depth of field

[drewdunnrespect]

hiya all

now then been reading up about photography on digital-photography-school.com and came across the frase

depth of field not undertsnading what it ment i googled it and well read wikipedia to try and understand it more and well its just confused me even more so could some one please explain it in english?

thanks from the rather confused Nikon D3000 owner and photograthy novice Drew Dunn

 

[Shewie]

From what I can remember from my college days, in simple terms DOF is the range of the shot that is in focus.

This explains it quite well Drew ..
http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/tutorials/depth-of-field.htm

 

[drewdunnrespect]

cheers shewie that makes it a hole load easier cos it has a photo with its depth of feild marked on and then eplains how it works and why and from that i have realsied tha f and width of lens has a lot to do with it and it also means that a mint phot doesnt nessecarily have to be fully in focas so cheers for that
also saved the web site to favourites cos it looks quite usefull
drew

 

[Shewie]

I know it's a bit anoraky Drew but have a look at some of your local colleges for their evening courses, the ones near us to some really good ones for beginners right up to experienced. If you can juggle your work schedule and squeeze a couple of short courses in you'll pick stuff up in no time. They're normally really cheap too, about the price of a pint for two or three hours with a pro.

 

[Kerne]

Depth of Field does, in fact, mean the distance range of your image that is in focus. To increase it, use a smaller aperture. To decrease it (for nice blurry background effects) use a wide aperture. This will, of course, affect the shutter speed that you can use. You takes your pick...

 

[maddave]

Depth of field describes the focus of a shot. A long depth of field (all the shot in focus) is achieved by using a small apeture on your lens, say f22 (tiniest hole) and slower shutter speed. Narrow DOF has just the item you are photographing (say a flower) in focus. This is done having your apeture set wide open say f2.5 largest hole) and a faster shutter.

See pic below

 

[DavidJT]

Depth of field is affected by subject distance as well as fstop. Don't orget it's one third in front and two thirds behind the subject.

 

[hedgepig]

Depth of field is affected by subject distance as well as fstop. Don't orget it's one third in front and two thirds behind the subject.

+1

DOF merely describes the nearest and furthest point from the camera which is in focus. Sometimes you want a very narrow DOF (e.g. in portraiture) and sometimes you want a very large DOF (e.g. in landscapes). Selecting an appropriate aperture is only one part of the equation. The distance to the subject (and the type of subject) are also factors to be considered.

For landscapes you will normally* want to achieve the greatest depth of field possible (*but not always!). The greatest depth of field is achieved by using the hyperfocal distance. Old manual lenses had hyperfocal distances printed on their focus and aperture rings, but it is rare to see this is on modern lenses. You can get tools/calculators etc that will tell you where to focus in a scene to give the largest DOF possible for any given aperture ... but as David points out the easiest way to do this is to focus one third of the way into the scene. Most times this will give you a perfectly good result.

 

[Nagual]

Damn! So it's nothing to do with planting taters then?....

 

[drewdunnrespect]

rofpmsl like it nag

 

[drewdunnrespect]

also cheers for the explanation gents
drew

 

[teflon]

To be clear, it's acceptable focus - something that passes as sharp that was first defined by a photo technician in a lab, not a photographer.

Best bet is to just get a book and read it up at your own speed. Forget college, unless you need a certificate because they won't teach you how to take a picture. You have to learn that yourself. Good luck. 8]

 

[Wayland]

Don't get me started or I'll get into circles of confusion.....

 

[teflon]

Circles of confusion are far more than most need to know. Unless you're a lens designer, or need an 'A' level, the finer points of lens theory is redundant and add nothing to a picture. Nice pun though. 8]

 

[Jericho]

Go back to the first link and recreate it with your camera.
The theory'll drive you nuts, the practice will click into place straight away.

 

[hedgepig]

Don't get me started or I'll get into circles of confusion.....

Very good