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Archive 2011 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3

  
 
pops
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p.1 #1 · p.1 #1 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Hi,
While I see many beautiful photos taken with micro 4 thirds cameras I am not seeing photos with decent bokeh. Is this because this sensor size and lenses are not capable of good bokeh?
I am really interested in buying an E-P3 however I would hate to think that bokeh is not possible with this system.
I would appreciate it if I could see some really nice photos with great bokeh.
Pops



Jul 30, 2011 at 12:17 PM
sebboh
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p.1 #2 · p.1 #2 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


what is that don't like about the bokeh you have seen with µ4/3? busy bokeh, not enough blur. . .?


Jul 30, 2011 at 12:27 PM
pops
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p.1 #3 · p.1 #3 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


I am looking to see portraits of birds or people, subjects with background blur.


Jul 30, 2011 at 12:33 PM
douglasf13
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p.1 #4 · p.1 #4 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


I think we need a better idea of "good" bokeh from you. Lenses tend to have their smoother bokeh stopped down some, but are you just referring to very shallow depth of field?


Jul 30, 2011 at 12:55 PM
curious80
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p.1 #5 · p.1 #5 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


The smaller sensor does make it a bit more challenging to get blurred backgrounds but it is by no means so small that you can't get portraits with nice background blur. Off course the system doesn't really have many fast lenses at this point - 20mm 1.7 was really the only fast lens until recently. The upcoming olympus 50mm 1.8 should be a good one for portraits.

Similarly m43 did not really have any long enough lenses for birding. However the recent 100-300mm does get into the territory. You can look at the following thread for some examples of bird photographs with nice background blur:

http://forum.getdpi.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21481&page=10



Jul 30, 2011 at 01:00 PM
pops
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p.1 #6 · p.1 #6 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Thanks for the link Curious80.


Jul 30, 2011 at 01:17 PM
sebboh
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p.1 #7 · p.1 #7 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


pops wrote:
I am looking to see portraits of birds or people, subjects with background blur.


do a flickr search for shots from the panasonic/leica 45/2.8 macro and you should see lots of nice bokeh. there aren't many µ4/3 lenses that are designed for extreme bokeh, but if you put other lenses on them you can get whatever kind of bokeh you want as long as your not shooting wide angles (17mm or smaller) at which point you can't get much subject isolation unless you shoot at macro distances. here's some examples taken on a 4/3 camera (which means all these lenses could be used on µ4/3 as well:
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3548/3450376918_371968f4d3_b.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1094/4733189890_5247a43848_b.jpg
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3536/4000532261_f02240d19f_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4036/4545193223_1feafa33d4_b.jpg
http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2497/3977522658_1ef34eaab7_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4102/4932413646_e54791f539_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4037/4343900792_e28e6a0107_b.jpg
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4074/4925819622_c15e45bdee_b.jpg



Jul 30, 2011 at 04:02 PM
pops
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p.1 #8 · p.1 #8 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Thanks sebboh, I found out what I wanted to know through photos like yours and the link above.
Thanks all for your posts, Pops

Edited on Jul 30, 2011 at 06:09 PM · View previous versions



Jul 30, 2011 at 04:13 PM
millsart
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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Pops, you do realize that "bokeh" and shallow depth of field are two different things correct ?

"Bokeh" as people call it, is the overall quality of the out of focus area.

Two lenses of the same focal length can both produce the same depth of field, but very different overall bokeh.




Jul 30, 2011 at 05:43 PM
pops
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p.1 #10 · p.1 #10 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Millsart, I am perfectly aware of this and should have made my question clearer initially.


Jul 30, 2011 at 06:08 PM
millsart
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p.1 #11 · p.1 #11 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


In many forums people would probably just assume what you meant, but here in the alt glass forum "bokeh" is sampled and discussed like a fine wine. Many users own several different lenses in the same focal length just for the different way they render etc.

Sometimes as well there are lenses which may not have the shallowest DOF, but a more pleasing overall drawing style. Have to watch out for simply falling into the trap of thinking faster = better = more OOF, but many times the overall quality can be rather harsh or busy.

Chees



Jul 30, 2011 at 06:55 PM
Jman13
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p.1 #12 · p.1 #12 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


Here are some shallow depth of field shots with my m4/3 setup. Whether the bokeh is nice or not I'll leave to you:

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/coneflower_rising.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/hibiscus.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/chloe_summer.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/memorial-8.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/memorial-4.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/chloe_pastel.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/flamingo_rokkor.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/chloe_outside.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/chloe_eyes.jpg

http://www.jordansteele.com/2011/chloe_crayons.jpg



Jul 30, 2011 at 09:20 PM
mh2000
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p.1 #13 · p.1 #13 · Bokeh and Micro 4/3


with an adapter you can put almost any fast 50 on your camera and have a very cheap portrait length lens that will be capable of blurring a background very well... or just buy a longer lens, DoF is more dependent of FL than aperture.


Jul 31, 2011 at 01:46 AM





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