No Bokeh


Status
Not open for further replies.

Dark Matter

New Member
Jul 22, 2008
231
0
0
If the subject is about 10m away and background is about 50m away. Will there be a bokeh effect on the background if I shoot with a 50mm f1.8 using AF. Cause I tried this morning and there is only a very very little bokeh effect. Is it my ignorance or because it is focusing at infinite length thats why there is no bokeh effect.

I dont recall any article mention anything on this when i read through those article on bokeh. Thus coming here to seek advise from senior and expert. Do bear with me as a noob if my questions sounds ignorance.
 

What aperture were you using?
 

Sorry that I forgot to mention...

I am using f2.8 initially but no bokeh so i try again using f2.0, but also no bokeh. Infact seem like same effect for both picture. Oh...I am using A mode.
 

you see using your camera LCD or computer screen? camera LCD won't show that much details... try using computer screen and see...

else... increase the distance between subject and background...

hope this helps...
 

Try F1.8 should be better.
 

Sorry that I forgot to mention...

I am using f2.8 initially but no bokeh so i try again using f2.0, but also no bokeh. Infact seem like same effect for both picture. Oh...I am using A mode.


Would focal length has an impact too? The longer it is, the shorter DOF?
 

Last edited:
at infinity Distance there is no out of focus, so no bokeh.

50m is probably way way way past infinity focus on the 50mm f1.8. aperture doesnt matter at this focussing distance.

same concept applies to all lenses.

longer focal length, infinity focus distance is further

i.e. 10mm lens, infinity is probably achieved under 3 metres
50mm maybe 10metres?
85mm probably 25metres? i cant remmeber exact figures.

but with longer focal lengths you have narrower composition area, so to shoot a person in full body you have to be reallly reallly far away..
 

Last edited:
cut your camera to subject distance to half or one quarter if you can, and double your subject to background distance.

or use a lens which double your focal length for what you use now.
 

But to be clear... There is NO SUCH THING as a "Bokeh effect". You can have the background out of focus, but bokeh itself is the *quality* of that out-of-focus area, NOT an "effect".
 

my nikkor 50mm f1.8 when focus in infinity, I can't snap a picture at all in AF mode.
And when i switch to manual focus, the subject seems blur when capture. Is there sumthing wrong wif my lens or is this lens only suitable on taking subject within a 3m range only?
 

you see using your camera LCD or computer screen? camera LCD won't show that much details... try using computer screen and see...

else... increase the distance between subject and background...

hope this helps...

I am viewing through my LCD...cannot transfer image now so cannot view on monitor.
distance is constraint... thats the further the subject can be infront of the back ground.

Would focal length has an impact too? The longer it is, the shorter DOF?

This is my question too...:dunno:
 

at infinity Distance there is no out of focus, so no bokeh.

50m is probably way way way past infinity focus on the 50mm f1.8. aperture doesnt matter at this focussing distance.

same concept applies to all lenses.

longer focal length, infinity focus distance is further

i.e. 10mm lens, infinity is probably achieved under 3 metres
50mm maybe 10metres?
85mm probably 25metres? i cant remmeber exact figures.

but with longer focal lengths you have narrower composition area, so to shoot a person in full body you have to be reallly reallly far away..

It is only my initial guess that at infinity there will be no bokeh...so it is true.

Maybe you would like to post a picture to show us.

Now cannot transfer image to PC.

cut your camera to subject distance to half or one quarter if you can, and double your subject to background distance.

or use a lens which double your focal length for what you use now.

All distance quite fixed and maybe thats the best I can be. Already trying to stand at close to my subject as possible and subject cannot be further infront of background (a building) anymore else I have no place to stand...
 

But to be clear... There is NO SUCH THING as a "Bokeh effect". You can have the background out of focus, but bokeh itself is the *quality* of that out-of-focus area, NOT an "effect".

Right, I read that in the forum. thanks for the reminder.
 

if too hard for you to understand, you can also try doing post production like this

I think I comprehend. But I prefer to be less dependent on PP, trying to get the most I can from the original shots.
 

