Aperture issue
 

If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a picture of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm assuming
this is what it does.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to a very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?

wrote in message
...
If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would
give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a picture
of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm assuming
this is what it does.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to a
very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?



Unsure what you mean by highest level of aperture.


High number, such as f22, represent a small aperture which gives pictures
with greater depth of field.
Low numbers, such as f2.8 represents a larger aperture giving smaller depth
of field.

So, use smaller f numbers to throw foreground and background out of focus.

Hope that clarifies

It depends how close you're talking...6" or 60 feet & how big the
subject is...a fly or a house? All things being equal, the lower the
number on the aperture (f2, f2.8, etc.) the LESS depth of field you'll
have. The bigger the number (f11, f16, etc.) the MORE depth of field
you'll have. ALSO....the longer your lens is, the LESS depth of field
you'll have, but this gets techy so that's all I'll say about that.

Winston


wrote:
If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that
would give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a
picture of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm
assuming
this is what it does.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the
entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to
a very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?

On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:16:03 -0500, wrote:

If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a picture of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm assuming
this is what it does.

Wooo dude, stop being so confusing.

Highest level? what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Lingo you need to learn:

Aperture is wide open: something around f1.2 to f4.5 (the lowest
number on the ring, largest hole, most light). Gives the shallowest
depth of field (only the exact subject that has been focused on will
be in focus, objects nearer or further get blurred).

Aperture is shut right down: something around f22 to f32 (the highest
number on the ring, smallest hole, least light). Nearly everything,
from close subjects to far will be in focus.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to a very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?

You'll want the aperture set to it's lowest numerical value. f1.2 to
f4 (depending on your lens's capability).

For *sharpest* photos, based on the designer's limitations, use f8.

You are more interested in aperture than shutter speed, so set your
camera to use Aperture priority mode (Usually, 'Av' or 'A' rather than
'Tv' or 'S', 'M' or 'P').

--
Owamanga!

wrote in message
...
If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would
give
me the least depth correct?

Opening the aperture up to fully-open should give you the effect you want.
But some lenses will do this better than others.

Sorry for making it confusing. Once I get the "lingo" correct, then it will
be easier for me to ask questions and navigate through the verbiage easier.
Level, which I meant aperture setting. f2, f2.5, etc...

Since I was correct on assuming this is what the aperture setting does I
will play around with it and make use of my camera's settings. I'm still in
the learning phase, to which I'll be for a long time. The more I use my
Nikon D70, the more happy I am with it. Knowing how fast and nice regular
film SLR's are...this one is excellent and certainly no waiting. I'm loving
it now.

Thanks!

"Owamanga" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 28 Jan 2005 16:16:03 -0500, wrote:

If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would
give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a picture
of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm
assuming
this is what it does.

Wooo dude, stop being so confusing.

Highest level? what the hell is that supposed to mean?

Lingo you need to learn:

Aperture is wide open: something around f1.2 to f4.5 (the lowest
number on the ring, largest hole, most light). Gives the shallowest
depth of field (only the exact subject that has been focused on will
be in focus, objects nearer or further get blurred).

Aperture is shut right down: something around f22 to f32 (the highest
number on the ring, smallest hole, least light). Nearly everything,
from close subjects to far will be in focus.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to a
very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?

You'll want the aperture set to it's lowest numerical value. f1.2 to
f4 (depending on your lens's capability).

For *sharpest* photos, based on the designer's limitations, use f8.

You are more interested in aperture than shutter speed, so set your
camera to use Aperture priority mode (Usually, 'Av' or 'A' rather than
'Tv' or 'S', 'M' or 'P').

--
Owamanga!

wrote in :

I'm still in
the learning phase, to which I'll be for a long time.

As a matter of fact the old all manual and mechanical
cameras had a much easier learning curve when it came
to things like aperture and Depth of Field etc. There
you saw exactly what happened when you turned the aperture
ring. At F2.8 it was wide open and at F32 it was at its
smallest. And the smallest aperture (F32) have a much
more narrow cone of light hitting the film (oops - sensor)
which means that the DOF is larger.

Now you push some buttons or turn some wheels or just let
the automatic exposure take care of it. Much harder to
understand what is happening then.

BTW - your D70 has a DOF preview function. You can use that to
see the DOF directly in the finder.


/Roland

"paul" wrote in message
...
wrote:

...The more I use my
Nikon D70, the more happy I am with it. Knowing how fast and nice regular
film SLR's are...this one is excellent and certainly no waiting. I'm
loving
it now.


There is a button on the front lower right at the base of the lens for
aperture preview so you can see the depth before even snapping.

Hi there.

I have also just bought a D70, with the 18-70 Lens, after using a Nikon FE
for the last 25 years. Almost all the Adverts for it mention "D o F"
Preview, and the Instructions do point out that button. However when you
press it and close the lens down to the taking aperture, the difference is
not at all obvious in the Viewfinder. I suspect this is due to the 3.5 Max
aperture, and the fairly wide "D of F" that these shorter Focal Length
Lenses have. I can remember using my 2.8 24mm on my FE (before some little
B*** stole it), and not only was it very difficult to get anything in the
way of blurry Backgrounds, it was also difficult to get an exact Focus
because of this Big Depth.

If you want really Blurry Backgrounds, a longer Focal Length Lens and a wide
Aperture will help. I used to achieve this quite well with my 2.5 105mm on
my FE. My 200mm was not as good, because it could only focus down to 6 foot
and the Max aperture was F4. I believe that the small Sensors in Digital
will make this effect much more difficult to achieve.

Roy

First lets agree on terminology. When you say "highest level" I must assume
that you mean that the aperture is wide open? A wide open aperture would be
represented by a number such as F2.8. As the aperture becomes smaller the
number becomes larger. The smallest aperture being something like F22.
Your assumption was correct, the "highest level" gives you the least depth
of field. It would be more properly stated "the widest aperture gives you
the least depth of field".


wrote in message
...
If I were to manually set my aperture to it's highest level, that would
give
me the least depth correct? Which also means that if I'm taking a picture
of
some thing fairly close everything behind it would be blurry? I'm assuming
this is what it does.

I want to take a picture of some thing pretty close, but have the entire
background very blurry. I would imagine setting my aperture level to a
very
high level to get this effect. Am I right to be thinking like that?