1/13/2023 0 Comments F1.8 super big apertureBy Jason Row PhotographyĪ shallow depth of field, where there is little in focus front and behind the focal point is a very powerful creative tool. Penguin shot at f/2.8 on a 200mm lens gives shallow DofF. At f stops around f/11 or f/16 we will have a deep depth of field. This means that more of the area in front of and behind the subject will be in sharp focus. As we reduce the aperture we increase the depth of field. That means less of the image is in focus in front of and behind the subject. If we use a wide aperture, or lower number say f/2.0 we get a shallow depth of field. Let's find out why f stops are important to depth of field in photography. The higher f numbers such as f/11 f/16 etc are smaller apertures, meaning less light is reaching the sensor. Put simply the lower f numbers such as f/1.8 f/2.0 mean that the aperture of the lens is wider open and hence letting more light through to the sensor. What you need to know however is is what this f stops relate to. It seems that there is no logic to these numbers, however there is. You will see it as going from numbers like f/1.8, f/2.0 f/2.8 through f/16, f/22 and beyond. It's an odd looking scale, reasons for which I will not go in to now. ![]() ![]() The scale in which we define our aperture is called f stop or f number. Aperture is one of the three points of the exposure triangle that you can read about here. A variable hole that can let more or les light through that lens, towards the sensor. So what exactly is an f stop? Camera lens with aperture wide open. You may have seen it as a an option on your camera setting or even on a ring around your camera's lens. If you are a relative newcomer to photography, you may have heard of the term f stop. Before we delve into aperture and it's effects on depth of field, lets look at the main control of aperture, the f number or f stop. I personally use the PhotoPills app which has a DofF calculator and much much more.Īs we said earlier, there are three main elements to depth of field, aperture, focal length and camera to subject distance. However, if you are wanting to work out how deep your depth of field will be, there are things such as depth of field calculator apps. To us what's important is shallow depth of field or large depth of field. Whilst it is technically important, in reality no photographer need's to get out his calculator and work out the mathematics of it. An to be honest, that's about all I am going to say on the circle of confusion. The undefined area between sharp focus and out of focus is called the circle of confusion. The light spreads out slightly on the sensor leading to areas of the image that are in focus and areas that are not entirely in or put of focus. Source Wikipedia Circle of Confusion on a typical lens. However as there is no such thing as a perfect lens, this does not happen. This would mean that the subject would be in focus and all other areas would be completely out of focus. ![]() In a perfect lens, all the light from the subject would focus in exactly the same point on the sensor's surface. The circle of confusion defines how the light from our subject is focused on the sensor or film of the camera. By Jason Row Photography The Circle of Confusion This is a classic shallow depth of field. If all that's confusing, let's get on to the circle of confusion. By Jason Row PhotographyĪ shallow depth of field calculator will have much less in focus in front of and behind the subject. A deep depth of field is typical in landscapes and seascapes. A deep depth of field will have a substantial amount of the image in focus, in front of and behind the subject. However in photography we rarely quantify that distance, instead we generally use the terms shallow and deep to determine what we are looking for. ![]() In other words if your focus point was at 5 meters and there was acceptable focus one meter in front and two meters behind then your depth of field is three meters. Put simply, depth of field is the amount of the image that is in acceptable focus both behind and in front of the point you actually focused on. So where do we start? It's probably best to define exactly what depth of field is before going on to look at how it is affected by focal length, aperture and your position relative to the subject. Understanding how your choice of lens, position and aperture work together will unleash a world of new creative possibilities. The fact is that depth of field is one of the most important and powerful elements in creating great images. Anyone researching it might come up with lots of confusing phrases such as circle of confusion, hyperfocal distance, plane of focus and acceptably sharp. Depth of field is a term that can seem quite mysterious to new photographers.
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