Duncan J. McFarlane |
Object photography Hi all, This is my first time and may be a dumb question, but here goes. I am doing a photography job, which is photographing objects to put into a catalogue. Although I am not using a studio for this I am using a Cobra flash, which is giving me sufficient amount of lighting, however, I am finding that the pictures of the objects are out of focus. I am using a 50mm lens set at f5.6, which is what the flash was indicating I should set it on. Should I set the camera to f22 to improve my focus and adjust the flash level accordingly? Or should I change the lens altogether? I only have a 28mm and a 70-210 so my options are limited, but I think a 35mm lens may do the job better - is this correct? Obviously I would have to buy one - so can I get away with a 50mm? Regards duncan
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Jeff S. Kennedy |
It really doesn't matter which lens you use because DOF is relative to image perspective. IOW to get your subject to appear a certain size on film you will adjust your distance from the camera and this will make the DOF the same whether you are using a 50mm, a 35mm, or a 200mm. You need more DOF so your solution is to stop the lens down to f22 as you suggested (and crank up the flash power).
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Tom Darmody |
Duncan- Like Jeff wrote, you need more DOF. I use a view camera (4x5)for this type of work. Aside from apature, I can adjust the lens plane to get more of the image in sharp focus (dof), then adjust the film plane to correct the perspective. I also use hot lights, they are alot easier to work with. These shots take time and patience, they aren't as easy as they look.
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Duncan J. McFarlane |
I have been doing some more tests, although my client is getting a bit frustrated, and have found that increasing the f stop solved the DOF problem, but I hadn't incresed the flash power so I got a couple of films that were underexposed. I have now been increasing the flash power and the results are beginning to look much much better. Thanks Jeff K and Tom D for your help, I now have much more confidence and have learnt a lot. Regards Duncan
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Duncan J. McFarlane |
I have been doing some more tests, although my client is getting a bit frustrated, and have found that increasing the f stop solved the DOF problem, but I hadn't incresed the flash power so I got a couple of films that were underexposed. I have now been increasing the flash power and the results are beginning to look much much better. Thanks Jeff K and Tom D for your help, I now have much more confidence and have learnt a lot. Regards Duncan
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