Lots of lenses claim to have very smooth bokeh. But for a few years, camera and lens manufacturers were making lenses that they promised had even smoother bokeh than the lenses they made previously. Luckily, we were there to test them. Some of them were called Smooth Transition Focus while other brands called them something along the lines of a “DS coating.” So here are a few lenses that we think really had super smooth bokeh. And we’ve got the photos and reviews to prove it. Here are the best bokeh lenses that photographers will love.
Canon RF 85mm f1.2 DS L: The Fastest of the Bunch
One of the coolest lenses to offer super smooth bokeh is the Canon RF 85mm f1.2 DS L lens. Originally launched as one of the first L-series lenses for Canon RF mount, this lens is truly something unique. First off, it’s got the fastest aperture of any of the lenses on this list. It boasts weather resistance, fast autofocus performance, and seriously beautiful image quality. We’re not going to lie; it’s huge and pretty heavy. But if you don’t mind only pulling it out occasionally, then you’ll really love it.
Check out the review and you’ll find tons of photos in there that really assure use that this is one of the best bokeh lenses that photographers will love. Portrait photographers are the ones who are really going to benefit from owning a lens like this.
Laowa 105mm f2 STF: The Most Affordable of the Best Bokeh Lenses
The Laowa 105mm f2 STF lens is the one we honestly had the most fun using. It’s a manual focus lens with metal and has seriously very smooth bokeh. We found that it had the bokeh image quality output when you combine it with a flash to make your subject really pop out of the background. “It’s got incredible color, great bokeh, enough contrast to make your subject really stand out from the rest of the scene, and I didn’t find a single major problem here that wouldn’t make me want to buy this lens for studio work,” we said in our review. “In fact, if you’re a studio headshot photographer, you need this lens.”
Check out the full review for sample images, and you’ll see just how special this lens is on Sony cameras. If you’re looking for a super option, this is one of the best bokeh lenses you can get.
Sony 100mm f2.8 STF GM OSS: A Gem in Every Way
Of any lens to hold lots of character made by Sony, the Sony 100mm f2.8 G Master lens is probably the one to really have that title. It’s an f2.8 lens, but because of the smooth transition focus element, it doesn’t really have as bright of an aperture as an f2.8 lens. In fact, we found that it cuts down on around two stops of light. This means that photographers are best off using it either wide open is super bright light or with studio lighting. We had the most fun with it using studio lights.
To this day, we still reference images from this review. “This lens is a bokeh monster: the Sony 100mm f2.8 STM G Master OSS lens has 11 aperture blades, an f2.8 aperture and then throw in the 100mm focal length factor,” we said.