Preview button on D70

crystalview · Aug 25, 2004

Hey there,

Just a quick question, I will be picking up my D70 next week, and after looking it over in the store and playing around with it, i tried the "preview" button on the right side near the lens in front. What exactly does this do? It just seemed to darken when i pressed it. Did something change in the viewfinder that i missed? Will it show DOF? I thohght that was what is for? Also, will it let you see your shutter setting as it will look in the picture?

Sorry I'm obviously new to DSLR and SLR for that matter.

Any advice would be great. Thanks. -J

Digital Matt · Aug 25, 2004

It's the Depth of Field preview button. It will stop the lens down to the aperture you have set to give you a preview of your DOF. If you are shooting wide open there will be no change. If you are stopped down, your viewfinder will get darker, because there is less light coming in, but if you look closely, you can see the focus change. In most cases, unless you are in bright sunlight, you are better off learning to guage what your DOF will be in terms of focal length, distance, and aperture, and not rely on that button to give any solid info.

crystalview · Aug 25, 2004

Thanks Matt,

So it sounds like I just need to shoot the same subjects, mulitple times at different apperature and shutter settings to practice up. I have a pretty decent understanding of manual settings but I think this will take some getting used to. I look forward to the challenge. Thanks again!