Bokeh for Kit Lens

[hyde9]

Hi guys, i am a newbie at photography so hoping to learn from you guys.

i have seen some pics on the forum (forgot which thread) and it seems people are able to get good bokeh or the blurred effect of the background using kit lens. i am very impressed and wonder how i can achieve this as whenever i zoom in or out using my kit lens 18 - 55mm the aperture may not be the widest (from my understanding it seems a wider aperture is needed to get a shallow depth of field, hence better bokeh?)....

 

[Galdor]

There a few factors contributing to achieving bokeh and using large aperture is one of them. You may want to read up a bit more on how to achieve it.

 

[zac08]

A general rule of thumb.

Longer focal length
Larger aperture
Longer distance of subject to BG

 

[hyde9]

A general rule of thumb.

Longer focal length
Larger aperture
Longer distance of subject to BG

Hi Zac, thanks for your reply. But in this case, wouldn't people use zoom lens more in order to achieve a better bokeh? As you have stated that a longer focal length and the distance of subject to bg contributes to a better bokeh?

 

[Rashkae]

Also remember that different kit lenses have different focal lengths. For sony, for example, it's 70mm. This extra 15mm can actually help a lot.

 

[night86mare]

Hi guys, i am a newbie at photography so hoping to learn from you guys.

i have seen some pics on the forum (forgot which thread) and it seems people are able to get good bokeh or the blurred effect of the background using kit lens. i am very impressed and wonder how i can achieve this as whenever i zoom in or out using my kit lens 18 - 55mm the aperture may not be the widest (from my understanding it seems a wider aperture is needed to get a shallow depth of field, hence better bokeh?)....

just shoot at the longest 55mm

find something to focus on that is relatively near in relation to the background

shoot at widest aperture.

what zac has mentioned, 3 factors come into play when it comes to depth of field (and thus bokeh):

1) subject-background relative distance
2) focal length
3) aperture

 

[zac08]

Hi Zac, thanks for your reply. But in this case, wouldn't people use zoom lens more in order to achieve a better bokeh? As you have stated that a longer focal length and the distance of subject to bg contributes to a better bokeh?

Yes... and a lot of ppl DO use long zooms to get the isolation factor.

Here's 2 examples on different lenses

50mm f1.8



70-210mm f4-5.6

 

[hyde9]

Hi guys, thanks for all your replies!

was actually wondering if i should get a tamron 17 - 50mm for the aperture! Haha after your replies, i think i will practise more with my kit lens and maybe just get a prime lens to practise as well! kinda broke, expensive hobby man...

 

[Lost Dog]

i think i will practise more with my kit lens and maybe just get a prime lens to practise as well

With this statement. You are wise..:thumbsup: Keep it up. ;p

 

[zac08]

Hi guys, thanks for all your replies!

was actually wondering if i should get a tamron 17 - 50mm for the aperture! Haha after your replies, i think i will practise more with my kit lens and maybe just get a prime lens to practise as well! kinda broke, expensive hobby man...

Yeah... keep shooting and practising. Be daring to try.

 

[attap seed]

keep shooting w wat u ve.

dun spent $$$ to get a new lens jus for the OOF effect.

shot w my kit lens.

 

[Limsgp]

Generally, for the same subject size (on the frame), the DoF is approx the same (not very significantly difference) if the aperture is the same, regardless of the lens used.

i.e. Using F5.6, 50mm lens @ 5m & 200mm lens @ 20m, the DoF is approx the same at ~2.1m (actual number depends on camera used). However, the appearance of the "bokeh" maybe different thou.

The easiest way is to choose the background that is far, far away. Or use a large aperture lens. Or zoom in on the subject.

If the background is relatively close, using a telephoto lens as compared to a wide lens won't help much bcoz you'll be standing further away from the subject. And as the DoF increases with an increase in subject distance, the advantage of long focal length diminishes. Unless you "zoom in" with the telephoto lens on the subject ( increase focal length w/o increasing subject distance -> subject size changes ), then the background will be blurred....

Hi guys, i am a newbie at photography so hoping to learn from you guys.

i have seen some pics on the forum (forgot which thread) and it seems people are able to get good bokeh or the blurred effect of the background using kit lens. i am very impressed and wonder how i can achieve this as whenever i zoom in or out using my kit lens 18 - 55mm the aperture may not be the widest (from my understanding it seems a wider aperture is needed to get a shallow depth of field, hence better bokeh?)....

 

[SVG84R]

Its possible to achieve bokeh with kit lens...as many of the bros have mentioned..it sill quite limited because of the relatively small aperture at the tele end...but it is still achievable....

below is a shot with the 18-55 kits lens 55mm @ 5.6

 

[giantcanopy]

(from my understanding it seems a wider aperture is needed to get a shallow depth of field, hence better bokeh?)....

Strictly speaking bokeh is a quality of the oof blur rather than how much bokeh or better bokeh because it is more or less out of focused

I think u got pretty good answers on how to get more or less oof background for subject isolation.

Ryan