Any such thing as an all in focus camera lens?

John Russell - NZ wrote in post #17898846
I want both sharply focused and that's the point I asked if that was possible without being limited to incredibly stable sunny weather and very slow trains! Depth of Field really isn't much of a problem for me if the sun is out. If the sun is not out I've got bigger problems. There is no way I could calculate depth of field even if I knew what it should be because I can't judge distance well at all and often barely have time to get the camera open and exposure set. Anyway, I can't see well enough to ensure sharp manual focus using viewfinder. I rely on the lens being in focus to infinity. I have returned to using One Shot AF mode with only a single AF point with sharp focus confirmation. So to answer your question I am talking motor sport meets landscape photography. Folks taking photos of aircraft in flight would probably know best how to overcome these problems. I tried planes once and what an AF nightmare!

Understood. If I remember correctly, for any given focus distance 1/3 of your DoF in between you and the focus point and 2/3 of the DoF is behind the subject. Since the foreground and train are prominent I'd have the camera focus at your desired point then manually move focus back toward you. Depending on your gear you may have to set the lens to manual focus after focus is achieved or easier yet use back button focus.

Rod

RodS57 wrote in post #17899067
If I remember correctly, for any given focus distance 1/3 of your DoF in between you and the focus point and 2/3 of the DoF is behind the subject.

That's a very unreliable rule. For macro work the ratio is 1 (1/2 in front and 1/2 behind), and at the hyperfocal distance it is 0 (infinity behind).

The OP just needs to stop down, which he seems to be reluctant to do.

Archibald wrote in post #17899082
That's a very unreliable rule. For macro work the ratio is 1 (1/2 in front and 1/2 behind), and at the hyperfocal distance it is 0 (infinity behind).

The OP just needs to stop down, which he seems to be reluctant to do.

Unless your MFA your gear which centres all of it unless you apply the ⅓ - ⅔.

Yes correct and those shooting fast action would appreciate my reluctance to step down. What use is nice DOF if subject has motion blur or image is grainy when viewed 100%? Using f16 never would be a solution for sports photography even with sun shining on command because of the amount of telephoto usually employed! My standard for clarity and sharpness is high. What I need is better lenses (or significantly more MP and opt for much higher ISO.) I don't see this problem with video cameras, especially not broadcast equipment. So are DSLR lenses limited by technology or market preference? Perhaps I am just a wacky extremist or part of a normally quiet majority that doesn't like any part of an image out of focus. Perhaps someone with camera marketing/ service/ design experience might be able to comment on that.

have you tried a camera with a smaller sensor at all? i'm surprised that you don't use a tripod, i'd think it would be nice to get everything set up, and know that everything is taken care of aside from the train aspect, and then just wait for the train to come into the frame

but i guess it depends on what your images look like, compared to what i'm imagining in my head...do you have any samples you could share?

John Russell - NZ wrote in post #17899365
Yes correct and those shooting fast action would appreciate my reluctance to step down. What use is nice DOF if subject has motion blur or image is grainy when viewed 100%? Using f16 never would be a solution for sports photography even with sun shining on command because of the amount of telephoto usually employed! My standard for clarity and sharpness is high. What I need is better lenses (or significantly more MP and opt for much higher ISO.) I don't see this problem with video cameras, especially not broadcast equipment. So are DSLR lenses limited by technology or market preference? Perhaps I am just a wacky extremist or part of a normally quiet majority that doesn't like any part of an image out of focus. Perhaps someone with camera marketing/ service/ design experience might be able to comment on that.

DOF of a lens is controlled by physics. All brands and designs of lenses have the same DOF at the same f-stop, focal length, and distance (or magnification), assuming equal exit pupils (actual size of the aperture at the rear of the lens).

Given your requirements, you might want to consider a tilt-shift lens. They give the same DOF but allow you to incline the zone of sharp focus to coincide with your train and landscape (assuming the scene lends itself to this treatment). The apparent improvement in sharpness can be dramatic.

See http://www.cambridgein​colour.com …ls/tilt-shift-lenses2.htm

And as someone else said previously in this thread, you could consider focus stacking. This sounds pretty highfalutin, but is not difficult. Just take a few shots (maybe 3 to 20 depending on the situation), with wide open aperture if you want, and combine them in software like Zerene Stacker. The software does all the work. Just feed it your pics (JPGs) and press a button. There is a free trial version.

When doing focus stacking, the scene should be static. Ideally nothing should move. If there is a moving train, it will confuse the stacking program. But if any one of the stack of shots has the whole train sharp, it should be possible to clone that part back into the final Zerene stacked picture.

So there are some constraints, but in the right situation focus stacking gives amazing results.

ISO 3200 or even ISO 6400 will give you the shutter speeds you need, as well as f11 or so, I would expect. Why not try this out? It would be very easy, just use a busy road and treat each car as a train. Try pre-focusing on a section of road, then watch as a car cross that point and do a 3-5 frame burst.

It feels like you are theorizing quite a bit, and instead, I would suggest just trying something out first. A straight road where you have a safe vantage point to try this will give you the best experience.

I worry about the OP's comment about grainy images at 100%. Surely he's not expecting to look at 5% of a sensors output on a screen and see a finished landscape!

John Russell - NZ wrote in post #17899365
Yes correct and those shooting fast action would appreciate my reluctance to step down. What use is nice DOF if subject has motion blur or image is grainy when viewed 100%? Using f16 never would be a solution for sports photography even with sun shining on command because of the amount of telephoto usually employed! My standard for clarity and sharpness is high. What I need is better lenses (or significantly more MP and opt for much higher ISO.) I don't see this problem with video cameras, especially not broadcast equipment. So are DSLR lenses limited by technology or market preference? Perhaps I am just a wacky extremist or part of a normally quiet majority that doesn't like any part of an image out of focus. Perhaps someone with camera marketing/ service/ design experience might be able to comment on that.

John,
Sports versus large dof train shooting are two very different t animals despite both wanting stop action. . Video cameras would look awful if you took 1 frame and enlarged it as much as the physical area you are viewing when at 100% from the dslr. Your issue of softness is very much related the resolution for capturing something so large like train.

So, I might even try a new idea would be to actually use longer FL and. do a fast panorama type shoot down the length of the train with Af onto objects at the different distances to stitch together. This will linearly increase the sesolutoon.