Can bokeh be achieved with film/analog cameras?

[hooray4mo]

I know bokeh is a big hit when it comes doing portrait photography in the digital camera realm. But can the bokeh effect be achieved with 35mm or medium format cameras?

 

[480sparky]

Bokeh is a function of the lens and aperture, not the recording medium.

 

[Hardus Nameous]

Yes.

 

[webestang64]

Funny, the word Bokeh has been around only since the 90's but the actual use has been around since 16th-century oil paintings, so yes.

 

[RAZKY]

I know bokeh is a big hit when it comes doing portrait photography in the digital camera realm. But can the bokeh effect be achieved with 35mm or medium format cameras?

I've never heard of "bokeh effect," and hopefully no one else has either! Here is the generally accepted definition of the word: Bokeh - Wikipedia

 

[Rickbb]

Way back in the olden days of film we just called it shallow depth of field.

Never understood the need to invent words for something everyone already had words for.

I mean if shallow depth of field is now called bokeh is deep depth of field called anti-bokeh?

 

[480sparky]

Unbokeh.

 

[dxqcanada]

Back in the olden' days we just used to notice that some of our lenses produced different effects to OOF areas of the image ... sometimes it complimented, sometimes it just looked odd, and sometimes it was just OOF ... and now our lenses are really good at correcting aberration, people seek out those olden' lenses just for special bokeh.

 

[MartinCrabtree]

I do find some lenses just work so well with a shallow DOF. A bonus is when the color rendering is complimentary to what I'm shooting like that.

 

[AlanKlein]

Medium format with nice Bokeh. Mamiya RB67 with 90mm.

Janet fence by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

[AlanKlein]

Same lens and camera.
Julie NYC and WTC by Alan Klein, on Flickr

 

[cgw]

Seems the OP is MIA???

 

[AlanKlein]

Seems the OP is MIA???

It's only been a day. Maybe he's out shooting portraits.

 

[vintagesnaps]

She? might be back (I think the OP's fairly new to the board). And it is the weekend...

I think the bokeh depends on the lens as to the quality/look of the out of focus parts of an image. So for portraits often the photographer may want the background more out of focus to emphasize the subject (by being in focus). And the photographer may want the out of focus areas to look smooth not choppy. So usually a decent quality lens helps with that.

 

[vintagesnaps]

And I got to thinking, isn't the word bokeh from a Japanese term? So I did a quick search, and yes it is. That must be why some of us don't remember that term because it wasn't in use til more recent years that I remember.