If the subject is about 10m away and background is about 50m away. Will there be a bokeh effect on the background if I shoot with a 50mm f1.8 using AF. Cause I tried this morning and there is only a very very little bokeh effect. Is it my ignorance or because it is focusing at infinite length thats why there is no bokeh effect.

I dont recall any article mention anything on this when i read through those article on bokeh. Thus coming here to seek advise from senior and expert. Do bear with me as a noob if my questions sounds ignorance.

bokeh is affected by the depth of field..DOF "is the zone of focus" anything outside of that will be blurred, the character of this blurredness is what to we refer to as bokeh so that means shallower DOF=more bokehlicious..so if you want to have bokehlicious pictures you have to understand how DOF works..here are the rules:

the golden rule:
1.Equation 1: DOF~1/aperture. DOF is inversely proportional to aperture opening. Increasing aperture opening=decreasing DOF and vice versa.

now what about the distance and focal length? how do they affect DOF?
ASSUMING aperture opening is CONSTANT, here are the rules:

2. Equation 2: DOF ~ distance. DOF is directly proportional to subject to camera distance. That is DOF will increase if you increase your distance to the subject, likewise it will decrease if you get closer to your subject.

3. Equation 3: DOF ~ 1/focal. DOF is inversely proportional to focal length. That is DOF will decrease if you increase your focal length and vice versa.

Now from 1, 2 and 3, we can also deduce that if we keep our subject in our sensor in the same size and assuming we use the same aperture, the DOF will not change (a zoomed in far away subject will have the same DOF with a closer subject with a small focal length) but take note that if you do this, you will have a different perspective (now that is a different topic)

Now back to you, with what you are doing, you can't achieve a nice bokeh because you are just too far (10 meters) and a 50mm is not that long of a focal length...
 

Last edited:
bokeh is affected by the depth of field..DOF "is the zone of focus" anything outside of that will be blurred, the character of this blurredness is what to we refer to as bokeh so that means shallower DOF=more bokehlicious..so if you want to have bokehlicious pictures you have to understand how DOF works..here are the rules:

the golden rule:
1.Equation 1: DOF~1/aperture. DOF is inversely proportional to aperture opening. Increasing aperture opening=decreasing DOF and vice versa.

now what about the distance and focal length? how do they affect DOF?
ASSUMING aperture opening is CONSTANT, here are the rules:

2. Equation 2: DOF ~ distance. DOF is directly proportional to subject to camera distance. That is DOF will increase if you increase your distance to the subject, likewise it will decrease if you get closer to your subject.

3. Equation 3: DOF ~ 1/focal. DOF is inversely proportional to focal length. That is DOF will decrease if you increase your focal length and vice versa.

Now from 1, 2 and 3, we can also deduce that if we keep our subject in our sensor in the same size and assuming we use the same aperture, the DOF will not change (a zoomed in far away subject will have the same DOF with a closer subject with a small focal length) but take note that if you do this, you will have a different perspective (now that is a different topic)

Now back to you, with what you are doing, you can't achieve a nice bokeh because you are just too far (10 meters) and a 50mm is not that long of a focal length...

Does this implies that 50mm will only give nice bokeh within a distance of 0.45-3m the range state on the lens 0.45-3 after that is infinity.
 

Does this implies that 50mm will only give nice bokeh within a distance of 0.45-3m the range state on the lens 0.45-3 after that is infinity.

50mm/1.8 will be able to render the background objects out-of-focus should the subject be within 3m of the camera, and the background objects significantly further away.
Whether or not it gives nice bokeh is a subjective matter, as Rashkae has already explained about the term "bokeh".

Even if your subject is 3m away and your background is 500m away, don't go expecting the kind of uniform blur that you usually see when photographers capture Premier League football shots. Those people are using lenses like 400mm f/2.8 or maybe even longer focal lengths.
 

Status
Not open for further replies.