Bookeh shapes

Not to anyone's surprise there are two characteristics of the hole - shape and size.

Common advice is that cutout size has to be smaller then the real apperture - so for 50mm lens and f/2 it has to be smaller than 25mm

Cutting tiny shapes is not my thing (I'm not great at DIY) and the results were far from pleasing. In most cases edges were jagged and you could spot it in the final pictures.






And another example with skull and bones.



Even that I put a lot of effort to do it correctly you can see that it is not something I can be proud of.

I decided to go digital. I have used laser printer to print on transparent media (transparent foil used for presentations). I'm not sure if it is related to the toner or set-up of the printer, but the results were quite bleak.



I used permanent marker to blacken surrounding area.



The advantage of this method is that I can use extremely complex shapes.




The disadvantage is that foil is not crystal-clear and it adds soft focus effect (like pantyhose over lens). This is even worse when shape is complex and have some dark elements in the middle.



If the shape has a lot of empty space in the middle it gets slightly better.




Another test I did was based on the fact that cutout adds shape to the lights, but it can also add some color. I used the same foil, cut the shape of the heart (ok... shape of something vaguely similar to heart) and marked edges using red marker.



The effect:



It can be improved, but it suffice as proof of concept.

I have already planned some more tests:

• using laser cut shapes - it will take time as it require some preparation.
• using combination of color foils to get multi-color bokeh.

Have fun.

Bokeh Setup

As promised before I would like to describe my setup for custom shaped bokeh. 

At first I checked what others had to say about it and try their ideas. I tried a lot of them 

1) fancy paper shape held by rubber band 

• Advantages: 
• Lightweight 
• Cheap 
• Disadvantages 
• Tends to get folded in backpack. 
• Rubber band and bits of paper tend to obstruct my manual focus ring. 

2) Paper tube shape put over the lens. 

• Advantages: 
• Lightweight 
• Cheap 
• Disadvantages 
• Even more prone for backpack crushing. 
• Still obstructing manual focus ring 
• More complex to create 
• Need some way of changing cutout shapes. 

3) Plastic tube shape over the lens 

• Advantages: Looks slightly better than paper version 
• Still cheap 
• Disadvantages: 
• Plastic tube has to match outer diameter of the lens perfectly - if it does it scratches outer parts of the lens. If it does not then it rattle a bit and can easily fall off. - I did try slightly bigger tube with some EVA foam as cushioning, but results were far from great due to lack of DIY skills on my part. 
• Complex to create, 
• Needs some way of changing cutout shapes. 

4) using old socks as described in this tutorial. 

• Advantages: 
• Cheap 
• Easy to mount
• Disadvantages: 
• Not something I would like to be seen with. 
• Blocks manual focus ring. 
• Did I mentioned the looks? 

I'm far from saying that all of those are bad ideas. I just was looking for better setup. My goal was to create something that: 

• Is easy to attach to lens 
• Doesn't cover manual focus ring 
• Is sturdy 
• Allows changing bokeh shapes 
• Does not pass light on the sides 
• Is easy to store and carry 
• Does not attract disgusted looks 

Some of my designs would make me instant internet meme, so I won't describe them. The best one - the one I'm using now - consists of three elements: holder, paper insert and foam filler. 

The holder is the step-up adapter 55-77 - my lens has a 55mm diameter filter screw. Additional space helps holding the card with custom shape hole and prevents light leaks Holder 



The paper inset is circle cut from black technical paper with custom shaped hole in the middle. As I'm using 55-77mm adapter as the holder the circle diameter have to be slightly smaller than 77mm to avoid brushing against thread. If it is too big the paper bends outward and it is harder to remove from holder. Talking about removing it - I attached a piece of tape to each circle to make it easier. Insert 



The foam filler is the circle cut of black craft EVA foam (purloined from my daughter school project). The outer diameter is 77mm - this circle has to fit the thread and hold the card in place. There is a hole in the middle (approx 25mm) - has to by slightly bigger than the size of the shaped hole in the card. Small piece cut at the top allows easier removal.



Insert card is put in holder  and held by filler. Holder can be attached to lens as long as needed. For regular photo (without custom bokeh) I simply remove foam and card. At end of the session I unscrew the adapter. 



All together (holder, filler and few inserts) fit without problem in filter box. 



Next time I will describe different attempts at cutting complex shapes and the outcome, so please come back. 

 Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.