f stop feature explained???

thanks

i found it at borders book store

Understanding Exposure: How to Shoot Great Photographs with a Film or Digital Camera

Bibliographic Data: Trade Paperback, 160 Pages, Revised, Watson-Guptill Publications, Incorporated, August 2004

Author: Peterson, Bryan F.

p.s.

i love the quote u have

"The camera is an instrument that teaches people how to see without a camera." ~ Dorthea Lange


its very true

kool

Normally, nothing changes through the viewfinder when you change the aperture setting on a camera because the camera is keeping the iris open for viewing and focussing until the shot is taken. At that instant, the iris will close to the setting.

In order to visualize the change of depth of field in your viewfinder, your camera would have to have a "depth of field preview" button. Pressing that button causes the lens to close the iris to the setting you have dialed in. For today's automated cameras that would require that you are in either Av or M mode, of course.

thanks skip.

i understand.

i mut say - am i the only way that thinks the depth of field button is of little use

.

i mean, if i have the f stop set to f18 or f22 for example, the frame is so dark doe to th elittle light it lets in, that u can hardly see whats in focus...

and when u have it on f.8 for example, u can already see throught the viewfinder whats in focus or not anyhow.

I've never found much use for the DOF preview either. Like you say, with the lens stopped down to f/22 it's going to be too dark to see anything. But - I haven't had my 350D long and I've been using a wide-range zoom (18-200mm) as an all-purpose lens until I decide what lenses I really want. The maximum aperture of my zoom is only f/3.5 - and f/6.3 at the long end. (Yeah, I know...) So as soon as I start to stop it down, any DOF preview becomes quite dark. But if I had a f/1.8 or f/1.4 prime, then I'd expect to get very little DOF through the viewfinder when the lens is wide open, and I can imagine that stopping down to say f/4 or f/5.6 to check the DOF would be quite sensible, feasible and desirable.

i see