Getting Portrait Bokeh..

[AgentDrex]

hhahahahahaha...more bokeh....hahahaha...sorry...I think milk just came out my nose...and I'm not drinking milk...

 

[AgentDrex]

But seriously...if you want to have nice, pleasing bokeh (IMHO)...I find water drops make for some nice creamy OOF "circles" or anything small and reflective in the background....you could also try to shape the "circles" with a cutout placed over the lens

I have the same problem with the background too in focus...in my efficiency...I cannot get far enough way to get a small enough sliver of focus to soften the background and keep the entire subject in proper focus...so I try to go for a very dark background...small aperture...fast shutter speed (according to amount of light...) and hopefully none of the light hits the background....but I'm a weirdo, so take what I say with a grain of salt/cheese/sand blah blah blah

 

[gsgary]

No,you will not get what you want shooting with and a backdrop any lens will do for that because you will be shooting at F8 in the studio you do not get as you put it
Portrait bokeh

 

[GeneralBenson]

You should note that the 35mm 1.8G is a DX lens and the 50mm 1.8G is a full frame lens, which really acts like a 75mm. Out of these 2, the 50mm should be better, however, its not even released yet so no one can speak of the optical quality, though it should be good.

Just to calrify, the DX 35/1.8 and FX 50/1.8 are both equally affected by the crop factor of the D5100. So the 50 would act more like a 75, and the 35 would act more like a 52 or so. The focal length of DX lenses is still represented in FX standards.

 

[OrionsByte]

You should note that the 35mm 1.8G is a DX lens and the 50mm 1.8G is a full frame lens, which really acts like a 75mm. Out of these 2, the 50mm should be better, however, its not even released yet so no one can speak of the optical quality, though it should be good.

Just to calrify, the DX 35/1.8 and FX 50/1.8 are both equally affected by the crop factor of the D5100. So the 50 would act more like a 75, and the 35 would act more like a 52 or so. The focal length of DX lenses is still represented in FX standards.

Doesn't the crop factor make the 50mm lens "act like" a 75mm lens in terms of field-of-view only, and not in terms of depth-of-field? The lens is projecting the same image no matter what camera it's attached to, but if that camera has a crop sensor it's just trimming off the edges, which wouldn't affect the DOF. The sensor can have other effects on the DOF, but theoretically speaking, if you had a 50mm FX lens and a 75mm DX lens and took a shot with each using the same camera without changing any other variables, the 75mm lens would have a shallower DOF but the FOV would be identical.

Right?

 

[KmH]

You should note that the 35mm 1.8G is a DX lens and the 50mm 1.8G is a full frame lens, which really acts like a 75mm. Out of these 2, the 50mm should be better, however, its not even released yet so no one can speak of the optical quality, though it should be good.

Just to calrify, the DX 35/1.8 and FX 50/1.8 are both equally affected by the crop factor of the D5100. So the 50 would act more like a 75, and the 35 would act more like a 52 or so. The focal length of DX lenses is still represented in FX standards.

Doesn't the crop factor make the 50mm lens "act like" a 75mm lens in terms of field-of-view only, and not in terms of depth-of-field? The lens is projecting the same image no matter what camera it's attached to, but if that camera has a crop sensor it's just trimming off the edges, which wouldn't affect the DOF. The sensor can have other effects on the DOF, but theoretically speaking, if you had a 50mm FX lens and a 75mm DX lens and took a shot with each using the same camera without changing any other variables, the 75mm lens would have a shallower DOF but the FOV would be identical.

Right?

Nope!, not if you don't change any other variables.

If you go to www.dofmaster.com to use the DOF calculator, you have to select what camera you are using, because the calculator has to take the crop factor into account.

 

[2WheelPhoto]

You should note that the 35mm 1.8G is a DX lens and the 50mm 1.8G is a full frame lens, which really acts like a 75mm. Out of these 2, the 50mm should be better, however, its not even released yet so no one can speak of the optical quality, though it should be good.

Just to calrify, the DX 35/1.8 and FX 50/1.8 are both equally affected by the crop factor of the D5100. So the 50 would act more like a 75, and the 35 would act more like a 52 or so. The focal length of DX lenses is still represented in FX standards.

^^^^ this. because a 35mm lens will still be "35mm" no matter what body it goes on. After the crop factor of the D5100 body its 52 all day.

 

[OrionsByte]

Just to calrify, the DX 35/1.8 and FX 50/1.8 are both equally affected by the crop factor of the D5100. So the 50 would act more like a 75, and the 35 would act more like a 52 or so. The focal length of DX lenses is still represented in FX standards.

Doesn't the crop factor make the 50mm lens "act like" a 75mm lens in terms of field-of-view only, and not in terms of depth-of-field? The lens is projecting the same image no matter what camera it's attached to, but if that camera has a crop sensor it's just trimming off the edges, which wouldn't affect the DOF. The sensor can have other effects on the DOF, but theoretically speaking, if you had a 50mm FX lens and a 75mm DX lens and took a shot with each using the same camera without changing any other variables, the 75mm lens would have a shallower DOF but the FOV would be identical.

Right?

