blur of the greenery. These kinds of characteristics (and others) are what people usually refer to when they talk about bokeh quality.

 

Hi

I managed to find an app for Iphone called Photo calc.

Saves lugging computer around to work out dof.

peter

[Reds]

Oooo.... no Bokehz ! I think not......

 

This is the 21mm - so you should get even more of the stuff on the 24!

 

Not my finest work - just a few snaps on the way home today.

 

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[tom0511]

why compare a 50mm lens to a 21mm lens.

 

I think the Leica lenses are hard to beat but have used the 50/1.2 Canon for a short time and find it beautiful too.

Canon 50 and 85/1.2 are exceptional lenses IMO (however I gave up on my Canon journey since I couldnt get consistent focusing in combination with the 7d)

 

I wouldnt worry about the bokeh of either - all are pretty ggod IMO.