Canon bokeh lens

Mangelwurzel

Mangelwurzel

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I'm after a decent fast prime portrait lens that can produce nice round bokeh similar to this. Don't get me wrong i know i'm no Dustin Diaz but you get the idea :D

I've owned the 50mm f/1.8mkII but the 5 blade diaphram produces quite ugly bokeh. I sold it after getting the Tamron 17-50.
I was thinking of the 50mm f/1.4 HSM but reviews say it's not that sharp at f/1.4.
Is there anything else i should be considering? :bonk:
 
135mm f2 or if you have plenty of cash- 85 mm f1.2
 
pearce_jj said:
85mm f1.8 - might be a bit long on a crop body though
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I heard good stuff about this lens but like you say was worried about it being too long on a crop sensor.

Tomas Whitehouse said:
Jumpin ship? :lol:
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A plan for 2010. Not for glass issues but more for strobist related problems that Nikon handle better. But that's for another thread.

andyred said:
Of these 2, I'd go for the Canon - gets good reviews and it's cheaper as well !, i seem to remember it beating the Sigma in a recent review I read comparing 50mm primes -> I'll let you know if I can find it :thumbs:
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Thanks. I read the sigma was sharper at f/1.4 but the canon was better above f/5.6 or so. It's a tough decision.

Les McLean said:
135mm f2 or if you have plenty of cash- 85 mm f1.2
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The 135L looks great but again i think it might be too long for a crop sensor.

I heard rumours of a Canon 50mm f/1.4 MkII coming out. Anyone know anything about this?
 
if htere's a mkII I'd jump for it, got a canon 50mf1.4 and its lovely if you intend to use it as a walkabout the sigma is a bit bigger i hear.

50L is lush but a bit deer :(



edit its a 200 f2 - ****ing deer but very pretty
 
I don't think that bokeh is very good, it might even be manufactured, the disks look a little too neutral/well defined.
The best bokeh is made by lenses with either rounded or numerous diaphragm blades.
Lenses with de-focus control can make some nice bokeh too.
I dunno what lens would produce those discs like that, maybe choppery would be easier.
 
joxby said:
I don't think that bokeh is very good, it might even be manufactured, the disks look a little too neutral/well defined.
The best bokeh is made by lenses with either rounded or numerous diaphragm blades.
Lenses with de-focus control can make some nice bokeh too.
I dunno what lens would produce those discs like that, maybe choppery would be easier.
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If i'm reading his strobist info right the lens was a Nikon 200mm f/2G which looks like serious money :nuts:
 
Mangelwurzel said:
I'm after a decent fast prime portrait lens that can produce nice round bokeh similar to this. Don't get me wrong i know i'm no Dustin Diaz but you get the idea :D

I've owned the 50mm f/1.8mkII but the 5 blade diaphram produces quite ugly bokeh. I sold it after getting the Tamron 17-50.
I was thinking of the 50mm f/1.4 HSM but reviews say it's not that sharp at f/1.4.
Is there anything else i should be considering? :bonk:
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The 50f1.4 is plenty sharp at 1.4.
 
got both the 85mm 1.8 and 50 1.4- enjoy them both but for bokeh the 85mm is nicer but then the lens its quite long on a crop body.
 
I've got the Canon 50mm f1.4 and it is sharp at 1.4, the thing is that at that aperture the DOF is very shallow, so in a portrait situation it's quite normal for the subject's eyes to be in focus whilst the tip of their nose is not. I've found that to get a workable DOF for a portrait I stick to f2.0 unless the light is particularly low. As long as the background is a reasonable distance behind the subject this works well.
 
Agree with some of the comments on here, my first thoughts were, "That's been photoshopped" and even if it hasn't it's not an effect I would be looking to reproduce... granted the 1.8 isn't the best for it but why does Bokeh have to be perfectly round? just looks un-natural
 
Creed said:
Agree with some of the comments on here, my first thoughts were, "That's been photoshopped" and even if it hasn't it's not an effect I would be looking to reproduce... granted the 1.8 isn't the best for it but why does Bokeh have to be perfectly round? just looks un-natural
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only if you're used to cheap glass :P (like me)
 
Creed said:
Agree with some of the comments on here, my first thoughts were, "That's been photoshopped" and even if it hasn't it's not an effect I would be looking to reproduce... granted the 1.8 isn't the best for it but why does Bokeh have to be perfectly round? just looks un-natural
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Maybe it doesn't have to be perfectly round. If you google bokeh, it's supposed to be about the attractive rendition of backgrounds, mainly surrounding smooth tone transitions and how spherical aberration is managed in lens deisgn. The shape of the lens aperture is supposed to be irrelevant. Well that appears to be the purist view. (Amongst a lot of other pretentious arty nonsense if you ask me, none of which had ever been heard of ten years ago, but that's probably just me.)

Bokeh these days seems to be about the justification for spending a fortune on mega fast lenses, as if this is some essential characteristic of good photos. "Ooo look at that lovely creamy bokeh!" Yes, but what about the main subject?

He said cynically :D
 
HoppyUK said:
Sigma 50 1.4 is reckoned to be the pick this side of the Canon L. See here: http://www.dpreview.com/lensreviews/sigma_50_1p4_c16/
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The sigma looks good, thanks. It's a big beastie too!

HoppyUK said:
I've heard this said before, but why? Nikon and Canon flash systems seem to be fundamentally very similar. Sorry it's off topic. Thanks :)
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Basically to get rear curtain sync wirelessly on most Canon's you need a PW multimax, not even the PW II's will do it. Also the Nikon built in commander feature that the Canon's lack. There's a nice article here from a strobist point of view.

Creed said:
but why does Bokeh have to be perfectly round? just looks un-natural
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Oh it doesn't. But the pentagonal bokeh produced by the 50mm1.8II that i used to own doesn't look nice.

Thanks all for input. I'm tempted by the Sigma but i think i might go for the Canon 50mm f/1.4 as i think it will hold its price better. :)
 
Mangelwurzel said:
Basically to get rear curtain sync wirelessly on most Canon's you need a PW multimax, not even the PW II's will do it. Also the Nikon built in commander feature that the Canon's lack. There's a nice article here from a strobist point of view.
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Thanks very much for that, and the link MW. I've been wondering what it is that people favour about Nikon flash, but now I see it's nothing fundamental, just a matter of operational convenience and cost. Pretty important considerations nonetheless.

I also followed links to the new Pocket Wizards, and they are seriously cool. Never seen that HyperSync feature before. Mega :) Here's the link for anyone else interested in getting up to 1/500sec x-sync out of their standard cameras. http://www.pocketwizard.com/inspirations/technology/hypersync_fpsync/
 
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