Alright, I’m way over-due on this. I apologize, I’ve been buried the past week adding some new top-level categories to or site (it is however a lot easier to find bags, memory cards, filters, and batteries on our site. Just saying…). So, let’s talk about the few remaining aspects of bokeh.

So, got those Canon lenses, Nikon lenses, Olympus lenses, Pentax lenses, etc… ready?

OK. aperture.

Back in that bad old days (whether or not it was in the heat of a summer sun or in the land of the dollar bill is your call), we mostly had lenses looked like this bad-boy to the left. I’ve gone ahead and closed its aperture down so I can make a point about its shape. Namely, you can clearly see it’s a hexagon. That’s right, six blades make for a very hexagonal aperture. Now, the thing is, the shape of your aperture will affect your bokeh. Out of focus spectral highlights will take on the shape of your aperture.

If you don’t believe me, check out Popular Photography’s little video made with a Nikon D90 and a Lensbaby with a custom aperture (in this case a jack-o-lantern smile):

To cut a long story short, most people, for general purposes, swear that the closer you get your aperture to true circular, the better your bokeh will be. Companies are working on this in many ways, including going to 8 or 9 blade diaphragms and even in some cases using curved blades so instead of straight sides like in that old Zuiko I pictured they curve, further imitating a circle.