Apr10
Bokeh, Baby, Bokeh
Some time ago, I wrote a brief post that mentioned some of the things I like to look for when buying a new lens. Among them, I mentioned that I usually take a look at the number of aperture blades a lens has since, generally speaking, more blades translates to better bokeh (blurring behind or in front of the subject).
Well, Klaus Shuler recently wrote me to point out that while aperture blades do affect the quality of bokeh, they can’t possibly do so when the lens is wide open. And he is absolutely right. More important than aperture blades, Klaus writes, are other lens qualities such as spherical aberration correction. I have no doubt he’s write on this, too, although looking for these measurements on a potential new lens purchase certainly get down to the nitty gritty in a way I’m not sure many of us would do.
Nevertheless, Klaus is trying to do something pretty exciting by standardizing a test for bokeh in various lenses. Essentially, he wants to do for bokeh what others have done for sharpness, etc. And that sounds like a great idea to me.
Check out Klaus’ website and you will see, as he acknowledges, he has “a long way to go.” But I’m excited to see him try and I’ll be watching what he develops very closely.
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