"Did you bokeh my child?"
Feb 19, 2019 15:34:11 #
Has anyone seen the new iPhone commercial touting their new "bokeh" feature? One mother scolds another for "bokehing" her child in the background. Problem is, Apple doesn't know what the word means, or that it's not a verb. They seem to think it means throwing the background out of focus, which some uninformed photographers also believe. Bokeh is actually the aesthetic quality of the out-of-focus background blur, usually as a characteristic of a specific lens, not the blurring itself. Now the general public will have the same misunderstanding.
Feb 19, 2019 15:36:06 #
I think Apple knows their customer base quite well and their level of technical knowledge of photography ... 
The idea presented in the commercial is quite common on this site as well.
The idea presented in the commercial is quite common on this site as well.Feb 19, 2019 15:55:19 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
Has anyone seen the new iPhone commercial touting ... (show quote)
That way they can sell more phones. They don't need their customers to understand just to buy into whatever they sell.
Feb 19, 2019 16:43:12 #
mas24
Loc: Southern CA
Exactly. They can sell more phones. And, Apple sells lots of them too. Every single upgrade, every year.
Feb 19, 2019 16:49:27 #
As far as I am concerned it really doesn't make any difference if you think it is the word for "out of focus background" or the word for the "aesthetic quality" of the blur. It is still an out of focus background. Just barely out of focus could be called "poor bokeh" and very out of focus "good bokeh", or smooth bokeh. Then you throw in the different shapes of the blurred highlights etc in that background which some regard as very important to the "bokeh", others just go for the smooth look.
Feb 19, 2019 17:24:03 #
robertjerl wrote:
As far as I am concerned it really doesn't make an... (show quote)
It is a word used to compare the quality of out of focus blur when evaluating different lenses. You can say the difference between good and bad bokeh is the amount of blur, but you would be wrong. it's not what I "think" the meaning of the word is, it's the established definition.
Feb 19, 2019 17:59:56 #
Language evoles, even borrowed words from other languages.
To the public at large "bokeh" is coming to mean the out of focus background that makes the main subject stand out. Your definition will either fade out all together or only be a bit of technical jargon used by some photographers and optical engineers.
Many words have different meanings to different people.
What does "rock" mean?
in a music store
to someone on a boat/ship (or in a earthquake)
to someone in a certain type of chair just relaxing on the porch
to someone trying to calm down a baby
to a geologist
So, to most people "bokeh" has come to mean a blurred background.
To you and others it is the aesthetic quality of that blurred background.
To the public at large "bokeh" is coming to mean the out of focus background that makes the main subject stand out. Your definition will either fade out all together or only be a bit of technical jargon used by some photographers and optical engineers.
Many words have different meanings to different people.
What does "rock" mean?
in a music store
to someone on a boat/ship (or in a earthquake)
to someone in a certain type of chair just relaxing on the porch
to someone trying to calm down a baby
to a geologist
So, to most people "bokeh" has come to mean a blurred background.
To you and others it is the aesthetic quality of that blurred background.
Feb 19, 2019 18:08:56 #
mas24
Loc: Southern CA
Bokeh, is the quality of the background that is blurred and/or out of focus. I saw a video on lenses that are purchased expressly for the quality of bokeh. Portrait lenses, supposedly best in 85mm in f1.4 and f1.2 are preferred choices. The video I saw said, that the king of the Bokeh lenses was Canon's 85mm f1.2.
Feb 19, 2019 18:27:57 #
Feb 19, 2019 18:37:03 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
Has anyone seen the new iPhone commercial touting ... (show quote)
There are a lot of people who don't understand what bokeh means.
Feb 19, 2019 18:37:30 #
CHG_CANON wrote:
I think Apple knows their customer base quite well and their level of technical knowledge of photography ... The idea presented in the commercial is quite common on this site as well.
The idea presented in the commercial is quite common on this site as well.Feb 19, 2019 19:06:36 #
It seems that "appropriating" a Japanese (or any other language) word creates a lot of (circles of) confusion when attempting to fine tune its usage in English. Go figure.
Feb 19, 2019 20:25:31 #
Feb 19, 2019 21:15:03 #
Keith S
Loc: Federal Way, Wa
I think Apple got their point across as lots of people are talking about Apple products because of it.
Frankly it made me laugh just like the camel in the Hump Day commercial for insurance. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
Frankly it made me laugh just like the camel in the Hump Day commercial for insurance. Sometimes you just gotta laugh.
Feb 19, 2019 22:17:24 #
JohnSwanda wrote:
Has anyone seen the new iPhone commercial touting ... (show quote)
Let the unwashed masses wallow in their misunderstanding. We real photographers with our real cameras can revell in our superior knowledge while those iPhone losers send their cool out-of-focus-background shots to their friends around the world before we can get the lens cap off of our f1.4 on a FF body.
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