Best Point-and-Shoot for Shallow Depth of Field

[anthony5429]

As the title suggests, I'm wondering what is the best point-and-shoot on the market for producing shallow depth-of-field shots. And I'm not looking for shallow DOF only in macro settings - I'm looking to get shallow DOF in regular settings like portrait photos. What are your thoughts? So far the best I can find is the Nikon P300 (f/1.8); here's an example photo from a P300 showing a little background blur:



Does anyone know of a better P&S for the job?

 

[Majeed Badizadegan]

How about a P&S with a DSLR-sized sensor?

Canon U.S.A. : Consumer & Home Office : Digital Compact Camerasy dad owns one, I've had a chance to play with it. It does produce nice DOF, largely because it is a much bigger sensor than you would ordinarily find on a P&S.

Scroll down on this page and you'll see the sensor size comparison chart. The G1x sensor is just slightly smaller than APS-C. The noise performance is outstanding as well, from my personal use (clean shots @ ISO 1600).

Canon PowerShot G1 X Review: Digital Photography Review

 

[SCraig]

You won't find many that will have near the capabilities of a DSLR in that respect because that contradicts the concept of a point-and-shoot camera. They are designed to provide good depth of field throughout the aperture range to simplify their operation.

Here's an article about it: Depth of Field and the Small-Sensor Digital Cameras - photo.net. It states that "Depth of field is inversely proportional to format size" so the smaller the sensor the more depth of field. The sensors in most P&S cameras are very small and hence are going to have a lot of depth of field.

 

[fokker]

The aperture plays less of a role in creating shallow DOF in this case then sensor size does. Small sensor means short focal lengths which means everything is in focus.

 

[shuttervelocity]

The DSC-HX9V has a setting called background defocus and it'll give you the result you're looking for I think.

 

[bhop]

Olympus Stylus Epic.. only catch, it shoots film..


Stray Glasses by bhop, on Flickr

 

[anthony5429]

Okay; so I guess my question is: which P&S on the market has the largest sensor?

And I'm also interested to know how the film camera there is able to do shallow DOF so much better.... are there any similarly sized digicams that can take that shot like that?

 

[o hey tyler]

Okay; so I guess my question is: which P&S on the market has the largest sensor?

And I'm also interested to know how the film camera there is able to do shallow DOF so much better.... are there any similarly sized digicams that can take that shot like that?

The Canon G1x has the largest sensor by point and shoot standards AFAIK.

The film camera has a shallower DoF because it shoots a larger format, 35mm film. Full frame DSLR's have the same size sensor as a piece of 35mm film, which provides the shallowest DoF in DSLR standards (not including digital medium format).

You may want to look into the Olympus Pen cameras or the Sony NEX line as well, but they've also got interchangeable lenses, unlike a point and shoot. I think the G1x still has them beat in sensor size, but the NEX/Pen cameras have access to lenses with larger apertures allowing you to create a shallow DoF in your photos as well.

 

[o hey tyler]

Not tooeasy to use, I justboughta

Cool story.

 

[bhop]

The film camera has a shallower DoF because it shoots a larger format, 35mm film. Full frame DSLR's have the same size sensor as a piece of 35mm film, which provides the shallowest DoF in DSLR standards (not including digital medium format).

The stylus epic also has an f/2.8 lens. Unfortunately I broke mine... and well, they don't make 'em anymore.

I honestly don't know much about digital p&s cameras, but there's at least one I know of that can achieve some pretty good dof. The Ricoh GRD III or IV I think they're up to now.. here's someone's sample from flickr

Flowers with rain drops | Flickr - Photo Sharing!

 

[Ed Bray]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the Fuji X10

Sample image from DPReview: DSCF1278: dpreview review samples: Galleries: Digital Photography Review

 

[usayit]

You may want to look into the Olympus Pen cameras or the Sony NEX line as well, but they've also got interchangeable lenses, unlike a point and shoot. I think the G1x still has them beat in sensor size, but the NEX/Pen cameras have access to lenses with larger apertures allowing you to create a shallow DoF in your photos as well.

^^^ this ^^^

Pen has a wide choice of lenses... NEX has a larger sensor. E-PM1 is fairly small. Neither are point and shoot but you can always consider a step up.

 

[Railphotog]

I use my Canon SX30 IS with its long focal length lens (24-840mm equivalent) to get out of focus backgrounds. Problem is you'd need to be a bit of a distance away:

 

[anthony5429]

Thanks to all for some great feedback! I've decided that I'm willing to get something a little bigger than a typical P&S for my shallow focus needs, but I just don't want a giant DSLR. Sounds like most importantly I need a big sensor, and second-most importantly I need a small f-stop. I looked into the PEN a couple of you were talking about and found the Olympus PEN E-PL1. According to the Amazon page here Amazon.com: Olympus PEN E-PL1 12.3MP Live MOS Micro Four Thirds Interchangeable Lens Digital Camera with 14-42mm f/3.5-5.6 Zuiko Digital Zoom Lens (Black): Electronics:

"At the heart of the E-PL1 is a large-size image sensor that's the same sensor as the one inside the Olympus E-30 and E-620 DSLR models. The only difference between this sensor and what the pros use is that this big sensor is inside the much smaller body of the E-PL1. This high-performance 12.3-megapixel Live MOS image sensor (eight times larger than the average point-and-shoot camera sensor) delivers excellent dynamic range, accurate color fidelity, and a state-of-the-art amplifier circuit to reduce noise and capture fine image details in both highlight and shadow areas."

I also found this sample photo on dpreview which shows some nice background blur:



What do people think? Is this a good camera?

 

[anthony5429]

It looks like, for a bit more money, the Panasonic DMC-GF1 can also do shallow focus, is very compact, is mirrorless, and has a built-in flash. Here's a sample photo:



Anyone have a GF1?