Ray Sachs
Legend
- Location
- Not too far from Philly
- Name
- you should be able to figure it out...
If anyone had suggested to me when I first got back into photography again about 5 1/2 years ago that I'd turn into a bokeh snob, I wouldn't have believed them. Hell, I wouldn't have known what they were talking about. I knew all about the relationship between aperture and DOF and how to isolate a subject from my experience in the film days, but I'd never really thought about the QUALITY of the out of focus areas... Well, it turns out, now I think about it, almost to the point of obsession...
I've been doing some shooting recently with the Voigtlander 58mm f1.4, a really nice manual focus lens and a hell of a value - you can see some recent samples in the DF thread if interested. But I've been drawn to the Nikon 58 f1.4G, an auto focus lens without an aperture ring. A big plastic blob I wasn't inclined to like...
EXCEPT....
It renders incredibly and has about the nicest bokeh I've ever seen in a lens short of about 135mm. It's not ultra sharp - it wasn't designed to be - it was designed for portraits and bokeh. And they nailed it. Sort of a modern day version of the old classic 58 f1.2 Noct that sells on ebay for north of $3000. So I rented one. It arrived yesterday and did a day of shooting in Philly today. I really like this lens and the AF came in handy too. I even did a few "street portraits" at the Reading Terminal Market - those would have been really challenging without the AF...
I'm gonna shoot with both lenses through Thanksgiving and then decide which to keep. I suspect I'm gonna end up buying the Nikon rental I'm shooting, returning the Voigtlander, and selling off my other 50's, and maybe another under-used lens or two to finance it. The Nikon isn't cheap and even used will be more than twice the price of the Voigtlander new... Focus seems really good on the DF - that always seems to be the case... And I'm starting to really enjoy these middle focal lengths - I'd been really cold on them for a long time, but have made a bit of an effort and it's finally starting to feel comfortable and even fun. Although I seem to like 58 more than 50, that extra bit of compression and reach just feels different to me... I shot wide open as much as made sense (and was possible given the light) and I'm pretty sure all of these posted shots are wide open.
The Voigtlander is no slouch in the bokeh department and is a bit sharper wide open as well. But the bokeh can get a bit busy depending on the variables. The Nikon's bokeh is just creamy in almost every situation I've tried with it. So, here I go, bokeh-ing out...
Philly-129-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-304-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-181-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-315-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-328-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-299-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
Philly-130-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
If I'd have found this before the end of the hair challenge (and if I'd been eligible to enter), I think I'd have used this wig...
Philly-209-Edit by Ray, on Flickr
-Ray
I've been doing some shooting recently with the Voigtlander 58mm f1.4, a really nice manual focus lens and a hell of a value - you can see some recent samples in the DF thread if interested. But I've been drawn to the Nikon 58 f1.4G, an auto focus lens without an aperture ring. A big plastic blob I wasn't inclined to like...
EXCEPT....
It renders incredibly and has about the nicest bokeh I've ever seen in a lens short of about 135mm. It's not ultra sharp - it wasn't designed to be - it was designed for portraits and bokeh. And they nailed it. Sort of a modern day version of the old classic 58 f1.2 Noct that sells on ebay for north of $3000. So I rented one. It arrived yesterday and did a day of shooting in Philly today. I really like this lens and the AF came in handy too. I even did a few "street portraits" at the Reading Terminal Market - those would have been really challenging without the AF...
I'm gonna shoot with both lenses through Thanksgiving and then decide which to keep. I suspect I'm gonna end up buying the Nikon rental I'm shooting, returning the Voigtlander, and selling off my other 50's, and maybe another under-used lens or two to finance it. The Nikon isn't cheap and even used will be more than twice the price of the Voigtlander new... Focus seems really good on the DF - that always seems to be the case... And I'm starting to really enjoy these middle focal lengths - I'd been really cold on them for a long time, but have made a bit of an effort and it's finally starting to feel comfortable and even fun. Although I seem to like 58 more than 50, that extra bit of compression and reach just feels different to me... I shot wide open as much as made sense (and was possible given the light) and I'm pretty sure all of these posted shots are wide open.
The Voigtlander is no slouch in the bokeh department and is a bit sharper wide open as well. But the bokeh can get a bit busy depending on the variables. The Nikon's bokeh is just creamy in almost every situation I've tried with it. So, here I go, bokeh-ing out...
If I'd have found this before the end of the hair challenge (and if I'd been eligible to enter), I think I'd have used this wig...
-Ray
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