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differences between Summicron 35 "king of bokeh" and Summicron ASPH


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9 hours ago, adan said:

A different example of v.4 bokeh at f/2 (digital, M9). In this case I found it quite brilliant, interesting and effective.

A classic case of you can do something but why would you?

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3 hours ago, james.liam said:

The chain makes me dizzy. If that's what you mean by effective.

I agree. Andy I don't think the 2 examples you have posted with the ASPH and M9 do it justice.

I would think that to be of any real use when comparing lenses, users who have both lenses should post identical photos taken under the same conditions with both if they can, otherwise we are just comparing apples and oranges.

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  • 2 weeks later...

The v.4 is my to go lens, love its 'funny' size and weight. No complaints about its IQ. Just got it serviced and adjusted in Wetzlar for the first time (bought in 1987 with an M6) and retro-fitted with 6 bit-code. Anxious to see if the "optical adjustment for digital M" makes any difference (probably not noticeable).       

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I enjoyed the V4 with my M4 and M6 for years as it was super sharp, 39mm filters, small and lightweight.  When I went digital to M240 and then M10, I changed to the 35mm ASPH (latest version) and have truthfully, been disappointed in it's optical performance, size and weight.  I have other Leica lenses of different focal lengths and which are much sharper and exciting to use.  I now wonder why with 35mm being such a historically  important focal length for Leica rangefinder cameras, the current lineup of this focal length isn't at the very top of the Leica list of optically superior lens choice.  Image wise, why isn't there a 35mm version at the level of the 50f2 APO?  

I really don't know anything about this  ‘bokeh king’ nonsense, the term seems a bit weird to me.

In answering the PO question: my suggestion is to find a clean 35mm V4 or try the one of the other moderate wide-angles.

Good luck with your choice.  jDD

Edited by m410
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I thought the other day that ‘bo-keh’ might be derived from the French ‘bouquet’. Ancient Japanese culture is being mystified often and the Japanese do mystify the French culture too. Bouquet refers to the smell of a wine which is important for the taste of it, without bouquet a wine is lost so to speak. A good bo-keh of a photo makes the focused parts stand out more clearly because the context leads the eye in a pleasant way to the main subject. This context can also lead to distraction from the subject. Wines can be described quite poetically and sometimes this goes a bit far. This does not mean that it is all non-sense. There are indeed lenses with a bo-keh that is distracting or there is no bo-keh which means that there is no subject either.

4 hours ago, m410 said:

the term seems a bit weird to me

 

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26 minutes ago, helged said:

;)

Yes that may be a bold statement as I see now. In landscape photography very often everything is sharp, so there is no bo-keh as such, but there are very good landscape photo’s in which the whole scene is the subject in which you can wander around with your eyes to enjoy all the details. I think I had street photography or wedding/parties photography in mind where the lack of selective focus can lead to meaningless images.

Edited by otto.f
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18 minutes ago, otto.f said:

Yes that may be a bold statement as I see now. In landscape photography very often everything is sharp, so there is no bo-keh as such, but there are very good landscape photo’s in which the whole scene is the subject in which you can wander around with your eyes to enjoy all the details. I think I had street photography or wedding/parties photography in mind where the lack of selective focus can lead to meaningless images.

No problem - just a fun comparison/statement. And I don't disagree...! 

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1 hour ago, otto.f said:

I thought the other day that ‘bo-keh’ might be derived from the French ‘bouquet’. Ancient Japanese culture is being mystified often and the Japanese do mystify the French culture too. Bouquet refers to the smell of a wine which is important for the taste of it, without bouquet a wine is lost so to speak. A good bo-keh of a photo makes the focused parts stand out more clearly because the context leads the eye in a pleasant way to the main subject. This context can also lead to distraction from the subject. Wines can be described quite poetically and sometimes this goes a bit far. This does not mean that it is all non-sense. There are indeed lenses with a bo-keh that is distracting or there is no bo-keh which means that there is no subject either.

 

You are right.  I should have been a bit more accurate in my post.  I understand and appreciate different qualities of bo-keh.  The word I have a problem with is "King", especially when there are other lenses with what I and many others consider to be better rendering of out of focus images.

I stand corrected.

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2 minutes ago, m410 said:

You are right.  I should have been a bit more accurate in my post.  I understand and appreciate different qualities of bo-keh.  The word I have a problem with is "King", especially when there are other lenses with what I and many others consider to be better rendering of out of focus images.

I stand corrected.

Bokeh is a word for quality.

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1 hour ago, otto.f said:

I thought the other day that ‘bo-keh’ might be derived from the French ‘bouquet’.

Actually, the Japanese word boke simply means "blur." Boke-aji refers to the quality of the blur.

It is also used, colloquially, in reference to senile dementia as well as lenses. As in "blurred thinking."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Although I have also noted the humorous (but purely coincidental) similarity to "bouquet." ;)

 

Edited by adan
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1 minute ago, adan said:

Actually, the Japanese word boke simply means "blur."

It is also used, colloquially, in reference to senile dementia as well as lenses. As in "blurred thinking."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Although I have also noted the humorous (but purely coincidental) similarity to "bouquet." ;)

 

Read it again.

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