Soap-Bubble Bokeh Lenses — Bright-Rimmed Bokeh Circles
Soap-bubble bokeh renders each out-of-focus highlight as a circle with a bright, defined rim and a translucent centre — like soap bubbles floating behind your subject. It is caused by over-corrected spherical aberration, a signature of simple triplet lens designs, most famously the Meyer-Optik Trioplan 100mm f/2.8.
The look needs point-light highlights: backlit foliage, fairy lights, sun sparkling on water. Shoot wide open with the subject close and the lights well behind — every highlight becomes a bubble.
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Browse all lensesFrequently asked
What causes soap-bubble bokeh?
Over-corrected spherical aberration in simple triplet designs pushes light toward the edge of each out-of-focus disc, drawing a bright rim around it.
Which lenses produce it besides the Trioplan?
Triplet-design lenses in general: Meyer Domiplan 50mm f/2.8, Pentacon 30mm f/3.5, many projector lenses, and various 100mm triplets. The stronger and cheaper the design, the more bubble.
How is it different from swirly bokeh?
Soap-bubble is about each highlight's rim; swirl is about the whole background rotating. Some lenses show a little of both, but they come from different aberrations.