June Challenge -Bokeh - Discussion

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The Great Soprendo said:
What he said - I've changed the seals on a few of mine - it's a pretty easy job (not 2-3 hours, mind, more like 30 mins on the ones I have done: Nikon FE, FM2 and Olympus Trip). I'd say you don't have to be hugely technical to do it, just reasonably careful and patient.

The kits cost about £5 on ebay, usually including instructions, tools and mirror damper foam too (for an SLR).

What camera is it?
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Canon A1. I'm not very patient and I'm not very skillful. You know some people can ice cakes, and some can't - I can't :oops::).

Thanks for the advice though, maybe I'll get the kits (?) and talk someone with deft fingers through it. Though now I have posted two pictures (last night) would you think this was light seals or an aperture not opening properly as idon'tknowwhatmynameiscares (sp?) thought. The photographs were probably taken in "fully automatic mode" as snapshots. Maybe a good overhaul is needed instead:idea::?:
 
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peachbum said:
Canon A1. I'm not very patient and I'm not very skillful. You know some people can ice cakes, and some can't - I can't :oops::).

Thanks for the advice though, maybe I'll get the kits (?) and talk someone with deft fingers through it. Though now I have posted two pictures (last night) would you think this was light seals or an aperture not opening properly as idon'tknowwhatmynameiscares (sp?) thought. The photographs were probably taken in "fully automatic mode" as snapshots. Maybe a good overhaul is needed instead:idea::?:
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Hmm. Not sure to be honest. The one of the rocks is odd - how was it scanned? The problem with labs is that their machinery usually compensates for exposure errors in the printing, so if you've scanned a print it could be misleading in terms of the actual problem. The other one of the lighthouse doesn't display quite the same characteristics to my eye. Could just be poor scanning?

As for the light seals: when you open the back of the camera, there should be narrow strips of rubber/foam all around the edge of the body where the door shuts onto it. If these appear to be deteriorated, or missing in places, then you should get the seals changed.

Could be a few other things causing incorrect exposure, rather than a light leak: the lens diaphragm could be sticky (can check this by taking it off and messing about with the spring loaded lever on the back to see if it opens/closes correctly), the shutter speeds may have lost their accuracy over time (can check this easily on the slower speeds to see if they seem about right, faster speeds will need expert assistance to check), or even the battery might be low on power, causing bad exposure readings.

Also, print film can be quite forgiving in this regard, and can mask exposure errors to some degree - if you were using slide film for instance, it would be obviously whether the exposure was near enough correct or if it was way out.

If you're unsure about how to check any of this it might not do any harm to take it to someone who knows about these things, just to give it the once over. Might not be a bad idea to hand it over for a "CLA" (clean, lube, adjust) and light seal replacement if it hasn't had much attention over the years - shouldn't cost more than £50. For a top quality classic like the A1 I'd say it was worth it if you have any intention of using it (which you should!). Sorry, I can't recommend anyone myself (cos I've done this stuff myself) but I expect someone on here will be able to advise.
 
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Thank you for your thoughtful and long reply. :-D

The Great Soprendo said:
Hmm. Not sure to be honest. The one of the rocks is odd - how was it scanned? I got Bonusprint to put my developed film on a "cd" (disc) as I don't have a scanner

As for the light seals: they look good

Could be a few other things causing incorrect exposure, rather than a light leak: the lens diaphragm could be sticky (can check this by taking it off and messing about with the spring loaded lever on the back to see if it opens/closes correctly), the shutter speeds may have lost their accuracy over time (can check this easily on the slower speeds to see if they seem about right, faster speeds will need expert assistance to check), or even the battery might be low on power, causing bad exposure readings.
As the pictures are of variable consistency I think it might be a variable, if it was a light leak that would be a constant wouldn't it?
Might not be a bad idea to hand it over for a "CLA" (clean, lube, adjust) and light seal replacement if it hasn't had much attention over the years - shouldn't cost more than £50. I'm going to do this. Worth it I think as never been looked at in 28 years and was heavily used until about 18m ago when I started using the little digital camera
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This theme is bullshit for amateur point and clicks like myself, the object in focus has to be central with these types of camera, so the bokeh is not the intentional focus of the shot, like I want, it gets overun by the central image.

For example, I couldn't focus on something that is on the bottom right corner in order to capture great bokeh in the rest of the picture, I can't get it to work, so no entry for me again.

:evil:
 
TiredEyes said:
This theme is bullshit for amateur point and clicks like myself, the object in focus has to be central with these types of camera, so the bokeh is not the intentional focus of the shot, like I want, it gets overun by the central image.

For example, I couldn't focus on something that is on the bottom right corner in order to capture great bokeh in the rest of the picture, I can't get it to work, so no entry for me again.

:evil:
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There there

Can you not hold the shutter down, move the compo, and then fully press the shutter? Quite a lot of compacts do that kinda thing

peachbum said:
Thank you for your thoughtful and long reply. :-D
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Light leaks need not be consistent at all, no

Film is in place for different lengths of time, aperature and shutter settings may be different etc etc
 
TiredEyes said:
This theme is bullshit for amateur point and clicks like myself, ...so no entry for me again
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From Great Soprendo 31.5.11 re Bokeh
I've certainly achieved it with basic autofocus non-aperture-adjustable point and shoots before. Can possibly mess around with ISO, and switch off flash, to help open up the lens more.
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( an aside to Tired Eyes - You didn't enter last month after hinting how great your entry was going to be. )

Icarebecauseyoudo said:
Light leaks need not be consistent at all, no

Film is in place for different lengths of time, aperature and shutter settings may be different etc etc
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:lol: OK! I give in, I'm off to the repair shop.

