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Archive 2008 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh

  
 
Pavel
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p.3 #1 · p.3 #1 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


After seeing the thread ( thanks Steen ) ... I have to admit that the only lens I really like is the sigma. THis lens really has not only what I consider to be far and away the best, and I mean the BEST bokeh - for my style ... but it is also the only one which paints in a completely different from the pack style. THat makes it valuable, very valuable!

Perhaps Phillip had a point - all this time. I don't mind having to admit that I was wrong.



Dec 14, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Chris Langer
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p.3 #2 · p.3 #2 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Interesting thread Steen. Thanks for posting it for us to look at! I am going to give this Sigma a go and hopefully be as satisfied as Phillip.

Chris



Dec 14, 2008 at 11:50 AM
Sam Bennett
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p.3 #3 · p.3 #3 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Pavel wrote:
After seeing the thread ( thanks Steen ) ... I have to admit that the only lens I really like is the sigma. THis lens really has not only what I consider to be far and away the best, and I mean the BEST bokeh - for my style ... but it is also the only one which paints in a completely different from the pack style. THat makes it valuable, very valuable!

Perhaps Phillip had a point - all this time. I don't mind having to admit that I was wrong.


Too bad the 50G isn't in the same comparison. From what I gather the Sigma and the Nikkor are closer to each other in terms of their bokeh. Unsurprising since they're both using 9 curved aperture blades. There's certainly more that goes into good bokeh than just the blades, but that's a big part of it.

I've got a Sigma 50/1.4 on order with my local shop, so hopefully I'll be able to do some back-to-back comparisons soon.



Dec 14, 2008 at 12:15 PM
Pavel
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p.3 #4 · p.3 #4 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Keep us posted Sam ... It will be a while for me ... and of course, as is obvious, I and many others are vitally interested.


Dec 14, 2008 at 12:45 PM
lorriman
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p.3 #5 · p.3 #5 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


AZRich wrote:
Do you think we worry too much about spectacular highlights sometimes? I mean, how often is that an issue?



Apart from sometimes being a distraction it's also a good indicator of whether then lens will have poor bokeh. Double-lining "nisen" bokeh, which gives a vibrating effect, is due to the same reason as bright ring oof highlights. And that all contributes to busy bokeh, which for me is the issue. As a portraitist I hunt bokeh lenses so that the background looks natural and does not distract from my subjects. I agree that sometimes busy bokeh is nice, but for people portraits nothing, absolutely nothing must distract from the expression on that person's face and the atmosphere I am attempting to conjure.



Dec 14, 2008 at 01:06 PM
Sean Mills
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p.3 #6 · p.3 #6 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Wow, that bokeh certainly is tastey! I'm a canon guy and adore my 50 1.2, but these samples look great guys!


Dec 14, 2008 at 01:23 PM
lorriman
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p.3 #7 · p.3 #7 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Sam Bennett wrote:
Sam, thanks for sharing. One of the key things to note about this lens is how good the bokeh is stopped down. It's not unusual for even average lenses to have good bokeh wide open, since you're typically dealing with a circular opening.


It's the other way around: wide open you get bright ring and double-line bokeh, but stopped down a bit the outer part of the lens that does that is shaded and the bokeh becomes smoother. Close down further and the edges of the aperture become more distinct in the specular highlights and that's when you need your rounded aparture blades in order to avoid obvious geometric shapes. This is true of almost all lenses. So rounded aperture blades is usually only useful from 2 to 3 stops down from maximum aperture.


Lenses like the 50G and the Sigma 50/1.4 have particularly good bokeh in part because they're using 9 rounded aperture blades, versus something like the 50D which uses 7 straight aperture blades. Both the 50G and Sigma should be able to produce good bokeh even when stopped down a bit.


The 50G has busy bokeh wide-open. Some people call that good bokeh, some bad. The Sigma however is remarkably smooth: quite unusual.

It does rather seem like your eyes are inside out.



Dec 14, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Sam Bennett
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p.3 #8 · p.3 #8 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


lorriman wrote:
The 50G has busy bokeh wide-open. Some people call that good bokeh, some bad. The Sigma however is remarkably smooth: quite unusual.


I've yet to notice "busy bokeh" with my lens. If you have some examples, I'd love to see it. I've posted dozens of full-rez shots to my Flickr stream if you want to find examples and create 100% crops if you like. You can find them here (be aware that some of the 50mm shots on there are with the Nikkor-S Auto 50mm f/1.4):

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sambennett/

lorriman wrote:
It does rather seem like your eyes are inside out.


Personal insults aren't going to help you prove your point.



Dec 14, 2008 at 04:32 PM
Radiohead
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p.3 #9 · p.3 #9 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


I've had the 50G for a few days now (ironically enough it arrived 3 days after my 2008 wedding season ended) and I see none of the nervous bokeh the old 50/1.4 gave me. Allied with more accurate AF, warmer colours (a la 14-24 and 24-70), silent AF and a nice build and I'm a happy man.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/3102458285_ef057ca639_o.jpg



Dec 14, 2008 at 05:13 PM
Jammy Straub
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p.3 #10 · p.3 #10 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


@ Sam

Thanks for sharing the link to your flickr stream. When you get some free time could you throw some "50G" tags on your images taken with it?

