Bad bokeh limits it's usefulness.

Abu Mahendra wrote:

One of the common mistakes made on these boards is to attribute a characteristic general to a set of lenses or focal lengths to one lens. 35mm lenses as a whole do not produce fully convincing bokeh. The 35IS is no better or worse than other 35mm lenses at f2.

Well,  see I would say that one of the common mistakes on these boards is to believe that you can attribute common characteristics to lenses,  and that these attributions are valid In photography..

you cannot apply a deterministic model to judge a lens in a stochastic process such as photography,  so there is no worse or better,  there is only individual preference.. so saying that one lens is no better or worse than another because they have common characteristics is simply invalid in this medium.

so,  my review of this lens is not deterministic,  it's a reflection of the medium...  Which is entirely aesthetic in nature and stochastic in process.... Any attempt to apply a deterministic approach to the process of determining the preference of one lens over another will not only be invalid,  but paradoxically from the end users perspective,  be counter productive.

so,  I guess in one respect your assertion that one lens is no better or worse than another is correct,   But only so far as there is no better or worse,  only more or less prefered...  But your assertion that the reason for this is that all 35mm lenses are essentially is the same is incorrect.. (Both from the validity of the paradigm,  and the simple fact that this assertion is incorrect...    )

anyways....  Of all the 35mm lenses I have owned in the past,  or do own now...  This particular one produces bokeh which I find distinctly unattractive...

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