Hi Sean,
Good to see you. Heh! You signed up and saw no reason to post until now?
The Nikon DC lenses aren't exactly alternatives but quite interesting. I wouldn't mind a couple at longer distances and perhaps with some blobs and highlights in the OOF background. Regards,
Obviously, not all Zuiko's have the "sharp edged" bokeh, or strong fall-off, that was referenced above. The Zuiko 90/2 and 100/2 (and other of the high end OM lenses) have exceptionally smooth bokeh and minimal fall-off. The 90/2 being better at macro distance and the 100/2 at normal distances.
Jonas B wrote:
Hi Sean,
Good to see you. Heh! You signed up and saw no reason to post until now?
The Nikon DC lenses aren't exactly alternatives but quite interesting. I wouldn't mind a couple at longer distances and perhaps with some blobs and highlights in the OOF background. Regards,
and Post 1 is updated
I suppose I haven't had much to say!
I've used the DC lenses with an adapter on my Pentax cameras, does that qualify them as 'alternative'? Unfortunately I don't think I have any of those shots easily available.
As for your other request, I think I can oblige. When you change the setting for blur it has an (unsurprising) effect on overall sharpness due to the change in spherical aberrations. So when I use it 'outside' I generally leave the Defocus ring at neutral, and the lens is still very good at that setting. Starting at f/2 you get a nice sharp plane of focus and smooth blur.
But as you change the Defocus setting, you have to be aware of how soft your plane of focus becomes (not to mention that it messes with the focus for AF usage). At full Defocus, you really need f/3.5 or smaller to get a 'sharp' image. Between f/2.8 and f/3.5 there is some softening, and between f/2 and f/2.8 it is almost a soft-focus lens. Of course, you can play with the Defocus amount depending on what aperture you wanted.
I believe the shot below was taken at full Defocus (background optimization) with the aperture at f/2.8. The softness in the plane of focus is evident even at this smaller size. The background is a very busy one.
Nikon 105/2 DC @f/2.8, Defocus @maximum: http://www.pbase.com/carpents/image/94224267/original.jpg
(I would probably stop down to f/3.5 on this one if I shot it again.)
carpents wrote:
I suppose I haven't had much to say!
I've used the DC lenses with an adapter on my Pentax cameras, does that qualify them as 'alternative'? Unfortunately I don't think I have any of those shots easily available.
As for your other request, I think I can oblige. When you change the setting for blur it has an (unsurprising) effect on overall sharpness due to the change in spherical aberrations. So when I use it 'outside' I generally leave the Defocus ring at neutral, and the lens is still very good at that setting. Starting at f/2 you get a nice sharp plane of focus and smooth blur....Show more →
Strictly it isn't alternative here but good enough for me. Thank you for elaborating, it was an interesting read; I haven't seen much from the DC lenses. Many claim them to be super sharp and as many usually add a comment about leaving the DC control in a neutral position.
I'm leaving town for a week, bringing a crop Canon camera with a Sigma 50/1.4 only, to see how it works in real life for me. Stay well.
One of the bokeh "properties" is tendency to generate CA (Chromatic Aberration). Otherwise excellent lenses (regards to bokeh) Carl Zeiss Macro-Planar T* 2/100 ZF and Canon EF85mm f/1.2L USM Mk II both suffer from this. Canon more and Zeiss less, in practice I very rarely get bokeh CA from Zeiss but it happens almost every time I photograph some technical things (which contain metal parts) with 85L.
@Samuli Vahonen: That is one of the things that I like least about lenses that produce this kind of CA, but have a nice rendering otherwise. It looks unnatural and there is no easy way to correct it.
Reason to want a Voigtlander APO Lanthar 125 or Leica 90/2 APO Summicron.
Daniel Buck wrote:
In your face is right...I think thats probably the worst bokeh I've ever seen!...And its very supprising given the ultra fast aperture.
Alf Beharie wrote:
In your face is right...I think thats probably the worst bokeh I've ever seen!...And its very supprising given the ultra fast aperture.
worst? I guess it's subjective.
Hmm, I need to update the first post again. I'll do that. Here are two quickies:
The Sigma 50/1.4 mounted to a handheld Canon 450D did this a windy day (yes, several tries to get the AF to get them):
