Shaped Bokeh Micro Four Thirds

[123stevevw]

Recently bought a Panasonic Lumix G3. I want to try some shaped bokeh but can't suss out the right size of the shape cut out for the lens cover thing. Any help would be appreciated.


Ta.

 

[koi]

http://www.diyphotography.net/removing-the-mystery-from-the-heart-shaped-bokeh

How do you know how big of a hole to make and what settings to use on any lens?
The shape you make must be smaller than the aperture in your lens.

Take the focal length that you wish to use (e.g. 100mm)
Divide this by the aperture value that is smallest on your lens (e.g. f/2)
In this case the diameter of the lens aperture is 50mm.

If you make your shape smaller than 50mm across the effect should work as shown above.

I had a quick go at this but couldn't get any decent results :dapprove:

 

[123stevevw]

Thanks Koi, though if I go by those instructions the shape I cut intrudes on the whole photo, i.e it sets like a shaped frame around the image instead of shaping the lights in the unfocused background. Getting very frustrating now!

 

[koi]

I think with 4/3 you need to double the focal length, so if your focal length is 18mm you would use 36 in the formula above.

 

[Ben..]

I'm just standard four thirds, but I didn't use any formulas, just cut my template small (hole is probably 1x1cm at widest)

 

[Ben..]

 

[Brazo]

Micro four thirds has a two times crop factor so f2 is roughly approximate to f4 once focal lengths are standardised.

 

[123stevevw]

Thanks for the help folks. I'll have a dabble and see what happens. If they're any good ill stick 'em up in here!

 

[123stevevw]

Nope, still no good. I'm obviously doing something very wrong here. Bennyboy182, what lens, settings etc did you use for those pics?

 

[123stevevw]

Looks like I need at least a 50mm lens with very low f.

Could be an excuse for a new lens!