BetterPhoto Q&A
Category: New Answers

Bill Lofton

Depth of Field

I just purchased a Panasonic FX10P, and it's my first digital camera. Apparently this camera's smallest f/stop is F8 and the depth of field at this f/stop seems to be very narrow. Is this common for digital cameras? How can I get more of my subject in sharp focus?

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August 17, 2004

Jon Close

FZ10K? Smallest f-stop is f/8, but this does not limit you to narrow depth of field. It limits you instead to very deep depth of field. The focal length of this camera's zoom lens is just 6mm-72mm, and gives correspondingly very deep depth of field. While it gives the equivalent field of view as a 35mm film camera with 35-420 zoom, the f/2.8-8 aperture on the 6mm-72mm lens gives depth of field equivalent to f/16-46 in a 35-420 zoom. I'm pretty sure you are going to have trouble getting a completely blurred background unless you are very very close to your subject.

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August 17, 2004

Bill Lofton

Deep depth of field is what I want, but I don't see it in my pictures. I shoot F8 using aperture mode (where I select the aperture) and the resulting depth of field looks very narrow to me. Could this be caused by some other setting on the camera? Thanks for your assistance.

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August 17, 2004

Jon Close

Only if you are shooting at very short focus distance, eg. macro. Can you post a sample?

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August 17, 2004

Jon Close

P.S. Other possible sources of unsharpness:
- Dirty lens/filter (obvious)
- Less lens resolution at the edges than at the center
- Digital noise at higher ISO settings
- Diffraction/color fringing due to light from lens striking the sensor at low angle
- JPEG compression

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August 17, 2004

Bill Lofton

I'll post an example tonight after I get home. Just had a thought that I might have selected the low-quality setting when I thought I was selecting the "Fine" high-quality setting. I'll check tonight. Thanks again ...

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August 17, 2004

Pamela K

If the last is the case, make sure you set the super high quality as the default. Some cameras will automatically reset every time you turn them off.
Pam

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August 17, 2004

Bill Lofton

I've posted a photo as an example (see PhotoID#501532). In this photo of my dog, the collar and tags are in sharp focus but his nose looks out of focus to me. Is it just my perception of the photo?

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August 17, 2004

Bill Lofton


	Example: Depth of Field F8, zoomed to 400, late afternoon Bill Lofton

I've posted this photo as an example of the narrow depth of field. In this photo of my dog,the collar and tags are in sharp focus but his nose looks out of focus to me. Is it just my perception of the photo?

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August 17, 2004

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