Informative Video About Camera Lenses

[John Smith]

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I posted this video on the M Lenses forum, but thought I should also do so here because so many S users are into the system's lenses. "Art from Arri" describes all the ins-and-outs about lens design and construction. This is probably the most informative video on lenses that I've seen. Three great takeaways for S users: lens-to-sensor distance, bokeh (and the correct pronunciation), and rendering. The video will make you appreciate what goes into first-class lenses. While I don't have an S anymore, I am hopeful that Leica decides to continue the system by taking it mirrorless.

[Jeff S]

I commented on your other post in the M section.  I’ll just add here that bokeh was still pronounced about 4 different ways throughout the video, although at least reference was made to the Japanese term boke (Mike Johnston, now at TOP, invented the spelling ‘bokeh’, ironically to assist his American magazine readers in the pronunciation). Some experts seems to prefer pronouncing the last syllable as ‘ke’ as in Kenneth, not ‘kuh’ or ‘kay’, and with equal emphasis on each syllable. Easier to say and understand out-of-focus blur quality.

Jeff

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[Stuart Richardson]

ke is pronounced "kay" in Japanese, but it might not be super enunciated at the end of a word, which might be the source of the confusion. Japanese words generally have even stress, so it is not BO-ke or bo-KE but bo-ke. I honestly don't care how anyone says it, nor have I heard it much from Japanese speakers, but that is at least the insight I can offer as a remedial student of Japanese.

[Stuart Richardson]

That is a very good video about lenses, by the way! Thank you!

[Jeff S]

Japanese pronunciation at end.  As noted earlier, equal emphasis on each syllable, with last starting with sound similar to ‘Kenneth’ or subdued ‘Kay’.

 

But most countries have different regional/local  dialects and preferred ways of saying things.  Translations further add to the confusion.  
 

Jeff

[alan.y]

"-ay" isn't quite right; it's not a diphthong. More like "-eh" (with a shoulder shrug). But Japanese vowels are about as easy as they come and trivial to look up. No need to overcomplicate. The stress difference between Kanto and Kansai dialects cited above is true generally, not just for "bokeh."

 

Edited February 28, 2021 by alan.y

[TomLiles]

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I've lived in Japan since I was 22 (I'm 42 now! ); I live and work in the Japanese language, my wife is Japanese and my three kids go to regular Japanese school, I worked for a Japanese design company before going freelance (photography), so inside and outside the house—it's Japanese all the time for me.
(This forum is a rare opportunity to speak my native tongue!)

An interesting tidbit for you guys: "boke" is also a popular insult hurled at people (ok, from men to other men)—something like "you bloody idiot!" The connotation is the same: when you get called a "boke" they are saying the inside of your head is blurry mess. You're a dullard, a thicko, a bloody idiot. A "boke."

Re: the video...
I've had YouTube offer up that DEEP DIVE on Arri Signature Primes at me countless times, and I've never bitten. I don't want to gratify the algorithm -- and as a standing rule tend to avoid ALL CAPS people in the naive hopes we can change the culture: vote with your clicks, etc -- but I may succumb now I've got someone to vouch for the content. I'm doing my tax return at the moment, so the chances of slacking off and watching this are particularly high 😅

 

The Cooke channel has some good short videos on cinematographers and how they are using Cooke optics—may be of related interest...

[Stuart Richardson]

The gentleman doing most of the talking is not an all caps sort of communicator, haha. So if that is your worry, you are safe. The host is very enthusiastic, but in a good spirited way more than an irritating way. If you are worried about the algorithm, you can just watch it in a private browsing window. I do that all the time if I have to search to find out who some pop star is or some other undesirable search, lol.

[TomLiles]

Cheers Stuart 😄

Yea, the YouTube algorithm is getting frustrating now—I don't know if anyone here keeps up with Adam Curtis documentaries, also available on YouTube! but he touches on this in his recent work: how these social media things are only good at reflecting ourselves back at us (things we searched for, things we clicked on, etc). Not for nothing, as that is what we all gravitate toward... true. But, there is never any new discovery in that model—just endlessly more of what you already knew / like / did. So I try to stay away!

At any rate, I don't want to create too much of a diversion on this topic. Apologies!

Thanks again Stuart👍

Edited March 2, 2021 by TomLiles