bokeh

[terry_5379]

looking for 8x10 300mm lens with great bokeh quality,any suggestions
thanks terry

[Ernest Purdum]

This is an awfully subjective area. One person might answer Apo Lanthar (a very expensive lens) and another might say a Rapid Rectilinear, obtainable at small expense.

Since you specify 300mm for 8X10, I assume you are looking for a lens for landscape or general photography as opposed to portrait use for which most people would want a longer focal length. You don't want a Petzval. then, but there are numerous other possibilities. Amongst anastigmats, any of those having a diffusion adjustment would give you a good deal of control. Examples are the Universal Heliar, some Cooke Ser. II, and the Graf Variable.
Non-anastigmats would be the Rodentock Imagon, Fuji SF, and some Wollensak types (some of those that are not labelled either Velostigmat or Raptar). As to whether or not any of these are what you would really enjoy using it's hard to say.

Perhaps your best bet would be to look for some images you like and then try to find out what lens was used. As was pointed out on another recent thread, though, lighting and other factors can affect the image appearance so much that it's easy to attribute too much significance to the lens choice.

[Scott Rosenberg]

of the modern offerings, i find the Rodenstock APO-Sironar-S series most pleasing.

of the more vintage options, i love my Heliar.

[Chad Jarvis]

12" f/4.5 Wollensak Velostigmat Variable Focus.

[Ted Harris]

Bokeh itself is subjective. A lot depends on your subject matter. For portraits and some product shots where you might want to purposely blur some portion of the image (e.g. some food shots or jewelry in an environmental setting) I prefer the soft focus lenses. For landscape work I don't think I would choose any of the soft focus lenses and am not sure of the bokeh differences between similar offerings among the major providers. Nor do I have any direct experience of side-by-side comparison of the various soft focus offerings but I will by the end of the summer. Early in August I will be doing some side-by-side testing of the Cooke Portrait lens, Fujinon SF and Imacon. At least one classic portrait lens will also be included in the test.

[Scott Rosenberg]

ted, your project sounds fascinating. if you don't report back on the forum, please do contact me privately and let me know how it goes: scott@srosenberg.com

thanks,
scott

[Brian Vuillemenot]

Apo Sironar-S 300 mm

[Oren Grad]

Depends whether you want modern or "classic" glass and also on your own taste - what do you think makes for "good" bokeh?

That said, among modern lenses, I think the smoothest rendering overall is delivered by the Apo-Sironar-S, with the Sironar -N/Apo-Sironar-N/Caltar II-N a good alternative if budget is an issue.