-
Welcome to the new forums! Please read this first. For known issues we are working to resolve, click here.
Nikon lens with soapy bubble bokeh balls effect
- Thread starter phinix
- Start date
Without mentioning the primary subject, distance, your budget, or even a few examples, it would be difficult to recommend anything. Not to mention how subjective bokeh can be.
Have you been tinkering with what you have?
There are pages and pages of articles on bokeh, and how to get better results. They don't just appear automatically because of the lens. You need small background lighting such as the sun peaking through leaves or a strand of Christmas lights.
In general, lenses with a focal length longer than 50mm with wide apertures of f1.x are the way to go. Also are you willing to give up center sharpness for nicer bokeh and smoother transitions? If not, your going to invest quite a bit more into a lens.
Have you been tinkering with what you have?
There are pages and pages of articles on bokeh, and how to get better results. They don't just appear automatically because of the lens. You need small background lighting such as the sun peaking through leaves or a strand of Christmas lights.
In general, lenses with a focal length longer than 50mm with wide apertures of f1.x are the way to go. Also are you willing to give up center sharpness for nicer bokeh and smoother transitions? If not, your going to invest quite a bit more into a lens.
John Crowe
Veteran Member
"Soapy bubble" does not sound very good at all. For ultra smooth bokeh and super sharp In focus details there is the Nikon 200mm f2 AI.
The Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS has good bokeh, but lots of blooming around focused details. Maybe that's the "soapy" look you refer to.
The Nikon 135mm f2 AIS is somewhere between those.
The Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 T* is super smooth like the 200/2 but soft and bloomy like the 105.
The Canon FD 55mm f1.2 SSC Aspherical is critically sharp so the bokeh is not as smooth as the one's above.
Those are the one's that I have had, and all remarks are considering wide open use only.
The Nikon 105mm f2.5 is a very well respected lens apparently with a good balance of everything. I've always wanted to try the 50/1.2 AI-S and oldest 50/1.2 non-Ai to see how each handles the bokeh/sharpness conundrum.
P.S. If you want that awful swirly Petzval bokeh then there are the Helios lenses. Maybe that is what TT Artisans go for, never researched them.
P.S. Just saw TT Artisan 100mm samples. That is awful, almost as bad as a mirror lens. The bokeh balls have that high contrast darkened halo. They are nice and smooth inside the bubble though. My 55mm Aspherical shows onion rings.
The Nikon 105mm f1.8 AIS has good bokeh, but lots of blooming around focused details. Maybe that's the "soapy" look you refer to.
The Nikon 135mm f2 AIS is somewhere between those.
The Contax Zeiss 85mm f1.4 T* is super smooth like the 200/2 but soft and bloomy like the 105.
The Canon FD 55mm f1.2 SSC Aspherical is critically sharp so the bokeh is not as smooth as the one's above.
Those are the one's that I have had, and all remarks are considering wide open use only.
The Nikon 105mm f2.5 is a very well respected lens apparently with a good balance of everything. I've always wanted to try the 50/1.2 AI-S and oldest 50/1.2 non-Ai to see how each handles the bokeh/sharpness conundrum.
P.S. If you want that awful swirly Petzval bokeh then there are the Helios lenses. Maybe that is what TT Artisans go for, never researched them.
P.S. Just saw TT Artisan 100mm samples. That is awful, almost as bad as a mirror lens. The bokeh balls have that high contrast darkened halo. They are nice and smooth inside the bubble though. My 55mm Aspherical shows onion rings.
Last edited:
I'm surprised you guys don't know what I'm talking about.
Here's an example of bubble bokeh balls - it comes from older lens, with "character" as some people call it.
Third party lens produce this kind of effect, like Meyer Optik Görlitz (Trioplan 100/2.8, Trioplan 50mm f/2.9), Jufinon (55/2.2), Zeiss Biometar (80mm), Vivitar 135mm and so on...
