MFlenses - A new life in a digital age
MFLenses 2026

Manual Focus Lenses Forum

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.

Explore the world of vintage lenses through repair notes, real test shots, and detailed archive threads packed with images.
DiskFreeVault safely moves Mac apps and data to external storage.
Spotlight

Featured partner placement for the forum front page.

Minolta MDIII 1,4/50 meets Magnolia
Post new topic Reply to topic
View previous topic :: View next topic  


Post
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:00 pm
Post subject: Minolta MDIII 1,4/50 meets Magnolia
Reply
Post
Posted: Sun Mar 20, 2022 10:00 pm
Post subject: Minolta MDIII 1,4/50 meets Magnolia
Reply
Wide open...

[img]Magnolia bloom and bokeh by lumens pixel, sur Flickr[/img]


Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 6:42 am
Post subject: Re: Minolta MDIII 1,4/50 meets Magnolia
Reply
Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 6:42 am
Post subject: Re: Minolta MDIII 1,4/50 meets Magnolia
Reply
Magnificent. Smile

There's a Magnolia tree in our neighborhood which is just starting to blossom. Oh..! The sheer beauty of it is just awe inspiring.


Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:09 am
Post subject:
Reply
Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:09 am
Post subject:
Reply
Like 1

I'm never too convinced about the wide-open bokeh of most lenses; I tend to stop down one stop, or even half a stop, literally to take the edge off it Wink

Having said that, subjects like the above make for very challenging bokeh conditions.

What puzzles me is why often lenses have been corrected for aberrations such that, when shot wide-open, their background bokeh looks a little busy, but their foreground bokeh is smoother. The other way around would seem more useful. Maybe there is a technical reason as to why that would be difficult to do.


Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:55 am
Post subject:
Reply
Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 11:55 am
Post subject:
Reply
True that one stop would blur a little bit the edges. As to the technicalities I am clueless... but interested.


Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:25 pm
Post subject:
Reply
Post
Posted: Mon Mar 21, 2022 12:25 pm
Post subject:
Reply
lumens pixel wrote:
True that one stop would blur a little bit the edges. As to the technicalities I am clueless... but interested.


I've seen mentioned several times in the past that it has something to do with a design choice of either under-correcting or over-correcting for spherical aberration, and how that affects background and foreground bokeh. The consensus seems to be that over-correction will give outlining on background bokeh but smooth foreground bokeh, under-correction would give smooth background bokeh but outlining in the foreground bokeh. But this may be a myth/incorrect; I'm not an optics design expert.

Delving into my lens design books (as far as I can understand them Wink ), it looks like that may not be a simple design decision as it also depends on subject distance and foreground / background separation distances.
Post new topic Reply to topic
Page 1 of 1