50mm Bokeh
Bokeh is a word bandied around a great deal on photographic forums and one used to describe the aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus areas of an image – a lens with nice bokeh produces silky smooth backgrounds. It is derived from the Japanese noun ‘boke’, meaning ‘blur’ or ‘haze’, with the ‘h’ added recently to help with pronunciation.
I recently bought a Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S, a razor-sharp normal lens for use in low-light conditions with the D3. It also has much improved bokeh compared to the previous incarnation of the 50mm f/1.4, and the 1.8. However this new 50mm is by no means perfect and in certain conditions, particularly in high-contrast areas, the lens does produce colour fringing and hard edges around the highlights, obvious in the 100% crop below.
But does it matter? There is no such thing as the perfect lens, capable of producing stunning results in every situation. And where the 50mm f/1.4 AF-S really delivers is producing razor-sharp images in low-light conditions – with the added bonus of nice bokeh if you avoid high contrast situations like the above.
In the right hands, bokeh will make an image. Take a look at the photographs of Alfie Goodrich on the Japanorama site, as well as his personal blog www.alfiegoodrich.com.
