Depth of Field Preview Button

Dmitri

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ok I know this is supposed to be very important.

But, am I crazy or does it seem fairly useless?? Whenever I have ever tried to use it, all it does is darkness the view a little. I've never been able to see any difference in "hey thats too blurry!" or anything.

Is this an aquired talent thing, or are my eyes just screwy?

edit: canon xti
 
well, it gets very dark when you use a small aperture. since the preview button closes the aperture to the set value. Hence less light, hence not easy to see much.

I xti has a small sensor/viewfinder, therefore it is probably harder to see things compared to full frame. At least on full frame I think it useful within limitations.
 
There is a difference, you can see. I have an XTi also
 
It's useful, but some digitals have dim viewfinders to begin with which make it hard to use in dim light.

I often use DOF preview when I need to manually focus between two subjects at different ranges... a special case that seems to come up quite often with my style of photography.
 
ok I know this is supposed to be very important.

But, am I crazy or does it seem fairly useless?? Whenever I have ever tried to use it, all it does is darkness the view a little. I've never been able to see any difference in "hey thats too blurry!" or anything.

Is this an aquired talent thing, or are my eyes just screwy?

edit: canon xti

It is an aquired talent. Go out on a sunny day with a fast lens. 50mm f1.4 or 1.8 something like that. Set the camera on a tripod so you don't have to hold the thing for long periods and can concentrate. Aim at an area with lots to view in at a wide variety of depths.

Now set you aperture to something like f16. Push the DOF preview button and take a good long look at everything in the viewfinder. You should be able to see those things outside the big DOF that f16 will give are out of focus.

No open the lens up to it's widest aperture and do the same thing. You should quickly be able to see the small DOF provided. Work you way through the smaller apertures from there. A large aperture will be much easier to see the DOF than a small aperture. That is what you are working towards, seeing the DOF with those smaller apertures.
 
Thanks for the replies, folks! I'll definitely take a ride tomorrow and play with the button. Good to know my eyes aren't screwy tho! Will be very interesting if I can get the talent to use it!

thanks again :D
 

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