What’s Bokeh and How to Get It on Film?

Bokeh is a Japanese word (暈け/ボケ) that refers to the quality of the background blur.

Bokeh balls¹ are visibly large circles of confusion formed by specular highlights. They appear as discs, rings, or other patterns in place of bright points of light that are out of focus.

The word bokeh was introduced in 1997 in the Photo Techniques magazine but is still pronounced in various ways (i.e., bow-kah/bouquet/bow-que/...). I use the latter.

You can have a lot, a little or no bokeh. It can be gimmicky or beautiful. It can have a cat-eye or onion-skin effect. Bokeh can be swirly or not. It can make soap bubbles or appear diffused. Photographers have opinions about what makes it look good. But as with most things in art, your context and personal preferences may vary.

As a photographer, you generally get to control your lens’ bokeh intensity and colour. The type of lens that you use will affect your bokeh’s rendering (i.e., swirl and bubble shape).

Film is an excellent medium for creating bokehlicious photos, thanks to the wide selection of affordable and exquisite vintage lenses and larger-than-digital formats.

In this guide, I’ll focus on the practical aspects of adding bokeh to your images first and dive into the technicalities after. Feel free to bookmark it and come back anytime! In this guide: What kind of lenses and cameras can produce bokeh? Which film is best for capturing bokeh? How to get the maximum bokeh effect from your lens. What makes a good bokeh effect? How does the bokeh effect work? How does a lens design affect bokeh appearance? When to avoid bokeh. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

¹ — The word “balls” appears 22 times in this article. 🙃

What kind of lenses and cameras can produce bokeh?

The longer your lens’ focal length (mm) and the larger its aperture (smaller 𝒇-number), the more dramatic your bokeh will look.

A 100mm lens with an 𝒇4.0 aperture will produce more apparent bokeh than a 50mm lens with 𝒇8.0 aperture.

Larger film formats need lenses of longer focal lengths to produce images of the same angle of view as their smaller format counterparts. For example, an 80mm lens on medium format (645) is equivalent to a 50mm lens on 35mm film. Since the medium format uses a longer focal length, it will produce a greater bokeh effect.

The closer you can focus with your lens, the more dramatic your bokeh will look. Macro lenses almost always show bokeh at their minimum focus distance unless they’re used to photograph a flat plane at 90°.

Theoretically, all lenses produce bokeh. The question is whether it’s noticeable enough to sufficiently affect the quality of an image.

Here’s my general guide for lenses, cameras, and accessories that can get you a sufficient bokeh effect:

Lenses.

Most 50mm+ lenses with apertures 𝒇5.6 or larger (smaller 𝒇-number) produce noticeable bokeh when focused 1m/3’ away.

Wide/short focal length lenses, such as 28mm, will need to either focus closer or have a wider aperture, such as 𝒇2.8 or 𝒇2, to produce noticeable bokeh.

Long 100mm+ lenses can produce bokeh at close distances with 𝒇11.

Cameras.

Focus-free plastic cameras, like Kodak Ektar H35N and Diana Mini, do NOT produce noticeable bokeh because they use wide lenses with small apertures.

Micro-format cameras, such as Lomomatic 110, use short focal length lenses, which do NOT produce noticeable bokeh. However, there are exceptions, like the 70 mm 𝒇2.8 telephoto on Pentax Auto 110.

Half-frame cameras can produce bokeh with lenses that are 28mm or longer and have an aperture of 𝒇2.8 or larger (smaller 𝒇-number). Pentax 17 uses a 25mm 𝒇3.5, but it can focus as close as 0.25m/10”, which may work (it does, after all, have a “Bokeh” setting).

Medium format and large format cameras will draw bokeh with most lenses. In fact, these systems are so prone to background separation that it can be difficult not to blur out parts of your scene.

Instant film cameras follow the same rules as above. For example, Polaroid SX-70 is perfectly capable of producing dramatic bokeh in subdued light, whereas Instax Mini 90 may not. Their ability to render the effect depends on their lens’ largest aperture, format size (larger formats will tend to produce a stronger effect), and close-focus abilities. In daylight, your camera may need an ND filter or a very fast shutter as most instant films (except the SX-70 film) are ISO 600+.

Point-and-shoot cameras tend to select smaller apertures automatically. Some will have aperture control settings, which you’d want to set to the widest (smallest 𝒇-number). However, Olympus Mju I is an exception — this camera will render excellent bokeh more often than other cameras of this kind.

Accessories.

We know that macro lenses/lenses that let you focus up close can produce noticeable bokeh at short distances. Similarly, close-up filters that you can mount on certain cameras/lenses can exaggerate this effect.

Flash will often prevent your camera from rendering bokeh up close. However, certain cameras and flash combinations may be used to force a large aperture with flash. If you’re shooting in subdued light, you may need to extend your exposure time.

Exception: flash can be used creatively to turn snow, rain, or any reflective particles near it into specular highlights which will form bokeh. The illuminated particles will need to be out of the lens’ focus field.

Which film is best for capturing bokeh?

Your film’s ISO and grain texture will have an effect on bokeh.

Slow (smaller ISO number) films such as CineStill 50D and Lomography Fantome 8 will force you or your camera to choose larger apertures in daylight. This will help you produce a dramatic bokeh effect more often when shooting outdoors.