Hi all!

Been trying to get a bit better w/ the bokeh shots and I've heard the voightlander nokton 58mm f/1.4 is pretty good in this area so I've been taking advantage of spring to see what I can do...

comments and tips (suggestions, not monetary... actually, monetary would be ok too) would be greatly appreciated!


f/1.4


f/1.4


f1.4


f1.4


f1.4

[daacon]

Nice series - a few of them have a little too small DOF fo rmy liking , I like the entire flower in focus. Very creamy bokeh.

[roentarre]

Beautiful bokeh there. Dreamy

[mike.hiran]

Nice series - a few of them have a little too small DOF fo rmy liking , I like the entire flower in focus. Very creamy bokeh.

Thanks for your comment... I think you're right; having more of the flower in focus would certainly help in the composition. At this point, I'm just beginning to appreciate good bokeh, so playing with this lens at 1.4 gives me an opportunity to see a lot of it. But as they say, sometimes there's too much of a good thing...

Beautiful bokeh there. Dreamy

That's one of the things that really attracted me to the Nokton... a very dreamy feel to it, but also a good level of sharpness wide open. I suppose it's a personal taste and perhaps I like it because it's somewhat unique... time will tell if I like it long term. Thanks for commenting!

[Maffer]

4 (color combination) & 5 (framing) are my favorites here. All pics have smooth bokeh. I ordered my Nokton few days ago fom B&H. Should have it on monday or tuesday. Can't wait aaaaargh.....

[OrenMc]

4 & 5 are my favorite also. I haven't used mine for portrait work yet but it shines there also. Hopefully soon.

[J.Scott]

As Dave suggested perhaps the DOF is too thin. It's nice to see a bit more of the subject in focus. If you haven't got a split screen focus screen (like the Kats Eye) I'd highly recommend one for doing tight shots like these. It allows you to focus more precisely.

I have noticed that at times the bokeh is a bit jittery and not as smooth as I have come to expect from the Lanthar (125 macro).

(f3.5)


Other times I find the bokeh to be smoother.
(f1.4)


A flower shot.
(f1.7)


It would seem to suggest that the more open the aperture the better (smoother) the bokeh with this lens. Although in the last example I notice a bit of a golden halo around the upper edge of the flowers in the background.

Practice will make both of us better! Good luck and thanks for sharing.

[mike.hiran]

4 (color combination) & 5 (framing) are my favorites here. All pics have smooth bokeh. I ordered my Nokton few days ago fom B&H. Should have it on monday or tuesday. Can't wait aaaaargh.....

Ha - waiting for lenses is so hard! Hope you like your as much as I do mine. The Nokton club seems to be growing... hope that voightlander keeps making lenses in k-mount.

4 & 5 are my favorite also. I haven't used mine for portrait work yet but it shines there also. Hopefully soon.

I hope to be able to use mine for portrait work also; from what I've seen, it seems to be able to do that well. Thanks for commenting!


And to J.Scott:
I was looking at some of your pics on Flickr the other day: very good stuff! Your butterfly pic really shows what this lens is capable of. Actually, pictures like that and your last flower pic helped me decide to get this lens in the first place . I'm not much of a bokeh-phile (yet!), so I really like your last picture... it still has that dreamy look to it. It almost seems like there is a bokeh echo in the near out of focus field if that makes any sense. Anyways, thanks for posting and pointing out what things you look for in good bokeh.

Well, I'm off on a 20 hour plane flight (sigh), so hope to post some decent stuff when I get back! Thanks to all who have commented; this feedback really helps knowing where I can improve.