Are Blured backgrounds possible on G3?

[DarrenC]

I am considering getting a G3/G5, but was dissapointed when reading a review of the G3 at www.photo.net saying that it wasn't possible to get a good DOF to create a blured background for portraits.

If anyone has a G3, can you please let me know your comments on this, and if possible give either some examples, or a link with some ?

Cheers,
Darren.

The review is at: http://www.photo.net/equipment/canon/g3/
It says:
"Av" (Aperture Priority): the opposite of "Tv" mode, you pick the f-stop and the camera picks the shutter speed. I never use this setting on the G3, or on any non-SLR digital camera. Its main use is to create or reduce depth of field, to make a background blurry for a portrait, for example. But with the HUGE depth of field that fixed lens digital cameras have, you can't really do it very well, and the G3 is no different in this regard.

[dnadalin]

It is certainly possible.
I don't have a good example other than these:
http://www.pbase.com/image/18036486
http://www.pbase.com/image/18036626

But I'm sure others will chime in with plenty of examples.

[inthegarden]

dnadalin: Would you please share what settings you used? Thanks

[theflyingkiwi]

I have seen this topic around, and everytime that someone wants a example picutre of a portrait picture I see a picture of a flower, which I don't think are portrait pictures.

By using the marco function I have found it easy to get good DOF. So when one is taking a flower shot just set the camera to macro and the end result will be good DOF.

Now lets say that one wonts to keep DOF but needs to take a photo of a person. One is not going to use the marco function to take a photo of someones tophalf are they.

So the question I have is, has anyone got a good example of a portrait photo with good DOF.

I know this is possible with a DSLR camera, but then the camera types are completey different.

[polloloco81]

I seem to have trouble getting a shallow DoF on my G3 if the object I want in focus is more than 1 meter away.

I get no problem achieving blurred background if I do macro shots of objects close to me (2 feet or less). But like the person above me posting, you don't really zoom in close when you do portrait photography.

[Sheri]

I haven't personally used it but the G3 has a portrait mode for the purpose of making portraits with shallow DOF. See pg 63 of the manual.

"Portrait Mode - Use this mode when you want the object to appear sharp and the background to blur."

Sheri

[satnitefever]

Here's an example everyone should recognize..

http://www.powershot.com/powershot2/g3/images/IMG_0370_2.JPG

[Ann G]

I have had no problem getting blurred backgrounds for portraits. Here is an example at F/3. This was just an experiment when I first got my camera. You have to zoom all the way in to really make the blur, but this is true with most any camera.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/layouts/layout_images/146553-5.jpg

Here is another example also at F/3 but with the telephone lens.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/layouts/layout_images/162197.jpg

Here's another.

http://www.twopeasinabucket.com/layouts/layout_images/162920-5.jpg Sorry these aren't people, but these are just a few that I could come up with right now, but you'll get the idea. Ann

[LeeMoon]

I have a few examples of blurred background photos on my little web page...

http://homepage.mac.com/leemoon/

Look at the pix of mom and dad. These were taken with the G3's Portrait mode. I'm still learning to use the camera and love using it.

Lee

[dtrayers]

Asked and answered:

http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=11942

My example:

http://www.pbase.com/dtrayers/daughters

[suep]

Here are two taken from in a rickety old boat so it was a bit wobbly. Both are taken one after the other, on AV, one was high the other low.

http://www.pbase.com/image/18034591
http://www.pbase.com/image/18034577

nothing else has been dont to them apart from reducing with windows xp.

Sue

[inthegarden]

Sue, I'm confused . . . the image I saw did not have a blurred background.

[suep]

no? did you look at both images? one was blurred and one wasnt.

[inthegarden]

Sorry about that . . . I only looked at the first one!
Donna J

[suep]

Thats ok Donna, I thought I would give a comparison with the high and low apeture on AV setting. I was worried the whole time the boat would tip and me and my camera would end up in the drink!

Sue

[BobG3]

Here's a cat in portrait mode that's pretty blur in background:

http://bobleeuwenkamp.fotopic.net/photo.php?id=616631

I've shot some people but haven't got them on this computer..maybe I'll post them later, I think there's definately a blur.

[pukkita]

I am considering getting a G3/G5, but was dissapointed when reading a review of the G3 at www.photo.net saying that it wasn't possible to get a good DOF to create a blured background for portraits.


Darren, I'd inmediatly suspect about anyone who states this.

DOF is a matter of optics, not cameras. If the G3 had a 28mm and its greater aperture were F5.6, then that statement could have some credibility; but saying that about a camera that can use 140mm at f3.2 is just a nonsense, no matter how small the COC of the G3 is.

