Digital BW, The Print

> Austin, Don't tell Mike Kravitt he gets useless pictures with his mamiya
> because the lenses don't have Bokeh!
>
> What a nitpicking subject. I bet most Landscape photographers couldn't
> care less about bokeh. Show me some evidence where leica and zeiss
> intentionally design their lenses to have great bokeh!!!

If you shoot mostly landscapes with infinity focus and small apertures, then
yes, the bokeh of a lens has little bearing on your image, and yes, it'd
probably be a "nitpicking subject".

However, if you like to shoot people or objects and incorporate large
out-of-focus portions in your images, or if you use telephoto lenses, then
the bokeh of a particular lens is a very obvious and major part of the
aesthetic of your images. Many photographers are concerned about every
square inch of their images, whether in focus or not.

I don't know about Leica and Ziess, but I can tell you Nikon and Canon's
newer lenses are being designed to provide smoother rendition of
out-of-focus areas. Some of Nikon's newer telephoto lenses, for instance,
incorporate a larger number of diaphragm blades, creating an rounder
aperture, which in turn provides a softer, smoother look to out-of-focus
areas, especially highlights.