what aperture to get facial features in focus

[chadgeek]

Just wondering if there is a preferred aperture to shoot with when doing portraits. Without taking into consideration the subject to background distance, is there a minimum aperture that is safe to get sharpness throughout the face? 5.6?

If someone is facing forward and you focus on the eyes at 2.8, with the tip of the nose also be in focus?

Does the focal length of the lens also matter? Sorry, I haven't had time to test this yet.

Sorry if this is posted in the wrong section, or a dumb question :)

[FiveRings]

Use a DOF calculator like this one:

http://dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

to see what you'll need, depending on lens/distance/aperture. :)

[chadgeek]

Use a DOF calculator like this one:

http://dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

to see what you'll need, depending on lens/distance/aperture. :)

I've wondered about the benefits of a DOF calculator until now. Nice site, thanks!

[AxxisPhoto]

I usually shoot around f8 to f13.

[Gel]

Depends how close they are to the background.

F2.8 should get everything on the model in.

Open to be corrected if I'm wrong here, I've only been playing with my 40D for a week and spent the day shooting with a 50mm 1.4 prime at 2.2 and had no problems with clarity.

[chadgeek]

Depends how close they are to the background.

F2.8 should get everything on the model in.

Open to be corrected if I'm wrong here, I've only been playing with my 40D for a week and spent the day shooting with a 50mm 1.4 prime at 2.2 and had no problems with clarity.

Thanks, I finally have a somewhat dedicated bedroom to experiment in, so it's shoot, shoot, shoot!

[doidinho]

Depends how close they are to the background.

F2.8 should get everything on the model in.

Open to be corrected if I'm wrong here, I've only been playing with my 40D for a week and spent the day shooting with a 50mm 1.4 prime at 2.2 and had no problems with clarity.

Has nothing to do w/ how close they are to the background.

Simply stating 2.8 or 5.6 is misleading too. It's going to depend on the focusing distance, the focal length of the lens, the aperture, and the position of the model.

The idea of sharpness is also a bit subjective, so there really is no answer to this question.

[Dirk Lately]

To answer most precisely, we'd need to know whether the subject is a large-nosed person.

[chadgeek]

To answer most precisely, we'd need to know whether the subject is a large-nosed person.

haha!

[alphonsis]

Playing with the dof calc, with a 1.6x crop body, at 50mm, and 5 feet away (which is about how far you'd be to get a headshot), your dof is about 1.8 inches in front of the focal point, which should be enough to keep the nose in focus.

Play with the calculator, it's fun and educational!