DOF on a digicam

Salty_Fetus · Sep 5, 2006

I was just wondering if there were any digicams (particularly the ones with 10-12x optical zoom) that had the ability for large depth of focus. Ive been considereing a digicam instead of a new digital slr becuase I could take a digicam most anyhwere.

ksmattfish · Sep 5, 2006

Almost all digi-cams have a lot of DOF. In fact it can be difficult to get a shallow DOF because the lenses have very short focal lengths and small coverage.

DOF is increased by:
decreasing focal length
smaller circle of confusion (lens coverage for the format)
decreasing aperture size (increasing f/#)
increasing camera to subject distance

LWW · Sep 6, 2006

Ditto.

LWW

Salty_Fetus · Sep 10, 2006

Oh, most of the shots I take with my digicams have everything in focus

Big Mike · Sep 11, 2006

Salty_Fetus said:
Oh, most of the shots I take with my digicams have everything in focus

That is a large Depth of Field.

If you want a shot with something in in focus, and other things out of focus...then you will want a small/shallow DOF. Which is harder to do with a digicam.

Salty_Fetus · Sep 14, 2006

Well, my canon powershot says f3.8-4.8 (or some small number like that) on the lens, so shouldnt it be able to have a fairly shallow DOF

Peanuts · Sep 14, 2006

One very useful site I found is: http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html

The best way to experiment with DOF with your Powershot is to turn on the 'macro' setting, go to the widest zoom and start shooting. Unfortunately, I haven't been very successful with a Canon Powershot capturing adequte DOF of people and such due to the nature of the compact digitals.

Big Mike · Sep 14, 2006

Salty_Fetus said:
Well, my canon powershot says f3.8-4.8 (or some small number like that) on the lens, so shouldnt it be able to have a fairly shallow DOF

F3.8-4.8 is not really very big. F2.8 and lower would be considered a big aperture.

Also, the size of the medium (film or sensor) play a factor in determining the DOF...and unfortunately, your sensor is very small...which makes it hard to have a shallow DOF.

Salty_Fetus · Sep 18, 2006

so I see, do you know if the digicams with the large zooms (10-12x) (up to 380mm I think) can provide a shallow DOF

Big Mike · Sep 19, 2006

Focal length also plays a part in determining DOF...so yes, those super-zoom digi-cams could probably provide a shallow(er) DOF than a small digi-cam...but you are still limited by the small sensor.