Depth of field question...

[CHR4MSU]

Greetings again,

This goes along with my previous post.

I've got 16 people in close proximity to each other in three rows, sitting kneeling and standing. The first two rows are SOLID in focus, the third row is a hair soft.

I've got the D60 on a pod about 15 feet back from the group.

I'll admit I didn't shoot on the A-DEP setting I used combinations on the Av and Tv settings with various shutter speeds and different apertures.

Any suggestions? Try again shooting f/19 or something like that?

Thanks!

Peter

[RichardtheSane]

OK, it is a depth of field problem, but before answering I think more info about your setup on the day would help?
Which row were you focusing on?
What lens were you using?
What aperture did you use on the day?
Do you have a tripod?
:)

[CHR4MSU]

Well I'm looking to focus on all three rows actually. They are all tightly bunched in there, from front row to back row is maybe 6 feet.

Lens is a Canon EF 28-135 1:3.5-5.6 IS (I had the IS off)

Aperture was 6.7 or 5.6 I think, I'm thinking now it needed to be like 19 or something.

Yes I was on a tripod.

Thanks.

P.

[RichardtheSane]

I'm sure you are loooking to get all three rows in sharp focus, but you and only use autofocus to lock onto one row, I suggest locking onto the centre row.
Do you know what focal lengh you were using? If possible use the 35-50mm range to minimise distortion, but still benefit from the greater DOF at the wider focal lengh.
Here (http://www.nikonians.org/html/resources/guides/dof/hyperfocal2.html) is a handy calualtor for depth of field. Once you knowthe distance from your camera to the subject (centre row in this case) then you can use this applett to work out your aperture usinf the near and far focus limits.
Just as an example I did a test assuming you used the lens at 50mm, and F5.6 and a distance of 12 feet. It gives a near focus of 10 feet and a far of 15 feet, only 5 feet of DOF. If you focused on the front row then this would render the back row slightly out of focus.

My calculations with the same setup suggest an aperture of F8-11 would be ample to render the whole group in focus,

Good luck :)

[henkbos]

15feet away from a group of 16 people in 3 rows? That's way to close. You might benefit from a larger DOF range, although your comment indicate that you didn't.
Check the aperture ring on the lanes, that will give you a good idea how the DOF is with the chosen aperture.

Try not to use any focal length shorter than 80mm to avoid distortion.

[RichardtheSane]

Try not to use any focal length shorter than 80mm to avoid distortion
Unless you have any of the canon 50mm prime lenses - which are great lenses with no distortion :)