The Photography and Camera Thread

Jump to Latest
prairieboy

prairieboy

Member
Joined 2010
Paid Member
xrk971 said:
A study of Bokeh of various lenses.

I got some interesting historical lenses from a friend today and he said these have particularly good bokeh. I set up a quick test with some point light sources in the background in order to study the way a point source that is out of focus gets imaged.

The lenses will be compared to a Lumix 20mm F/1.7 Aspheric (standard large aperture lens on M43) and the Kamlan 50mm F/1.1 manual focus which I recently bought. I also have a Nikkor 50mm F/1.2 AIS from my Nikon system and will be using a Nikon F-mount to M43 adapter for the other historical lenses: a Zeiss Jena Biotar 58mm F/2.0 and a Pentax Takumar 35mm F/2.3.

These were all handheld shots at ISO 1600 with shutter speeds in the 1/400 to 1/800 sec to ensure sharpness despite being handheld, lens apertures were wide open and I was about 6 ft away from the fireground subject (Phalaenopses orchids),

Baseline Lumix 20mm F/1.7:
View attachment 1287409

Kamlan 50mm F/1.1:
View attachment 1287436

Nikkor 50mm F/1.2:
View attachment 1287411

Biotar 58mm F/2.0:
View attachment 1287412

Takumar 35mm F/2.3:
View attachment 1287414

I can see why people say the Biotar has interesting bokeh - it looks like bubbles. I think I saw a modern "bubble lens" on Aliexpress. The Takumar is also similar and has an asymmetric bokeh the farther away from the center of the image you go. The modern Kamlan by contrast, has a uniform bokeh spot that will result in creamy and smooth out of focus background blur, but not very interesting. The Nikkor 50mm F/1.2 is an older formula from 1981 before full blown computer lens design software was available, and it has a slight enhanced bubble edge on the bokeh spots from a point light source - a bit more interesting. The 50mm F/1.2 has the distinction of being the sharpest 50mm Nikon makes at F/2.0 - even sharper than the modern 50mm F/1.4D (according to Ken Rockwell). The modern Lumix 20mm M43 lens, has more depth of field due to its shorted FL but overall, can be seen to be extremely sharp.
Click to expand...
While interesting, entertaining, and sometimes correct, Rockwell also has to be often taken with a grain of salt.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
xrk971

xrk971

Founder of XSA-Labs
Joined 2012
etsy.com/shop/XRKAudio
Paid Member
First time they cordoned off Pennsylvania Ave between 7th and 3rd streets in Washington DC, blocks from the Capitol, for a F1 exhibition by Red Bull. The RB7 was here in its full glory and oh, the sound it made was amazing (Renault 2.4L naturally aspirated V8 with 18,000 rpm redline). The RB Rally car (also amazing sounding) was also there along with an enduro motorcycle demo. I hope the F1 organizers will make DC the home of a standard F1 tour in the future. There are some great streets here for a challenging and picturesque circuit. Shot taken with GX1 and Lumix 14mm F/2.5 lens at F/3.5, 1/3000th sec, ISO200.
RedBull-RB7-Penn-Ave-01.jpg
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1 user
xrk971

xrk971

Founder of XSA-Labs
Joined 2012
etsy.com/shop/XRKAudio
Paid Member
Has anyone cannibalized a cheap digital camera and adapted it to make a digital back on an old film SLR? If that works - a dedicated Kickstarter for a FF development might be warranted. I have heard of other attempts in earlier years. But that was before the maker revolution with 3D printers and Arduino etc.

I think an aftermarket back on the Nikon FE/FM body would be a great way to have film camera feel and use all our old F mount lenses.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top Bottom