Zone Focusing/distance Scale

SimplyMo · Jul 23, 2008

I tried posting this in the beginner's forum, but haven't gotten any responses:-|...so i figured i'd try here..

Ive never used a Depth of Field scale. But I am reading about it right now. So I'm curious...;-) On the lens, how do you know which aperture matches with which distance? Are the apertures matched to the appropriate distance by color? Maybe that sounds confusing.. I mean.. For example.. Let's say f/5.6 marking (on the lens) is PINK , and 7ft distance marking (on the lens) is also PINK, so they match.
Is that how it is?

Bifurcator · Jul 23, 2008

Some lenses use colored index marks, some use just all white reference marks, I guess most lenses these days have no marks at all. For "matching" the aperture with the zone you want in focus you can use a DOF calculator or see it in real time if your camera has a DOF preview. I guess most people just get to know their lenses and then make an educated guess while shooting.

saltface · Jul 23, 2008

Bifurcator said:
Some lenses use colored index marks, some use just all white reference marks, I guess most lenses these days have no marks at all. For "matching" the aperture with the zone you want in focus you can use a DOF calculator or see it in real time if your camera has a DOF preview. I guess most people just get to know their lenses and then make an educated guess while shooting.

Are there SLRs that don't have a preview?

Bifurcator · Jul 23, 2008

Umm.. I dunno... Did he specify SLR? With all the billions of cameras out there there must be some "cameras" that don't though right? I guess most or all "SLRs" do though. No?

saltface · Jul 23, 2008

Bifurcator said:
Umm.. I dunno... Did he specify SLR? With all the billions of cameras out there there must be some "cameras" that don't though right? I guess most or all "SLRs" do though. No?

Sorry, I just thought with the question he was asking, he'd have an SLR.

Bifurcator · Jul 23, 2008

saltface said:
Sorry, I just thought with the question he was asking, he'd have an SLR.

No need to be sorry. I think you're probably right. I was just being safe.

Lots of SLR-Like and P&S cameras don't have a DOF preview for example. Most (?) range finders don't. And etc.

RyanLilly · Jul 23, 2008

saltface said:
Are there SLRs that don't have a preview?

I think that some of the lower end XT or D40 may not have dof preview.

usayit · Jul 23, 2008

I posted this linky in your original thread

http://www.markushartel.com/tutorials/camera-related/zone-focusing.html

SimplyMo · Jul 24, 2008

*she*

(i) wasn't referring to any specific camera, in the question. i'm that much of a beginner, i wouldn't even know which camera's lens would have a ''depth of field scale"... (beginner in the technical side of photography)
i use 3 separate SLR cameras (one being D-SLR) and none of them have such a scale on their lens. so i was just curious how one functions. is there a way to know which distance matches with wich aperture? like a color index marks....

in fact, i would have never thought of using one, or desired so-- just being so familiar with manually focusing the camera to the eye, and understanding the various depths of field with each aperture.... does the depth of field scale really make all that much difference? (in helping)

Steph · Jul 24, 2008

SimplyMo said:
does the depth of field scale really make all that much difference? (in helping)

I find it really useful and use it all the time when shooting landscapes. That way I can to make sure I get acceptable sharpness from foreground to background. Here are another 2 links that explain the use of the DoF scale (link1, link2)

Garbz · Jul 25, 2008

Depends entirely on the lens. In the case of the following markings which I think you are talking about:

Yes the colour of the line matches the colour of the aperture index, and the red dot denotes the IR focus shift.

prodigy2k7 · Jul 25, 2008

Actually I do believe the the Canon Rebel 300D had DoF preview button. I can see it on a picture

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS300D/Images/allroundview.jpg

Upper right body. Bottom black buton near the mount

Steph · Jul 25, 2008

prodigy2k7 said:
Actually I do believe the the Canon Rebel 300D had DoF preview button. I can see it on a picture

http://a.img-dpreview.com/reviews/CanonEOS300D/Images/allroundview.jpg

Upper right body. Bottom black buton near the mount

Most dSLRs have a DoF preview button. The problem is that assessing DoF through the viewfinder of a small dSLR is nearly impossible when the lens is stopped down, as the image is very drak.

Bifurcator · Jul 25, 2008

True enough! I also wanted to add that sometimes the DOF preview button is on the lens itself and not the body. I find that much more handy personally. You can turn the focus ring with it depressed more easily.

Here's more images of the index reference. Some zoom lenses have longer lines that fan out to match the zoom ratio too.

SimplyMo · Jul 25, 2008

thank you garbz & bifurcator~ those images hit the spot, very helpful.
now to understand 100% i think i'll stroll over to a near by camera shop, sometime soon, and experiment a bit with a lens that has one.