DoF & the S5IS

[Dramatis]

So I'm trying to experiment with DoF on my S5IS. I'm attempting to keep the subject in focus while throwing the background out of focus. I've been shooting at f/2.7, no zoom at all with my subject anywhere from one foot to five feet from the lens and the background anywhere from six to twenty feet from the subject. So far everything - and I mean everything - is coming out sharp.

I know it's possible to get shot with shallow DoF on this camera as I did it once before (totally by accident). Could there be something wrong with the camera? Could it be displaying f/2.7 but actually shooting at f/4.0?

[raymondb]

When shooting at full wide (no zoom at all), the depth-of-field is fairly large.
May be you could take a look here,
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
Subjects that are within the range will be sharp, or reasonably sharp.

Perhaps you could try moving back, and zoom in.

HTH

[thetarget]

try going into macro mode.
or frame a subject that is very far from the background

[dale500]

To get the most background blur with an s5 you should set up your shots in this manner. Use full zoom and get as close to you subject as you can and still frame your shot. Use the largest aperture(smallest number) that conditions will allow. There also needs to be some distance between the subject and the background. The more distance the better.

Your thinking is correct that a 2.7 aperture on the s5 is smaller than a 2.7 on an slr. but you can still get some good results with the right setup and some practice.

Below is a shot from my s2 which has the same lens as you s5. The trees in the background were about 20 feet away from the spiders.

Dale