Depth of field question again?

Question

Thank you all who helped before regarding my question on increasing my depth of field to overcome not having manual focus while shooting stop animation.

My question is, if I focus on an object about 10 inches away on f8 at 1/2 sec, is the depth of focus behind the object, in front or equal distance.

It may seem a stupid question but bear with me.

indiandy

Answer 1

The general rule I was taught is that 2/3 of the focused area is behind the object, 1/3 in front.

Answer 2

It really depends on what type and manufacturer of lens you are using, and what the focal length is. It also depends on the type of camera you are using, I mean if you are using a 4x5 at f8, I could scheimflug the camera so that everything is in focus, despite having selected an aperture with a limited depth of field.
Since thie information about your lens was not provided, do you know how to bracket? Bracket your image with varying F stops starting with your biggest aperture and ending with your smallest and you will find your depth of focus behind the object. However, if you are seeking the maximum depth of field try anything above f16 and if depth of field is your bag, then get a 4x5 or 8x10 and set your aperture to f64 or f90 and scheimflug, you will more depth than you can deal with.

Answer 3

As Mannish says, the true depth of field will depend upon the focal length of the lens - small focal length (fish-eye to wide-angle lenses) have the biggest depth of field. Long focal length have shorter.. so f8 in a 28mm lens will give you a massive depth of field (from about 8ins to maybe several feet). In a longer focal length it will be much shorter - maybe only a matter of an inch or so either side on 200mm or above. If your lens or camera has a 'macro' feature that will change things slightly, but you'll have to check the camera or lens manufacturer for guidance there, I'm afraid.

In a standard film based camera the side of the lens usually has markings that will make it clear just what each stop on the lens will give you in terms of focal length. If you are using digital it may not. In which case it is the old 'suck-it-and-see' principal, but at least you won't waste any film....

Answer 4

It is NOT the same! There is a smaller area of "focus' in front of the focus point than there is behind. If you are taking a picture of 6 rows of people sitting in the bleachers, focus on the second (the second row closest to you) row!
Depth of field is pretty much 1/3 in front and 2/3 behindth point of focusThe TOTAL depth of field can be read from the markings on the lens barrel.

Answer 5

It depends on the lens that you are using. Some lenses have shallow depth of field and some have deep.
If you are shooting an object 10inches away at f8 and 1/2sec, i can guess behind the object will also be almost equal focus but depends on how far behind you are talking about here.

Take a look at this:
http://www.cs.mtu.edu/~shene/DigiCam/User-Guide/950/depth-of-field.html
it will hopefully explain it in detail.

Answer 6

Wikipedia actually has some very detailed information about close-up depth of field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_of_field#Close-up_DOF

I think I understand your question. I think you will have MORE in focus in FRONT of your subject that is 10" away than you will BEHIND the subject. In digital, this is easy enough to test anyhow. Just do one shot again and again to test it before you move on with your animation project.

Answer 7

What do you %? You you % a great number of intensity of field? or little intensity of field? To have a great number of intensity of field (e.g. landscapes), you would be wanting a small aperture, or a great f/huge variety (e.g. f/11 or f/sixteen) in case you % little intensity of field, blurring backgrounds as an occasion in portraiture, you % a great aperture, represented via a small f/huge variety, e.g. f/a million.8, or f/2. additionally, huge lenses (small focal lengths) will consistently supply a great number of intensity, mutually as longer lenses won't in any respect supply a great number of intensity. Use A-mode in the initiating, this assist you to administration the aperture basically, and the digicam will take care of identifying on the shutter velocity. Please word that a digicam has a limited shutter velocity variety, so in shiny solar, you will probable war to get sensible exposures at f/a million.8 or 2, mutually as you in addition to would have a hand protecting decrease, so in unfavorable easy f/11 or f/sixteen does no longer be sensible.

Answer 8

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