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Nikon Lens Bokeh Comparison
© 2006 KenRockwell.com
INTRODUCTION
Bokeh is how lenses render out-of-focus areas. Ideally these areas are soft and smooth. The problem is when they instead become harsh or distracting.
I noticed that the bokeh of the 18-135mm lens seemed unusually nice when I was making some head shots of a kid. I got curious, so I compared six of my lenses at 135mm and f/5.6.
These comparisons are made at 135mm, f/5.6 and 9.5 feet (3m). They are from my D80 at medium image size.
Of course people genuinely concerned about bokeh shoot f/2.8 or faster lenses. Newspaper photographers and weekend pros all own some kind of 80-200 f/2.8 lens, and pro fashion photographers love 300mm f/2.8 and 400mm f/2.8 lenses. Thus I also set my 80-200 AFS to f/2.8 in the same comparison, as well as at f/5.6.
You'll notice that the image sizes from the 18-135mm and 18-200mm lenses seems less than the other 135mm lenses. This is because of their IF (internal focus) design.
18-135mm AF-S (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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18-200mm VR (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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80-200mm AF-S (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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80-400mm VR (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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70-210mm f/4 AF (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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105mm f/2.8 Micro AF (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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80-200mm AF-S at f/2.8 (click this for lens review, click links below for comparison images)
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SUMMARY
That's it. I have no idea why people make this so complicated. Just use what looks good.
PLUG
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Thanks for reading!
Ken