1.2, 1.4, 1.8 Lenses Depth of field shallowness Problem

[Balwazer]

Hello all

I mainly shoot fashion and beauty.

I was wondering what is the big deal about lenses that have such a big aperture like f/1.2, When you eventually going to use at least f/6.0 or f/8 to keep at least both model eyes in focus.

Last shoot I had, I was using my 70-200 lens at f/6 and I was shooting a for a makeup shoot and most of the shoots one of the model eyes were completely sharp and the other is slightly out of focus, specially when the model turn her head. so if using a bigger aperture will make it worse. So what is the point of the big aperture portrait lenses?!!

a fashion and beauty photographer told me to get the Canon 85mm 1.2 because it produce a creamy out of focus backgrounds, and I assume that it does that when used at f/1.2

So what do you think? when it is possible to use such a big aperture? I shoot mostly with strobes.

[TPF Sponsor]

[o hey tyler]

Hello all

I mainly shoot fashion and beauty.

I was wondering what is the big deal about lenses that have such a big aperture like f/1.2, When you eventually going to use at least f/6.0 or f/8 to keep at least both model eyes in focus.

Last shoot I had, I was using my 70-200 lens at f/6 and I was shooting a for a makeup shoot and most of the shoots one of the model eyes were completely sharp and the other is slightly out of focus, specially when the model turn her head. so if using a bigger aperture will make it worse. So what is the point of the big aperture portrait lenses?!!

a fashion and beauty photographer told me to get the Canon 85mm 1.2 because it produce a creamy out of focus backgrounds, and I assume that it does that when used at f/1.2

So what do you think? when it is possible to use such a big aperture? I shoot mostly with strobes.

I use a relatively large aperture, but I don't shoot wide open. If you were shooting on the long end of the 70-200, your DoF is going to decrease even at the same aperture.

[IgsEMT]

Hello all

I mainly shoot fashion and beauty.

I was wondering what is the big deal about lenses that have such a big aperture like f/1.2, When you eventually going to use at least f/6.0 or f/8 to keep at least both model eyes in focus.

Last shoot I had, I was using my 70-200 lens at f/6 and I was shooting a for a makeup shoot and most of the shoots one of the model eyes were completely sharp and the other is slightly out of focus, specially when the model turn her head. so if using a bigger aperture will make it worse. So what is the point of the big aperture portrait lenses?!!

a fashion and beauty photographer told me to get the Canon 85mm 1.2 because it produce a creamy out of focus backgrounds, and I assume that it does that when used at f/1.2

So what do you think? when it is possible to use such a big aperture? I shoot mostly with strobes.

I don't disagree w/ you on stopping down but by the same token, why not use 18-200 as one lens and nothing else? Don't get me wrong, I'll go far to defend that lens, but only so far Faster lenses have a history of producing superior results.

[KmH]

The optics of the wide aperture prime lenses have to be made to a higher standard than slower lenses.

Prime lenses can be corrected more precisely for optical aberrations than zoom lenses can.

Many photographers use way too shallow a DoF, particularly newbies, because they lack technical understanding and experience in doing photography.

[Christie Photo]

I was wondering what is the big deal about lenses that have such a big aperture like f/1.2,... what is the point of the big aperture portrait lenses?!!

I never quite understood it myself. Using shallow depth of field (selective focus) is a very important element in many types of photography.

I noticed when SLRs became SO commonplace, the chatter about brighter lenses really exploded. My suspicion is when SO many people entered into the realm of more serious photography, the first real difference they noticed in thier results was the wonderful separation they achieved when shooting at wide apertures in low light situations. This is a HUGE difference from shooting with the once common point and shoot.

Combine this zeal with the constant use of short lenses (wider than normal), it became necessary to shoot wide open to perceive any separation of the subject from the background.

Well, anyway... that's my musing about it all.

-Pete

[Christie Photo]

Many photographers use way to(o) shallow a DoF, particularly newbies, because they lack technical understanding and experience in doing photography.

There... that's what I was saying.

[cgipson1]

It depends on many different things... Focal length, distance to subject, Subject distance to background, what you want the background to look like, quality of the lenses, where you focus, how well you understand DOF... etc..

Usually lenses are sharpest stopped down 2 to 3 Fstops from wide open... so a 1.2 is going to give you more options for low light even stopped down, than a F4 lens would.

[cgipson1]

Many photographers use way to(o) shallow a DoF, particularly newbies, because they lack technical understanding and experience in doing photography.

There... that's what I was saying.

Yep.. I hear "but that is what the Pro's do" all the time! Newbies want good Bokeh.. but don't understand that there more to it than just a wide aperture!

[analog.universe]

I like to shoot in the dark, or close to it, a lot of the time. With a 1.4, in dim settings, I'm getting nice shutter speeds and ISO under 2000. Sure, my dof is shallow, and my subject's nose is out of focus, but if all I had was an f4 (or worse some vari-zoom at 5.6), then all I'd be shooting are black frames.

[Schwettylens]

You got to remember shooting wide open when your subject is far will give you pretty deep DOF. When I am in a dark church, sometimes I just set it wide open to keep shutter fast. When I shoot something closer, thats when I start thinking about DOF.

[KmH]

Many photographers use way to(o) shallow a DoF, particularly newbies, because they lack technical understanding and experience in doing photography.

There... that's what I was saying.

Yep.. I hear "but that is what the Pro's do" all the time! Newbies want good Bokeh.. but don't understand that there more to it than just a wide aperture!

And don't get that bokeh is not adjustable like DoF is.

[KmH]

You got to remember shooting wide open when your subject is far will give you pretty deep DOF. When I am in a dark church, sometimes I just set it wide open to keep shutter fast. When I shoot something closer, thats when I start thinking about DOF.

What do you do about the softer focus from being wide open?

[o hey tyler]

You got to remember shooting wide open when your subject is far will give you pretty deep DOF. When I am in a dark church, sometimes I just set it wide open to keep shutter fast. When I shoot something closer, thats when I start thinking about DOF.

What do you do about the softer focus from being wide open?

Live with it?

[jake337]

You got to remember shooting wide open when your subject is far will give you pretty deep DOF. When I am in a dark church, sometimes I just set it wide open to keep shutter fast. When I shoot something closer, thats when I start thinking about DOF.

What do you do about the softer focus from being wide open?

Live with it?

Call it soft focus? Selective sharpening?

[CCericola]

If they made an 18-200 with the same precision, care and quality of professional lenses then for studios work it would be fine. But they don't. Everything about that lens is inferior and is not a professional lens. I didn't buy the 70-200 2.8 only because it could go to 2.8. It is QUALITY glass and Precision elemments. Being able to go down to 2.8 in a dark venue is just a benefit of professional glass. The 50mm comes in 2.0, 1.8, 1.4 and 1.2. Does the f number really matter? not really. The lens quality makes a difference. I would take a Zeiss 50mm 2.0 over a Canon 50mm 1.2L any day because I have used both and I prefer the quality of the Zeiss lens.