Nope!, not if you don't change any other variables.

If you go to www.dofmaster.com to use the DOF calculator, you have to select what camera you are using, because the calculator has to take the crop factor into account.

Okay I don't know why I'm not wrapping my head around this today. I seem to be having an off week for my photo brain.

Why would simply cropping an image decrease the DOF? Crop sensors are crop sensors because the image projected by the lens is larger than the sensor, right? So the image projected by a 50mm lens is the same regardless of what body it's on, and the sensor is recording different portions of that image. So if it's the same image, why would the DOF change from camera to camera?

I knew that different camera bodies had an effect on DOF but I honestly thought that had more to do with the sensor design and capabilities than simply the crop factor.

I need to do some reading and figure out what part of the puzzle I'm missing. :scratch:

 

[Ryan L]

No,you will not get what you want shooting with and a backdrop any lens will do for that because you will be shooting at F8 in the studio you do not get as you put it
Portrait bokeh

Yeah I aimed for this, this past weekend....You have to get a LONG ways back to get that oof on the background...Problem is if you want the subjectstanding full length on a background you can only have so much distance.

 

[Dao]

Doesn't the crop factor make the 50mm lens "act like" a 75mm lens in terms of field-of-view only, and not in terms of depth-of-field? The lens is projecting the same image no matter what camera it's attached to, but if that camera has a crop sensor it's just trimming off the edges, which wouldn't affect the DOF. The sensor can have other effects on the DOF, but theoretically speaking, if you had a 50mm FX lens and a 75mm DX lens and took a shot with each using the same camera without changing any other variables, the 75mm lens would have a shallower DOF but the FOV would be identical.

Right?

Nope!, not if you don't change any other variables.

If you go to www.dofmaster.com to use the DOF calculator, you have to select what camera you are using, because the calculator has to take the crop factor into account.

Okay I don't know why I'm not wrapping my head around this today. I seem to be having an off week for my photo brain.

Why would simply cropping an image decrease the DOF? Crop sensors are crop sensors because the image projected by the lens is larger than the sensor, right? So the image projected by a 50mm lens is the same regardless of what body it's on, and the sensor is recording different portions of that image. So if it's the same image, why would the DOF change from camera to camera?

I knew that different camera bodies had an effect on DOF but I honestly thought that had more to do with the sensor design and capabilities than simply the crop factor.

I need to do some reading and figure out what part of the puzzle I'm missing. :scratch:

This is what I understand. Hope that make sense.



You are correct and on the right track. Before we discuss Depth of Field (DoF). Let's talks about Circle of Confusion (CoC).

In photography world, we need to define what is in focus, what is out of focus. As you can see, it is affected by many factors. So someone defined the CoC for us better understand in focus or out of focus..
CoC is defined that when the largest blur spot appears to be a point by human eye in a certain condition. Take a look at the following image.


Image from "http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm"

From the above image, when you look closer, how many dots are in focus? And when you stand farther away, how many dots are in focus? As you can see, they changed So if you develope a photo and view it in a very short distance, the "In focus / Out of focus" changes (=> so as DoF) (of course, if you enlarge the photo, and view it at the same distance, DoF also changed)

So for the CoC, they define the photo is developed on a regular photo size (8x10) and view it in a normal distance (about 10 inches).

If you take a photo with full frame sensor camera, without any modification, just print it on a 8x10 paper. (Paper A)
Then stand on the same spot and take a photo with a cropped body, without any modification, just print it on a 8x10 paper (Paper B)

You may notice the objects on Paper B is larger than in Paper A. Because it is enlarged. So the out of focus tree in the background may appear blurrier (CoC). In other words, the DoF on Paper B is narrower.

Example:
Condition A: Camera = 5Dmk2, focal length = 50mm, f-stop = 5.6 subject distance = 10ft ................... DoF = 4.25 ft
Condition B: Camera = 7D, focal length = 50mm, f-stop = 5.6, subject distance = 10ft ................... DoF = 2.62 ft



But wait a minute, how come everybody said larger sensor body produce a narrower DoF? It is because in order to have the same framing, the photographer with a full frame body need to walk closer to the subject and that affect the DoF. So if you compare 2 portrait head shot type photos with the same framing (without any post processing), the one that shot with full frame body has a narrower DoF than the one shot with a cropped body.

 

[Geaux]

The 35mm 1.8 AF-S G-Nikkor is known as a lens with atrociously poor bokeh. Bokeh is the quality if the out-of-focus regions in an image. Not "how out of focus the background or foreground" is, but how pleasingly the OOF areas are rendered by the lens.

You are looking to create "selective focus". Unfortunately, with a limited shooting area, with the subject quite close to the background, it is going to be exceedingly difficult to well and truly separate the focus on the foreground from the background's degree of focus. THIS IS A PROBLEM with small-sensor cameras!!! They have greater depth of field at each angle of view and at each subject size in the picture, compared against cameras that use BIGGER sensors or bigger film to capture their images.

Do what you can.

35mm 1.8 Bokeh Circles .... When I think of bokeh, this is all I really think or care about lol.

To say it's atrociously poor is going a little overboard imo.