WORKSHOP: LENS TEST FOR BOKEH AND ANGLE OF VIEW

Bokeh is Japanese for fuzzy and has been adopted by Photographers to describe the out of focus characteristics of a lens. In this test I am comparing a 17mm -55mm AF-S Nikon zoom lens set at 17mm, 24mm, 35mm and 55mm focal lengths with a 85mm f1.8 and 50mm f1.4 Nikon prime lenses on a Nikon D300 DSLR.

The results also demonstrate the difference between angle of view determined by the focal length and perspective governed by the position of the camera. In order to keep the foreground branch roughly the same size in every shot each change of focal length required a change of camera position. Therefore both the angle of view and perspective is different in each photo.

Has expected a greater amount of blur is seen in both the primes with their wider apertures but bokeh is only one element in the photographs; the choice of any of the above images is dependant upon which one works best for the purpose the photographer has in mind. The "results" do show the importance of getting to know your lenses and taking the time to test and compare.