F 1.x Lens - what's the point?

If a lens (I'm thinking of f 1.something) ...has such a tissue thin depth of field, where's the honesty in selling it as for 'general low light use'?

I see such lenses talked about as being for 'low light photography' or 'no flash', but unless I'm missing something obvious, it seems that in order to get acceptable DOF in general low light conditions, you need to go to a higher f stop and therefore you remove one of their unique selling points.

I'm sorry if this has been debated before, but my reason for asking is that I recently purchased a 50mm 1.4 and took it out last Friday night - in the main (well in the whole actually) the pictures have such a shallow DOF that they are ruined.

Am I missing something obvious here or are they really just for creating shallow DOF images...such as in portraiture?

Personal opinion and desires in many occasions. I'd like to have the avenue open to let in so much light, but as you say, 99% of the time such a tiny piece of your image is in focus that it beggars belief. That said, some want it though (eyes in focus, ears out)

You can always move further away from your subject for more DOF...

I mean from only 40 feet away, you get over 10 feet of depth of field (assuming you're shooting wide open on a 1.6 crop body) !!!

:p

...yeah... but the aperture isn't the only determining factor in DoF, you also need to consider the distance to the subject. Even at large apertures, you get reasonable DoF depending on subject and framing - it's quite easy to take a half-length shot of someone at f/1.4 and get all the depth you need.

I'll bet most very fast lenses are purchased for the potential of thin DOF, not for their ability to gather light. I could be wrong. Beauty of a say, f/1.2 lens is that it also works at f/4 and f/8, without changing lenses.

and a lens like an 85 1.8 is about as perfect of a lens you can ask for for indoor sports like basketball and volleyball even shooting wide open.

Of course some jacka$$ is going to question the artistic merits of the photo, but this is at f/1.4, low light and extremely busy background - all reasons to use a large aperture lens.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …finyc/350067435​8/sizes/o/

SAB_Click wrote in post #8733825
I see such lenses talked about as being for 'low light photography' or 'no flash', but unless I'm missing something obvious, it seems that in order to get acceptable DOF in general low light conditions, you need to go to a higher f stop and therefore you remove one of their unique selling points.

take a step back and increase your depth of field. it's only razor thin if you shoot at MFD.

alt4852 wrote in post #8734034
take a step back and increase your depth of field. it's only razor thin if you shoot at MFD.

Exactly :

www.dofmaster.com

Sometimes Razor thin just makes the shot, too:

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for landscape, no need f1.x. But for low light and portraits, the bigger the better...

xxza wrote in post #8734156
for landscape, no need f1.x. But for low light and portraits, the bigger the better...

What about night scenes - hand held?

SAB_Click wrote in post #8734220
What about night scenes - hand held?

Of what?

If you are shooting at inifinity, even f1.2 can provide great DOF.

WhyFi wrote in post #8733933
Of course some jacka$$ is going to question the artistic merits of the photo, but this is at f/1.4, low light and extremely busy background - all reasons to use a large aperture lens.

IMAGE LINK: http://www.flickr.com …finyc/350067435​8/sizes/o/

I actually love the picture...it's like time stopped for them I shot my gf in a candle lit bistro last week at f/1.4 Everything around her is blurred/dark and she is perfectly lit by candle light. I think it depends on the effect you're going for really.

tkbslc wrote in post #8734235
Of what?

If you are shooting at inifinity, even f1.2 can provide great DOF.

Say - Pavement street shots.