P&S Camera with photo backdrops

[BBoi]

I'm close to deciding to buy some muslin backdrop to photograph models against, but i'm wondering about the DOF of the A640, is it going to pick out all the detail of the backdrop/s, or will it defocus a little, which is what I want, so if not, is there a way to do that ?

Happy to use ƒ2.8 and ISO 80, but will this be enough do you think or will I have to be manually blurring the background ?


Ideally i'll be having the model/s about 1ft to 2ft in front of the backdrops as I only have 8ft to work with.

Thoughts ?

[JustShootin']

With only a 1' or 2' spread, I'm afraid you will not have a shallow depth of field using your A640, or most any of the compact camers. At least not at any normal portrait focal length you would use with a studio set up. Even at 2.8, DOF will still not be shallow. In my opinion, compact cameras and studio portraits do not mix well. But good luck.

Gary

[BBoi]

Best advice perhaps then is go with a plain black muslin, or white, or mid grey as opposed to say, a marble pattern? I can hang it longways on the room which is 11ft long and 9ft wide if I suspend it on, say, a clothes line... that would allow models to stand a good 4ft from the backdrop - would this be sufficient distance do you think ?

Seems that for macro, it's better to be close to get a DOF, but portrait you need to be further away than normal. Am I understanding this right ?