It'd make it really nice to be able to see a large collection of high quality images from the lens that way.



Dec 14, 2008 at 05:16 PM
Jammy Straub
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p.3 #11 · p.3 #11 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Radiohead wrote:
I've had the 50G for a few days now (ironically enough it arrived 3 days after my 2008 wedding season ended) and I see none of the nervous bokeh the old 50/1.4 gave me. Allied with more accurate AF, warmer colours (a la 14-24 and 24-70), silent AF and a nice build and I'm a happy man.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3094/3102458285_ef057ca639_o.jpg



That's lovely. I would guess you added some vignetting in post?

I really like the way the foliage is handled, that brick wall over on the left is really strange, not unpleasant, but just kind of odd.



Dec 14, 2008 at 05:19 PM
Radiohead
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p.3 #12 · p.3 #12 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


I did indeed add a vignette, yes.

The brick wall is probably down to that as well. the original is more uniform.



Dec 14, 2008 at 05:21 PM
Sam Obeid
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p.3 #13 · p.3 #13 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Some random samples from my Christmas party last night. They may not seem as crisp as they should do the the high ISO, anywhere from 800-6400.

1
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3168/3109080182_b4c21cfd40_o.jpg
2
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3038/3108246781_ff83f38fb8_o.jpg
3
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3089/3108246693_9b4f9056fd_o.jpg
4
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3245/3108246621_7a461f73d7_o.jpg
5
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3049/3109079848_e2d5db2f44_o.jpg
6
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3172/3108246425_a28b7a204d_o.jpg
7
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3180/3109079716_8f42903059_o.jpg
8
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3024/3108246285_cf10ef7f40_o.jpg



Dec 14, 2008 at 07:14 PM
IntunedAwong
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p.3 #14 · p.3 #14 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


dang it...
another lens to add to the christmas list



Dec 14, 2008 at 09:25 PM
Sam Bennett
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p.3 #15 · p.3 #15 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Jammy Straub wrote:
Thanks for sharing the link to your flickr stream. When you get some free time could you throw some "50G" tags on your images taken with it?


Jammy - I added "50G" to the tags. I've also been fairly consistent tagging with "Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G", which Flickr also sees as "nikkor50mmf14g".

Unfortunately I didn't shoot much with it this weekend. My Birthday Party coincided with the annual open house we do here, so I was spending too much time entertaining. Have also been thoroughly distracted with the new Lensbaby Composer.



Dec 14, 2008 at 11:03 PM
lorriman
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p.3 #16 · p.3 #16 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh




Your shots don't appear to include backgrounds in which busyness would manifest. Try a background with plenty of distinct objects and lines (not diffuse objects like stones and flowers) and a few point souces of light (specular highlights, or whatever).



Personal insults aren't going to help you prove your point.


It wasn't an insult. Sorry if it came over that way.



Dec 16, 2008 at 04:19 PM
Craig Yannuzzi
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p.3 #17 · p.3 #17 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Where is this lens in stock??


Dec 16, 2008 at 05:02 PM
Sam Bennett
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p.3 #18 · p.3 #18 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


lorriman wrote:
Your shots don't appear to include backgrounds in which busyness would manifest. Try a background with plenty of distinct objects and lines (not diffuse objects like stones and flowers) and a few point souces of light (specular highlights, or whatever).


Err... not even this one?



You seem pretty convinced that you're correct on this one, so I'd have to expect that you've got some images you could share to illustrate the point.

lorriman wrote:
It wasn't an insult. Sorry if it came over that way.


Apology accepted.



Dec 16, 2008 at 06:28 PM
lorriman
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p.3 #19 · p.3 #19 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Sam Bennett wrote:
Err... not even this one?

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3269/3083909952_0b56b1e9ed.jpg

You seem pretty convinced that you're correct on this one, so I'd have to expect that you've got some images you could share to illustrate the point.


Not me, guv, but there are plenty of pics around that have the right kind of backgrounds on dpreview. The above pic is hopeless as a busy bokeh test: what little is in the background is either not well defined or rendered invisible by brightness. At least there do appear to be 3 specular highlights, but that isn't what I meant by busyness.

What had me perplexed was the statement that the bokeh is like the Sigma. They couldn't be more different (when put to the test). Granted you might not be seeing this with your images. I hadn't had a good look at your stuff on flikr, and had presumed your backgrounds would be of the right kind. My mistake.



Dec 16, 2008 at 08:19 PM
T_Gordon
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p.3 #20 · p.3 #20 · 50mm f/1.4G Bokeh


Got mine in yesterday and played around some... definitely much better than the 1.8! More than happy with it!




Dec 17, 2008 at 04:31 PM
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