One of the most popular types of photograph during Christmas is the one with the out-of-focus balls of light. In the world of photography, these are called bokeh balls.
Generally, the factors that determine the quality of bokeh balls are the edge roundness and the evenness within the balls. You're right, it sounds ridiculous. It is a completely subjective judgement.
Hardware wise, the factors impacting bokeh balls are the camera, camera settings and the lenses. Here I'll put up 3 comparison photos using 3 different lenses, all shot using the Sony A7RIII camera.
The first photo above was shot through the highly rated, newly released Sigma 85mm F1.4 DG DN lens.
The second photo above was shot through the old but gold Sony Zeiss T Planar 50mm F1.4 lens.
The last photo above was shot through the excellent and super-fast Sony 50mm F1.2 GM lens.
Now, which photo has the best bokeh balls? No prizes for your answers though.
By the way. in the last blog post, I mentioned an Easter egg in one of the photo. It is a dragonfly.
Oh yes, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year 2022!