Beecher's Handouts /

Depth-of-Field / 16.5 - How to Get Less

Too Much?

As described in the last page, there's more depth-of-field in photography now, due to sensor size.

There's also more depth-of-field because we're using lenses that go only to f/4, instead of f/1.4.

What do you do if you want less depth-of-field?

Solution

Use a 50mm film lens on your digital SLR camera.

The lens becomes about a 75mm lens on most digital SLR cameras.

If you use a 50mm lens that has a lens opening of f/1.4, you'll have three stops less depth-of-field than your zoom lens.

You can blur backgrounds more completely.

In the photograph of the grape leaf, taken at f/1.4, note how only the tip of the leaf is in focus.

Compare how the background looks at f/4 and f/1.4.


f/4	f/1.4

When using a wide aperture like f/1.4, focus carefully.

I used a tripod above, because if I moved an inch, the tip of the leaf would have been out-of-focus.