Thanks! I sold both my 100 macro and 135L .... but I am really missing my 135L now! I did a model shoot outdoors last weekend and could seriously use the instant AF of the Canon that is missing on the Lanthar! AF-confirm is fine for assisting focus, but when you have literally a couple of seconds to take a shot, the Lanthar is just not going to cut it when you are shooting at f2.5 and need to be extremely accurate with your focus! Hopefully my Nikon magnifying eyepiece will make a difference the next time around.
h_rearden wrote:
Bobby, beautiful shots.
As you use that lens more, are you starting to see why it was so easy for me to part ways with the 135L?
What focusing screen are you using, and is it calibrated (shimmed) perfectly? I only ask because quite some time ago I took the advice of several members around here and properly calibrated my Ee-S screen. It made all the difference in the world.
(BTW, I also have the DK-17 and I didn't like it on my 5D. It didn't increase the precision for me at all, so I stuck it on my crop body.)
I am currently using the Canon Eg-D grid screen, but I will be switching to the Maxwell Hi-Lux Eg-S screen when I get it in about a week's time.
h_rearden wrote:
What focusing screen are you using, and is it calibrated (shimmed) perfectly? I only ask because quite some time ago I took the advice of several members around here and properly calibrated my Ee-S screen. It made all the difference in the world.
(BTW, I also have the DK-17 and I didn't like it on my 5D. It didn't increase the precision for me at all, so I stuck it on my crop body.)
some nice stuff here! I am impressed at how interesting the bokeh is on the contax 35-70/3.4 - that' quite cool.
Nice family shot with the 85L showing some swirly biotar-style bokeh too! I have noticed that also on 85/1.2L shot wide open - busy backgrounds like leaves pick up a bit of biotarish swirlyness. it's kinda cool.
the 14L-II bokeh is insane! love that. very cool. Was that on an extension tube at all? I need to try the Oly 18 on a 12mm tube sometime soon.
-Ed
Anden wrote:
Same family, same setup (5DII + 85L).
This is not the best bokeh but it shows that the best "bokeh" lens can struggle in hard conditions. The whole photo is sharpened and that does not help.
Still... I love the photo and so does the family.
Andreas, nice family shots with the 85L.
The expression, energy and joy coming out of your son really makes this shot outstanding. Yeah, I agree the sharpening of the blurred foliage in the back is making the bokeh edgier and worse than what it should be. I would burn in some areas of your son's face and top of his head where the sun has made it too light.
Again great shot.
I was just taking family shots with my 85L of a friend and his new 2 month old baby in a local rose garden.
Thank you all for your input.
Wayne: It is not my son. It is my friends and their daughter...
This shot was particularly hard bokeh-wise. Very busy background with light coming through from the back. Short distance between the object and the background and so on.
My point is to show how a legendary lens can struggle when pushed. I can not think of any lens that would smear this totally. Maybe a really long tele.
Highlights as points are very hard to smoothen.
I think every lens has a "zone" within which the camera<->subject and subject<->background ratio is ideal for nice blur. Once you go outside that zone, even lenses with normally terrific bokeh can struggle, as Andreas has shown.
This "ideal bokeh zone" varies from lens to lens, of course, depending on focal length, aperture, etc. Some lenses have a much wider or longer (not sure which) "ideal bokeh zone" than others, resulting in "usually great bokeh" without any forethought on behalf of the shooter. The 85L fits this category, but it is important to remember that the "zone of ideal blur" is not infinite for any lens (although I have yet to find the bad spot in my CV 125/2.5).
Beyond that the lens design, number of blades, lens aberrations (or over-corrections thereof), etc. can subtly or drastically affect the quality of the blur.
Simply put, quantity of blur can often make up for (or "improve") the quality of blur. This is why nearly every "flower macro" in this thread has "great bokeh". The sheer quantity of blur (due to the close focus pushing the distance ratio to an extreme) makes it basically impossible to judge the quality of that blur.
Andreas example confirms that every lens, even the legendary 85L, has a point (outside the ideal zone) at which the quality of blur is really put to the test.
h_rearden wrote:
I think every lens has a "zone" within which the camera<->subject and subject<->background ratio is ideal for nice blur. Once you go outside that zone, even lenses with normally terrific bokeh can struggle, as Andreas has shown.
This "ideal bokeh zone" varies from lens to lens, of course, depending on focal length, aperture, etc. Some lenses have a much wider or longer (not sure which) "ideal bokeh zone" than others, resulting in "usually great bokeh" without any forethought on behalf of the shooter. The 85L fits this category, but it is important to remember that the "zone of ideal blur" is not infinite for any lens (although I have yet to find the bad spot in my CV 125/2.5).
Beyond that the lens design, number of blades, lens aberrations (or over-corrections thereof), etc. can subtly or drastically affect the quality of the blur.
Simply put, quantity of blur can often make up for (or "improve") the quality of blur. This is why nearly every "flower macro" in this thread has "great bokeh". The sheer quantity of blur (due to the close focus pushing the distance ratio to an extreme) makes it basically impossible to judge the quality of that blur.
Andreas example confirms that every lens, even the legendary 85L, has a point (outside the ideal zone) at which the quality of blur is really put to the test.
I'm sure you're all sick of seeing my daughter, but this fits the subject. Taken in very dark conditions yesterday, had to manually focus due to the lack of light for AF (not that that bothers anyone here). Sigma 50 f/1.4 @ f/1.4, ISO 3200:
ulrikft wrote:
Love you Jonas Come to Oslo and get a beer or 5!
Hi there, lol, watch out - it isn't that far from Göteborg to Oslo...
bobbytan wrote:
You are providing us with a great service, Jonas - thank you!
Please add these 3 images - all shot with the Voigtlander APO-Lanthar 125 with a Zeiss Softar I filter.
Sure, will do. And that while having a feeling you would have preferred to use the 135L during that session, and also despite the fact there isn't a lot of blur in them...
Hopefully my Nikon magnifying eyepiece will make a difference the next time around.
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