I have forty or fifty vintage lenses, all bought especially because of the bokeh they produce. Yes, I'm in the deep end where these lenses are concerned, but not the really deep end, where things like Dallmeyer Super Sixes and Meyer Kino Plasmats can go for 5 grand or ten times that.

I'm not going to list them all. They go from little cine lenses originally for 16mm use, to view camera lenses, to oscilloscope lenses, and several special industrial Nikkors originally made for printing circuits that under the right conditions can resolve over 400 lines/mm from corner to corner.

I have Russian lenses, and they are pleasant but nothing special. One great thing about them is that they are cheap--a good place to start. German Meyer lenses, such as the Domiplan, the Primoplan and the famous Trioplan, are an excellent place to go for nice bokeh. The Trioplan and Primoplan are very in demand and expensive these days, but you can still get Domiplans for under $100. Another great deal is the Primotar--both 135mm and 180mm f3.5. They are sharp and contrasty and have great edgy bokeh, very similar to the Trioplan.

Another place to explore is projector lenses, as these can often be had for $40-50 or less, and can produce spectacular results in terms of bokeh rendering.

One question that is important to consider is what your goal in using vintage lenses is. Generally speaking, for general photography you are much better off with cheap modern lenses than vintage lenses, even very expensive ones. If your aim is art, then the sky is the limit with vintage lenses.

I'll post a few examples so you can see what all the fuss about bokeh is about.