Scribd
Upload
156 views

Photography - Depth of Field

There are three main factors that affect depth of field (DOF): 1) focal length of the lens - shorter focal lengths have greater DOF while longer focal lengths have shallower DOF, 2) aperture size - smaller f-stops (wider apertures) produce shallower DOF whereas larger f-stops (narrower apertures) increase DOF, and 3) distance from subject - closer subjects have shallower DOF compared to more distant subjects which have increased DOF. The hyperfocal distance is the lens setting that provides the greatest DOF such that objects from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity will be acceptably sharp.

Uploaded by

mirnafarahat
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
156 views

Photography - Depth of Field

There are three main factors that affect depth of field (DOF): 1) focal length of the lens - shorter focal lengths have greater DOF while longer focal lengths have shallower DOF, 2) aperture size - smaller f-stops (wider apertures) produce shallower DOF whereas larger f-stops (narrower apertures) increase DOF, and 3) distance from subject - closer subjects have shallower DOF compared to more distant subjects which have increased DOF. The hyperfocal distance is the lens setting that provides the greatest DOF such that objects from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity will be acceptably sharp.

Uploaded by

mirnafarahat
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 3

Depth of Field (DOF)

Three factors can affect the depth of field: focal length of the lens the size of the aperture or the setting of the f-stop distance from the camera to the subject I. Focal length of the lens The depth of field is inversely proportional to the focal length of the lens; that is, the smaller the focal length number of the lens, the greater the depth of field. For example, a 28mm lens has the ability to capture more of the picture in sharp focus than a 100mm lens. II. The size of the aperture or (f-stop) While changing the aperture (f-stop) will not have a striking effect on the depth of field for a distant subject or a wide angle (short focal length) lens, it can make a great deal of difference in a close-up or a photo taken using a telephoto or zoom lens. A wider aperture (smaller f-stop number) will result in a shallower depth of field. You can use this to keep either the foreground or background out of focus while maintaining the subject in focus. When changing the aperture setting, you will need to also adjust the shutter to maintain the correct exposure. We can achieve critical focus for only one plane in front of the camera, and all objects in this plane will be sharp. In addition, there will be an area just in front of and behind this plane that will appear reasonably sharp (according to the standards of sharpness required for the particular photograph and the degree of enlargement of the negative). This total region of adequate focus represents the depth of field. Blurred backgrounds in photos taken with digital cameras are often difficult to achieve. Some techniques for increasing background blur. Here are some techniques to use that will help increase the background blur: s Limit the depth of field: s Use a long focal length lens. s Use a large aperture (small f-number.) Position the subject and background to use the depth of field effectively: Separate the subject from the background as much as possible. Try shooting from a position such that the background is far from the subject. Focus in front of the subject to move the subject of the photo to the far end of the depth of field.

Focusing in front of the subject moves the subject to the far end of the depth of field. Objects in the background will have more blur, but the subject will still be acceptably sharp in the photo. So far we've only considered images in exact focus. That's all you need if you only photograph distant landscapes or two-dimensional objects like paintings. But most subjects are three-dimensional: you want to capture objects clearly over some range of distance from near to far; hence you need to be concerned with depth of field (DOF). The basics of DOF are well known: The more you stop down a lens (the larger the f-stop number), the larger the DOF. Wide angle lenses appear to have much larger DOF than telephotos. Telephotos are often used to intentionally limit DOF, for example in portraits where you want the subject to be in focus, but you want a distracting foreground or background to be out of focus. When we, as photographers, plan a shot, one of the fundamental decisions that we must make is what we want to be in sharp focus. What we desire to be in focus can vary radically from one image to another. For an expansive vista of the Grand Canyon, we may desire that everything from the foreground to the farthest recesses of the canyon be sharp. For a macro shot of a flower, we may want a very narrow range of focus so that the viewers' attention is concentrated at a specific point in the image. III. Distance from the camera to the subject Depth of field is directly proportional to distance; i.e. a subject at a greater distance will have greater depth of field than a close-up subject. Therefore, you need not worry as much about a distant subject being out of focus. Hyper Focal length The concept of hyperfocal distance is easy to understand: focus a lens at the hyperfocal distance and everything in the photograph from some near distance to infinity will be sharp. Landscape photographs are often taken with the lens focused at the hyperfocal distance; near and distant objects are sharp in the photos.
... the hyperfocal distance setting ... is simply a fancy term that means the distance setting at any aperture that produces the greatest depth of field.

f/2 18 mm 7 28 mm 16 35 mm 25 50 mm 50 80 mm 128 120 mm 288 200 mm 800

f/2.8 5 11 18 36 91 206 571

f/4 3 8 12 25 64 144 400

f/5.6 2 6 9 18 46 103 285

f/8 2 4 6 13 32 72 200

f/11 1 3 5 9 23 52 146

f/16 1 2 3 6 16 36 100

f/22 1 1 2 5 12 26 73

Things that Affect the DOF


Of course, photographers want to know what things affect the DOF. They can use this information to manipulate the DOF to create the effects that they want. Actually, there are several factors that affect the DOF. Aperture: Aperture has a very large impact on DOF. The smaller the aperture, the greater the DOF. Focal Length: Increasing the focal length reduces the DOF. Conversely, decreasing the focal length increases the DOF. Thus, long lenses typically have small DOFs and wide angle lenses have large DOFs. This is one of the reasons that landscape photographers often use wide angle lenses. A wide angle lens combined with a small aperture produces a very large DOF. Distance: The greater the distance from the subject, the greater the DOF. Lens Sharpness: Lens sharpness has an impact on DOF.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy