 Piper Lehman |
Why Can't I See Depth of Field in Viewfinder Here's another thing I don't understand... Why can't you "see" the focused areas within the given depth of field when looking through the viewfinder? I don't understand why what you see in the zone of focus in a particular shot isn't the same area of focus as the finished photograph--the true depth of field or hyperfocal distance. Someone explain please. thanks, pc
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John A. Lind |
PC, When you look through the viewfinder the lens is held open at its widest possible aperture for two reasons related to focusing: a. Narrowest DOF b. Brightest viewfinder Most manual focus camera systems provide a DOF preview button or switch, either on the lens or on the camera body. Using it stops the lens down to the aperture you have set on it so you can get a feel for the DOF in the viewfinder. Whether DOF preview matches exactly what you will see in a printed negative or projected slide depends on viewfinder magnification. It rarely does because printed negatives, and especially projection, are greater magnification than the viewfinder shows and will narrow the DOF from what you see in the viewfinder. However, if it appears out of focus in the viewfinder with DOF preview activated, it will appear out of focus in the print (or under projection). If you have an auto-focus body, look in the instruction book to see if there is a DOF preview button or switch. The feature should also be mentioned somewhere in the specifications if it has it. Sadly, a good number of AF bodies and lenses do not have this feature (nor do the lenses have DOF markings on them for the aperture settings). -- John
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Piper Lehman |
Hi John. No, I don't have DOF preview on my Pentax, but it would surely be more helpful than using the range markings on my lenses. Feels like I'm always guestimating--not a good thing for an already nervous novice. Thanks for explaining this. pc
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