Camera filter turns bokeh into pretty shapes

 Posted by on 30 August 2009  Photography
Aug 302009
 

Bokeh is the Japanese word for blur which has been adopted into a photographic term for the out-of-focus area in a picture, often referring more specifically to blurred lights in the background of a photograph.

bokeh

Like this photo I took last year in my backyard. The rounded, blurry lights are bokeh. The better the lens, the better the bokeh.

So I was intrigued when I came across a website selling bokeh filters, which can turn the blurry rounded lights into different shapes.

The website has a low-quality “act now!” informercial vibe, which causes me to be a little distrusting. If it’s legitimate, though, you can really add an interesting element to your photos.

bokehex

Like the photo above, taken from the bokeh filter website. They also have a video that shows off the filter in action.

They say it works best with cameras with large apertures, of course, because the largest apertures give the best bokeh. They’re currently only making it for lenses of 52mm, though, so I’m out of luck with my 50mm f/1.4 lens.

(Link via Geekologie)

Amy Breen

  • http://www.absurdintellectual.com/ Grant Hamilton

    That looks pretty cool, but I wouldn’t say you’re out of luck with your 50mm! I think they mean the 52mm is diameter of the lens (like, how big your lens cap has to be) and not the focal length of the lens.

    I would guess that it’s a screw-on filter like a UV filter, then, with a cut-out shape in whatever design you want, so long as it’s smaller than the aperture blades.

    At just $10, it’s not a complete rip-off, but I’ll bet you could make your own with some black construction paper and scissors.

  • the banana

    bokeh schmokeh. Save your mooleh :)

  • Colin Corneau

    The catch, of course, being that most lenses of only 52mm don’t have the greatest bokeh — larger apertures = better bokeh = larger than 52.

    Cool idea, though.