Just have a quick look at DOFMaster (http://dfleming.ameranet.com/dofjs.html): suppose you use 28mm tele (140mm in 35mm world), and F4, a very typical setting for portraits. If you focus on a subject at 1 meter, DOF will be 6cm: only things between 97cm and 1.03m will be in focus.

That's a pretty shallow DOF!

Here's a shot with similar settings that I believe illustrates this:

7.0-28.0mm @ 25.0mm
Subject dist: 1.46m
1/100 sec, f/4.0
Mode: Av
Metering: Evaluative
ISO: 50
AF mode: Single AF
Drive: Single frame shooting
White balance: Auto
Flash: Off
Saturation: Normal
Sharpness: Normal
Contrast: Normal
Picture Effect: Normal

That gives us a DOF that goes from 1.38m to 1.55m, that's 17cm (good DOF for a human head):

http://www.insflug.org/shots/CRW_1197.jpg

As you can see everyting before and after the subject (my daughter's face, her eyes more specificly) is pretty blurred: my son's head, the background, even the fountain that can be seen between them. My son's appearance into the frame wan't expected :)

So not only are blurred backgrounds possible, but foregrounds too: that's the main use of long focal lengths and big apertures: isolating the subject, that can be a person amongst the crowd, or a bird deep into a tree's leafs.

[gman]

Here some photos of my classmates:
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=535512&outx=600&oq=0&noresize=1&nostamp=1
http://images.fotopic.net/?id=535513&outx=600&oq=0&noresize=1&nostamp=1

[DarrenC]

Thank you all for your comments.

Clearly from the images shown the reviewer was not correct, and it is possible to get blured backgrounds for portraits.

Is it easier to get this effect if using a DSLR (eg the 10D) ?

Darren.

[DarrenC]

Also, all of the examples shown have the subject very close to the camera. Has anyone got examples with the subject further away? ie more than 1 meter ?

Darren.

[Ann G]

Darren, in addition to my G3, I also shoot a Canon Rebel 2000. It might be a little easier to get the blur with it, but not significantly. There are three things that affect this shallow depth of field (1) aperture setting, (2) focal length of the lens and (3) the distance between the subject and the background, i.e., the farther away the background is, the more blur you're going to get.

I have found that the MOST important of these three things is focal length of the lens. (Others may disagree, but that is what seems to work for me the best) It has to be zoomed in to the maximum length of the lens, and you're going to get some blur, whether on the G3, the Rebel or a DSLR.

Ann

[BobG3]

http://bobleeuwenkamp.fotopic.net/show_collection.php?id=28483

Here are some shots of my girlfriend, the distance in left two pics is about 5 meters with zoom, all three in P mode. With the more distance pics the blur is less, try in full size for a better check there still is enough blur I think. Don't know what happens in portrait mode here, maybe more blur in background with close taken pics.

[BobG3]

agree with you Ann G.. I often use full zoom and that helps me creating enough blur. I am experimenting with a aperture value of f8, that's getting more blur for me in macro mode haven't tried it on people though.

[Ann G]

Daren, the examples I gave are all apx. 10 feet from the subject, which if my math is correct, is a little over 3 meters. The one where the background is very blurred is with the telephoto adapter, but shot at apx 10 feet. This photo has been cropped, but I can upload the full shot tonight. Again,

[Horatio]

Well as a rank amateur I feel a little apprehensive posting here but... I certainly had no problems creating a portrait with a nice blurred background...

http://www.fotolog.net/horatio/

I have done several of these and the G3 seemed to take them all in its stride...

Horatio

[dnadalin]

inthegarden,
I don't remember the exact settings I used so I reposted the pics with the EXIF data.

http://www.pbase.com/image/18036486
http://www.pbase.com/image/18036626


I also added another "portrait" example using a person this time...
http://www.pbase.com/image/18036823
For this one, I wasn't really attempting to blur the background, it was just a quick snap of my daughter being goofy.

[pwaldo]

A few tips for narrowing the depth of field and bluring the background (or foreground):

1. Use a wide lens aperture:
- Set ISO to 50 (allows use of wider aperture).
- Use the ND filter in camera (also allows use of wider aperture).
- Set to Av mode (aperture priority) and use the maximum aperture possible (lowest number)--just make sure that the corresponding shutter speed doesn't go "off the scale".
- If you are in a bright situation where you do go "off the scale" with the shutter speed, select the Tv mode (shutter priority) and set the shutter speed to maximum--now you'll be guaranteed to be using the widest aperture possible. (Just make sure that you don't go "off the scale" on the aperture.)

2. Get closer to your subject.

3. Use the maximum (optical) focal length available. You might want to consider the tele-converter to further increase the focal length.

Any, or all, of these items will help with isolating your subject by decreasing the DOF.

(I agree, on a bright day at the beach, it's challenging to control the DOF. It seems that everything is in focus--whether or not you want it to be!)

++ Peter