The A* 400 f2.8 can produce some horrendous bokeh too. Near out of focus elements can look really bad. I tested it by focusing in on an isolated subject - like a single grass stalk - and the slowly de-focusing by moving the focal point closer. The image would initially split into two softer versions of itself which would then ultimately blur out into a pleasing bokeh. But if you got a bunch of stuff in that "split in two" range the bokeh would look like a mess.
A couple of examples of bad bokeh - http://www.markcassino.com/galleries/birds/b0009.htm http://www.markcassino.com/galleries/birds/0204b59.htm One the flip side - it can produce a nice bokeh and sometimes a distinctive one in some lighting situations. Nice: http://www.markcassino.com/galleries/birds/0308b18.htm http://www.markcassino.com/galleries/new/lis082.htm Distinctive: http://www.markcassino.com/galleries/birds/0204b49.htm Your sample is a pretty high contrast harsh light situation - perhaps the bokeh would look better in more moderate light, different distance for the out of focus background etc. - MCC J. C. O'Connell wrote: > I bought a Pentax SMC-M 85mm f2.0 > lens 20 months ago and tried it > for the first time today ( I know, > the buy/try delay is very long!). > > Anyway, its very sharp stopped down > a little bit, excellent contrast, no > distortion, little if any CA, > but damn the bokeh looks like > crap to me. I wouldnt wan't to use > this for any bokeh dominant type pix... > > I havent read or heard this anywhere. > Whats the concensus? I have posted > a photo shot wide open, look at > the background and tell me what you > think? > > I even noticed some specular highlights > can create ring like bokeh found on mirror > lenses (not seen in this photo) which was > pretty shocking. > > http://www.jchriso.com/temp/85MM01.jpg > pentax smc-m f2.0 at F2.0, 1/4000 sec > on istDS body. > > JCO > > -- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Mark Cassino Photography Kalamazoo, Michigan www.markcassino.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
