 Ben F |
Depth of field Okay im a lil confused but please try bare with me...i have 2 questions! If I was shooting an object/person in the foreground (which I wanted to be in focus), but I wanted the background (lets say a nice sunset) to be blurred, how would I achieve this?.. Would it be a wide open aperture (low fstop #) or a closed aperture (high fstop #)?????? And what if I had a person in the foreground, and I wanted them to be in focus but ALSO the background in the distance!!???... Okay 1 more question, I have a canon eos 300v, Ive tried working the above questions out for myself using the "depth of field preview" button, but when I press the button, the viewfinder just dims!!.. its really weird, I have no idea how its supposed to work?...
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Kerry L. Walker |
If you want the foreground to be in focus but the background out of focus, you will need to use a larger aperature (low number) but you do not necessarily have to use it wide open. The further away the background is, the more out of focus it will be as the aperature gets larger. Try shooting at about f/4 or f/5.6 and see if it is what you want. If you shoot wide open, it will be extremely blurred, if that is what you want. If you want both the subject and background in focus, use the smallest aperature you can (largest number) and focus at hyperfocal distance. First focus on your subject and check the distance at which you are focused on the distance scale of your lens. Then, set the infinity mark at the aperature you have selected and check the opposite side of your distance scale (probably the left side) to make sure the distance your subject is at is to the right of the aperature mark on your distance scale. If it is, your subject will be in focus regardless of how it looks through your viewfinder. Yes, the viewfinder does dim when you press the depth of field preview button. That is because the lens is "stopping doen" to the shooting aperature. Try doing that again and notice how more of what you see through the viewfinder gets more in focus. Actually, the darker the viewfinder, the more is in focus. It takes some getting used to. Hope this helps. If not, ask again on this same thread and I will try to help further.
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Andy |
Kerry has explained well about the depth-of-field and depth-of-field preview. Since you are using the EOS camera with EF lens, I don't think there is depth-of-field scale on any of the EF lens and thus it is very difficult to calculate what the hyperfocal distance is. However, your camera has a Dep mode that allows you to control what you want to be in focus. The manual that came with the camera will tell you how to use this feature. If you still have question, we will try to answer it for you.
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Ben F |
Hey, thanks guys for the advice, very good!! so now I know!! Just one quick question in relation to your response kerry, what is "Hyperfocal distance"???? Thankyou..
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BetterPhoto Member |
Hyperfocal distance- its when you get really hyper when you see something in the distance :)
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Andy |
It simply means the distance setting at any aperture that produces the greatest depth-of-field. For example, a 50mm lens at f16 and focus at about 18 feet, then anything between 9 feet and infinity will be in acceptable sharpness. At f11 and focus at about 25 feet, anything between 12 feet and infinity will be in acceptable sharpness. The above numbers were based on my old Canon 50mm FD lens. You can learn more about the hyperfocal distance from this site's DOF calculator: http://dfleming.ameranet.com/dofjs.html
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- Bob Cournoyer Contact Bob Cournoyer Bob Cournoyer's Gallery  |
Just blew coke out of my nose!!! Thanks, Steve...:-) Bob
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Kerry L. Walker |
I like Steven's answer. It sounds like something I would say. If you don't have a depth of field scale on your lens, it is difficult to do. However, you might be able to get a DOF scale from Canon.
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Samuel Smith |
steve and robert are my kind of people. bp has a lot of great info , but sometimes you just have to take a shot !thanks guys for the great laugh,i'm still choking !
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Ziad H. Dabash |
thanks for all i just want to book it mark so I can read it later thanks
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