To those of us who “camera scan“ negs...

[JL Nims]

...Folks like at Zeiss use the term 'bokeh' correctly, but that does not fix the abuse by others.

This thread is too much . I was just curious as to why the Zeiss folks properly use the term bokeh while abused by others. Would you please elaborate? Isn't bokeh just bokeh?

 

[grat]

... are people suggesting that the definition of bokeh is blurred?

 

[JL Nims]

Apparently so. Also, apparently, Zeiss are the only people who use the word correctly.

 

[wiltw]

This thread is too much . I was just curious as to why the Zeiss folks properly use the term bokeh while abused by others. Would you please elaborate? Isn't bokeh just bokeh?

'Bokeh' is the characteristic of the out-of-focus, bokeh is 'pleasing' or 'abrupt'...an adjective describing what is out of focus

'Bokeh' is not the 'out-of-focus' area itself, which is how it is mostly used wrongly.

"How does ZEISS define Bokeh – An Interview with Dr. Stefan Ballmann​

Are you confused about what bokeh really means? In this interview, Dr. Stefan Ballmann talks about the different characteristics of the out-of-focus areas in an image and how and why lenses differ in the quality of this bokeh or blur."​

​

The misuse of the term results in forum posts with thread subject like "how to get bokeh?"

 

[grat]

Boke is a Japanese word (and a noun) meaning "blur". The term Bokeh was adopted to distinguish the "out of focus area" and "out of focus aesthetic" from "motion blur".

B&H credits an article from 1997 from Photo Techniques magazine, specifically, Mike Johnston. Interestingly, the authors are listed as Carl Weese, John Kennerdell, and Oren Grad.

So if you want a definitive answer on what bokeh means, perhaps we have our own expert.

 

[JL Nims]

Boke is a Japanese word (and a noun) meaning "blur". The term Bokeh was adopted to distinguish the "out of focus area" and "out of focus aesthetic" from "motion blur".

B&H credits an article from 1997 from Photo Techniques magazine, specifically, Mike Johnston. Interestingly, the authors are listed as Carl Weese, John Kennerdell, and Oren Grad.

So if you want a definitive answer on what bokeh means, perhaps we have our own expert.

PFFFFT! What do those authors know?

 

[Steve@f8]

Anyone wishing to offload a Hasselblad Flextight X5?

I’ve got $10 waiting burning a hole in my pocket.

Add a Leica M and I’ll double my stake.