I shall either enter one of my experiments that does have bokeh, but is a rubbish composition; not enter; or try again with point and shoot.
 
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peachbum said:
From Great Soprendo 31.5.11 re Bokeh
( an aside to Tired Eyes - You didn't enter last month after hinting how great your entry was going to be. )
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Eh? You mean this >

me, I'm hoping to catch two old ladies having tea and cakes then offer to buy their lunch in exchange for them posing, hopefully I can get them to give me the "vaux" sign with grimaces on their faces or summit daft like that
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Well it never happened, no suitable candidates/situations, now if I had a fiver and a couple of willing drunks like you had, I'd of had them sitting upside down on the bench like Mork - oh, and more of their actual environment in the shot too = winner

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I've certainly achieved it with basic autofocus non-aperture-adjustable point and shoots before. Can possibly mess around with ISO, and switch off flash, to help open up the lens more.
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There's achieved and then there's good bokeh big difference imo.
 
TiredEyes said:
Eh? You mean this >



Well it never happened, no suitable candidates/situations, Fair enough, I often visualize photographs but I am not always able to achieve the vision. now if I had a fiver and a couple of willing drunks like you had, I'd of had them sitting upside down on the bench like Mork - oh, and more of their actual environment in the shot too = winner I think we have discussed this before

There's achieved and then there's good bokeh big difference imo. Fair call too.
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^^^
 
There you go, not happy with any of my shots for this theme but entered one just to give you something, like I said earlier it doesn't really work too well with PnC cameras, or maybe it's just that I can't get it to work very well.


Shot is straight off my phone but cropped a little.
 
Good Bokeh is achievable with compacts, definitely. Depends how you use them of course...
 
TiredEyes said:
This theme is bullshit for amateur point and clicks like myself, the object in focus has to be central with these types of camera, so the bokeh is not the intentional focus of the shot, like I want, it gets overun by the central image.

For example, I couldn't focus on something that is on the bottom right corner in order to capture great bokeh in the rest of the picture, I can't get it to work, so no entry for me again.

:evil:
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Focus with the subject in the middle, press the shutter half way and while you're doing that, recompose.

Dead easy.
 
AB22 Easy Tiger said:
Focus with the subject in the middle, press the shutter half way and while you're doing that, recompose.

Dead easy.
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Someone suggested that but it doesn't work, at halfway it turns green but once you move the camera the green focus square disappears and refocuses on the newly acquired subject, perhaps it's too smart of an auto-focus !
 
peachbum said:
I don't think I'd risk posting the camera.

I've uploaded two pictures to see if anyone has an opinion on the quality of the end result (not the actual picture). http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/43/image10fr.jpg/ Uploaded with ImageShack.us

and this one from the same film :-

(doesn't seem quite so bad, though the grass is a bit pale.)http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/696/image9dc.jpg/ Uploaded with ImageShack.us
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If it's in auto mode, maybe it's as simple as your battery needing to be replaced? If the metre is underpowered then exposure will be variably off.
 
peachbum said:
What is that not_spav? I haven't replaced the battery in a long while but it flashes fast (which is good).
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The battery in the camera body will power the meter, which selects the shutter speed in auto mode. If it's low on charge, then it's likely to be inaccurate.

I've had the opposite issue before - a battery with too high a wattage throwing the meter out.

Might not be that like. Light seals is a likely option too, though I usually find that dodgy seals lead to streaks of pale areas rather than the whole frame being affected.
 
not spavin said:
The battery in the camera body will power the meter, which selects the shutter speed in auto mode. If it's low on charge, then it's likely to be inaccurate.

I've had the opposite issue before - a battery with too high a wattage throwing the meter out.

Might not be that like. Light seals is a likely option too, though I usually find that dodgy seals lead to streaks of pale areas rather than the whole frame being affected.
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I haven't changed the battery in years. I think the camera needs a complete overhaul, which I shall do. It doesn't "click" nicely either when I take a shot. It sort of slurs, like "cl..i..c..k"

I do appreciate everybody's help, it has guided me as to what to do. (Camera mender).
 
Double entry for me again this month :lol:






- I've PM'd AB22 and asked if he would delete my first shot.

I was lucky enough to get the latest shot of some foxglove flowers while at Cragside today with the family and like it better than my original entry.
 
I can do Bokeh!:-D:-D

Thanks for everyone's help and thoughts in this thread.

I wasn't happy with the four photographs I took on film so spent today playing with the point and shoot.

My favourite picture of the day was "glass bowl"
picture.php


but although there were bokeh, I'm not sure it counted in a shallow depth of field kind of way??


Edit: I wanted to do a rainbow and bokeh, but although I got a rainbow I couldn't get any bokeh in it. My other efforts are here if anyone is interested.
 
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