Some Ultron or Heliar lens designs achieve this kind of effect, as they are not well corrected, but not that much as I would like to get
I've seen 58G sometimes showing this effect, but very lightly, with specific conditions, like multiple source of light in the far background with high contrast, but again, not quite the same.
My question is, as I don't know, which Nikon lens produce similar effect? I'm guessing some old character lens, D series maybe? I'v been trying to find by looking at huge photo albums everywhere, but could not find one. Maybe that means Nikon lens were always corrected for this kind of "defect"?
Here's an example of bubble bokeh balls - it comes from older lens, with "character" as some people call it.
Third party lens produce this kind of effect, like Meyer Optik Görlitz (Trioplan 100/2.8, Trioplan 50mm f/2.9), Jufinon (55/2.2), Zeiss Biometar (80mm), Vivitar 135mm and so on...
Some Ultron or Heliar lens designs achieve this kind of effect, as they are not well corrected, but not that much as I would like to get
I've seen 58G sometimes showing this effect, but very lightly, with specific conditions, like multiple source of light in the far background with high contrast, but again, not quite the same.
My question is, as I don't know, which Nikon lens produce similar effect? I'm guessing some old character lens, D series maybe? I'v been trying to find by looking at huge photo albums everywhere, but could not find one. Maybe that means Nikon lens were always corrected for this kind of "defect"?
I'm surprised you guys don't know what I'm talking about.
Here's an example of bubble bokeh balls - it comes from older lens, with "character" as some people call it.
Third party lens produce this kind of effect, like Meyer Optik Görlitz (Trioplan 100/2.8, Trioplan 50mm f/2.9), Jufinon (55/2.2), Zeiss Biometar (80mm), Vivitar 135mm and so on...
Some Ultron or Heliar lens designs achieve this kind of effect, as they are not well corrected, but not that much as I would like to get
I've seen 58G sometimes showing this effect, but very lightly, with specific conditions, like multiple source of light in the far background with high contrast, but again, not quite the same.
My question is, as I don't know, which Nikon lens produce similar effect? I'm guessing some old character lens, D series maybe? I'v been trying to find by looking at huge photo albums everywhere, but could not find one. Maybe that means Nikon lens were always corrected for this kind of "defect"?
I love my 135 F2 AI, also the 85 1.4, G or D. You need a lot of little points of light close together to get that. The people on the internet said bokeh is more affected by focal length than widest aperture. 200 F2 AI is fun for me too. If I can find it, this is from my 135 F2 AI ...
Couple is about 10 feet from me, lights are across a wide street. I think I had my Nikon SB800 flash set to manual. 135 F2 AI
vsk
FKS
Veteran Member
Some sample images from the new 35mm f/1.4Z show the soap bubble effect.
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67840673
https://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/67840673
John Crowe
Veteran Member
Not an affect I would want to see on a regular basis.
You will have to go back much further than "D" lenses. Think manual focus AI-S, AI, non AI, UD etc, so at least 40-50 years old.
Yes all those one's you listed too.
Have fun in your pursuit and let us know what results you get.
For yucks maybe I will try mine on the weekend.
You will have to go back much further than "D" lenses. Think manual focus AI-S, AI, non AI, UD etc, so at least 40-50 years old.
Yes all those one's you listed too.
Have fun in your pursuit and let us know what results you get.
For yucks maybe I will try mine on the weekend.
Last edited:
Just a thought, use a DC lens (I have the 105mm) but set the defocus control opposite to the usual direction. For example, to achieve bubbly background bokeh, use an aperture of f4 and set the defocus control to F (forward) 4 - instead of B4. You will have to experiment with this, I have only recently acquired my lens and haven't fully explored its capabilities. I'm not certain it will be as bubbly as you want. That said, I'm really liking what this lens has done for me so far.
ajr images
Senior Member
Is this what you mean? 180-600 Z on a Z9.
--
Alan
--
Alan
Is this what you mean? 180-600 Z on a Z9.
Not really, I mean more pronounced, like this:
Yep, I was also thinking old Nikkor AI-S lens, maybe something like 105mm, or at least 50mm.
