Wednesday, May 29, 2013

THE TRUTH ABOUT DEPTH OF FIELD

We have heard this before: "Wide angle lenses have more depth of field. Telephoto lenses have less depth of field." Landscape photographers love those wide angle lenses--to get as much depth of field as possible. Wild life photographers, on the other hand, love those 400mm/500mm telephotos--to blur those ugly and unnecessary backgrounds. The truth is that it is the size of the opening, not the f/stop per se, that makes the real difference. Wide angle and telephoto lenses have different size openings, given the same equivalent f/stop number. 

Here are some interesting in-the-field examples. All four images were taken from the same exact spot, same perspective, and the focusing point was exactly the same. As they say, seeing is believing.

 24mm lens, at f/8
300mm lens, at f/8





24mm, at f/22
300mm, at f/22

From an artistic perspective, I take advantage of these inherent lens characteristics.
For examples of my photo art, visit my website.... 


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