Depth of field preview question

Here's a nice tutorial.... http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorial​s/dep.shtml

Quote from luminous landscape :
Here's a better way that I have found to be appropriate for doing landscape work, especially when the camera is tripod mounted.

— Set the camera to DEP mode

— Point at either the nearest or farthest object in the scene that you wish to be in focus and lightly press the shutter release.

— Next, point the camera at the other extreme and once again half press the release

— The camera will now autofocus the lens to the hyperfocal distance and will display the aperture that it has selected to achieve optimum depth of field

These first three steps are the same as recommended by Canon. But here is where my approach differs from what Canon suggests.

— Turn off autofocus. Be careful not to touch the focus ring of the camera. Leave the focus where the camera has set it

— Make a mental note of the aperture that the camera is proposing to use and now reset the exposure mode to Manual

— If possible manually set the aperture to one stop smaller than that suggested by the camera

— Manually set the shutter speed to the setting needed for the desired exposure. If this falls outside an appropriate range for the subject that you're shooting, and you're shooting with a digital camera, reset the ISO to a higher speed.

— Reframe the shot and take it"

This makes a cool sound, too! If you do it while holding on to the camera, and shake violently as though you're being electrocuted, it helps stiff subjects loosen up a bit.

I used the DOF preview this evening when shooting a shot of a bug. Unfortunately, I did not have enough light and even at ISO 1600, I was shaking too much to get a good handheld photo.

As for the DOF preview, it was a little weird. Things went dark. I didn't really get a good feel for what the actual DOF would be.

billmob,,thanks for the question.I learned something too.I need more practice with that button.

Yes, the DOF button causes the viewfinder to go dim, making it hard to see the effect of small apertures. But I read about a way around that that works for me. Here it is.

1. Set the aperture wide open.
2. Press the DOF button and hold it down.
3. While looking through the viewfinder and while still pressing the DOF button, slowly close the aperture one stop at a time until you reach your desired opening.

Doing this lets your eyes get accustomed to the decreased light slowly so you can see as the light gets dimmer & dimmer. Works for me, it might work for you.

It also give you a good look at the effects of aperture on depth of field as you make the changes.

Nice tip, Barbara and ScottE. I will try that out tonight.

Curtis N wrote:
This makes a cool sound, too! If you do it while holding on to the camera, and shake violently as though you're being electrocuted, it helps stiff subjects loosen up a bit.

I can't wait for an opportunity to try this....

whats the actual difference between a "shallow" depth of field and a "deep" one? maybe its just the wording i cant understand.

Curtis N wrote:
This makes a cool sound, too! If you do it while holding on to the camera, and shake violently as though you're being electrocuted, it helps stiff subjects loosen up a bit.

so thats what that was? it was PISSING ME OFF at the last show i shot, i was ready to smash 430ex brains.

With a small depth of field (DOF), depending on the distance between the lens and your subject and the distance of the rest of the background behind the subject, you can get a very nice bokeh in front and behind the subject when using a wide open aperature. "Shallow" is just referring to that small band that will be in focus on the photo.

With a "deep" DOF, if you stop down the lens, smaller aperture (larger f/stop number), you can get most of everything in the photo in focus.

A shallow DOF is very evident on photos taken with a 1:1 macro lens like the 100mm f/2.8 USM. Here is a good example of shallow DOF. I took this the first day I got my 100mm f/2.8 macro. See how the petals of the flowers are blurry in the front and back of the photo, yet there is a little band in the middle that is in good focus?

http://static.flickr.c​om/46/150110116_690ae4​2f0d_o.jpg

I hope this helps.

Cassie wrote:
Here's a nice tutorial.... http://luminous-landscape.com/tutorial​s/dep.shtml

Quote from luminous landscape :
Here's a better way that I have found to be appropriate for doing landscape work, especially when the camera is tripod mounted.

— Set the camera to DEP mode

— Point at either the nearest or farthest object in the scene that you wish to be in focus and lightly press the shutter release.

— Next, point the camera at the other extreme and once again half press the release

— The camera will now autofocus the lens to the hyperfocal distance and will display the aperture that it has selected to achieve optimum depth of field

These first three steps are the same as recommended by Canon. But here is where my approach differs from what Canon suggests.

— Turn off autofocus. Be careful not to touch the focus ring of the camera. Leave the focus where the camera has set it

— Make a mental note of the aperture that the camera is proposing to use and now reset the exposure mode to Manual

— If possible manually set the aperture to one stop smaller than that suggested by the camera

— Manually set the shutter speed to the setting needed for the desired exposure. If this falls outside an appropriate range for the subject that you're shooting, and you're shooting with a digital camera, reset the ISO to a higher speed.

— Reframe the shot and take it"

Bear in mind that most Canon DSLRs don't have the DEP mode that tutorial refers to; the A-DEP which they do have functions quite differently.

kwsanders wrote:
With a small depth of field (DOF), depending on the distance between the lens and your subject and the distance of the rest of the background behind the subject, you can get a very nice bokeh in front and behind the subject when using a wide open aperature. "Shallow" is just referring to that small band that will be in focus on the photo.

With a "deep" DOF, if you stop down the lens, smaller aperture (larger f/stop number), you can get most of everything in the photo in focus.

A shallow DOF is very evident on photos taken with a 1:1 macro lens like the 100mm f/2.8 USM. Here is a good example of shallow DOF. I took this the first day I got my 100mm f/2.8 macro. See how the petals of the flowers are blurry in the front and back of the photo, yet there is a little band in the middle that is in good focus?

http://static.flickr.c​om/46/150110116_690ae4​2f0d_o.jpg

I hope this helps.

well it would have if you were speaking english and not photoese.

"f stop my bokeh, i need shutters, ahhhhh, wheres my bokeh, i cant go on without my bokeh, hey do you have my bokeh? well what about my 2x converter?"

So why cant we all say this: open aperture = blurry fore and background, closed aperture = clear for and background.

i ****ing hate the word bokeh.

Forgive my ignorance but what is "bokeh"??

Oh well. You asked a question, I answered.