I have Nikon 24/28/35/50/85/105/135/200mm lenses in AI/AI-S, none of them exhibit soap bubble bokeh. Do a search in the Adapted Lens forum where there is lots of info.
On the rare occasion that I want this look I use one of these on a dumb adapter, cost me all of $10!
Last edited:
GarysInSoCal
Senior Member
That is 'hands down' the most childish description of bokeh I've ever heard. If you Google it's definition, you will encounter this rendering:
'bokeh identifies the main subject but applies varying degrees of blur to the background based on its distance from the subject'
No amount of soap... no quantity of bubbles or balls will provide an effective visual definition of what the rest of the world sees as bokeh.
Shodire in the Enchanted Forest... Nikon 180 F2.8 on the D810... no soap... no bubbles... no balls... just BOKEH!
'bokeh identifies the main subject but applies varying degrees of blur to the background based on its distance from the subject'
No amount of soap... no quantity of bubbles or balls will provide an effective visual definition of what the rest of the world sees as bokeh.
Shodire in the Enchanted Forest... Nikon 180 F2.8 on the D810... no soap... no bubbles... no balls... just BOKEH!
John Crowe
Veteran Member
Merriam Webster's Dictionary:
"the blurred quality or effect seen in the out-of-focus portion of a photograph taken with a narrow depth of field"
This is a good definition.
So, it is not the fact that it is out of focus, it is the quality of the out of focus portion. The "character" of the out of focus portion is better. "Quality" lies more in the eye of the beholder of the "character."
For instance the character of bokeh sought here by the OP is something I would never use, but others will. I would call it poor quality, others would call it excellent quality.
Looking for "soapy" or " bubbly" bokeh is a legitimate search.
"the blurred quality or effect seen in the out-of-focus portion of a photograph taken with a narrow depth of field"
This is a good definition.
So, it is not the fact that it is out of focus, it is the quality of the out of focus portion. The "character" of the out of focus portion is better. "Quality" lies more in the eye of the beholder of the "character."
For instance the character of bokeh sought here by the OP is something I would never use, but others will. I would call it poor quality, others would call it excellent quality.
Looking for "soapy" or " bubbly" bokeh is a legitimate search.
GarysInSoCal
Senior Member
BINGO... me neither... my sentiments exactly... I rest my case...
Here's some different kind of 'background blurr'... a freight train moving at 50mph...
John Crowe
Veteran Member
No, that is not what you said. But, we understand what you think now.
The train may provide the blur, but the lens still provides the character of the bokeh.
The train may provide the blur, but the lens still provides the character of the bokeh.
Last edited:
GarysInSoCal
Senior Member
I never introduced the lens into the equation of that last image. The background blur obtained in that passing train example can be obtained with just about any lens, regardless of it's bokeh creating qualities.
Nikon's 105 F1.4 creates some pretty impressive 'background blur'.
Last edited:
Thanks for confirming on those AI-s lens.I have Nikon 24/28/35/50/85/105/135/200mm lenses in AI/AI-S, none of them exhibit soap bubble bokeh. Do a search in the Adapted Lens forum where there is lots of info.
On the rare occasion that I want this look I use one of these on a dumb adapter, cost me all of $10!
Yeah, I know that Fujinon lens, mentioned it in my post.
I know! Someone came up with this and apparently everybody now use that phrase for this effect. I had to google it many times to figure out that they call this that way...That is 'hands down' the most childish description of bokeh I've ever heard. If you Google it's definition, you will encounter this rendering:
'bokeh identifies the main subject but applies varying degrees of blur to the background based on its distance from the subject'
No amount of soap... no quantity of bubbles or balls will provide an effective visual definition of what the rest of the world sees as bokeh.
Shodire in the Enchanted Forest... Nikon 180 F2.8 on the D810... no soap... no bubbles... no balls... just BOKEH!
But it makes sense - strong outter line bokeh balls, like soap bubbles.
Last edited:
Similar threads
Keyboard shortcuts
- f
- Forum