Digital camera depth of field question

I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera, which I like very much. I know the
camera pretty well, and most often I get very good results. I've never used
a DSLR.

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a couple
of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects he achieved
on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal image quality were
comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much better than mine, because
the subject was in sharp focus, with the background out of focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve similar
results with my camera?

Thank you,

jm

In article ,
"JM" wrote:

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a
couple of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects
he achieved on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal
image quality were comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much
better than mine, because the subject was in sharp focus, with the
background out of focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve
similar results with my camera?

Set your camera to aperture priority metering, and open the lens as much
as you can.

"JM" wrote in message
.. .
I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera, which I like very much. I know the
camera pretty well, and most often I get very good results. I've never
used a DSLR.

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a
couple of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects he
achieved on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal image
quality were comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much better than
mine, because the subject was in sharp focus, with the background out of
focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve
similar results with my camera?

Thank you,

jm


Hi.

It is unlikely you will get as strong an effect, but you may be able to go a
little way towards it.

I do not know your Camera, but if you try using its Zoom at its maximum, and
focussing on something fairly close, you may see the background blurred.
Also using a low ISO will cause the lens to use a wider aperture, and that
will also decrease DoF.

The main problem is that your camera will have a smaller sensor, and use a
much shorter focal length lens that the bigger DSLR. The shorter the focal
length of the lens, and the smaller the aperture, the greater the DoF.

DSLRs tend to have greater DoF than similar 35mm SLRs, because they tend to
use a shorter lens for a similar View.

Sometimes limited DoF can be a distinct disadvantage, everything in
Photography is some sort of compromise.

Roy G

JM wrote:
I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera, which I like very much. I know the
camera pretty well, and most often I get very good results. I've never used
a DSLR.

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a couple
of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects he achieved
on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal image quality were
comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much better than mine, because
the subject was in sharp focus, with the background out of focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve similar
results with my camera?

Thank you,

jm


Great DOF is a characteristic of all digital P/S cameras.
It is caused by the really short focal lengths of their lenses which is
in turn a design result of their tiny sensors.
In many cases I consider great DOF a feature rather than a fault.
It all depends on what you are taking a picture of.
As others have indicated, you can help yourself by shooting at your
widest aperture.
If you must have an out of focus background, you can always create one
in Photoshop or other photo editor.
However, if the DSLR bacground is out of focus and you want it sharp,
you are out of luck. All the king's horses and all the king's men cannot
bring it into sharp focus.
Bob Williams

The diameter of the acceptable circle of confusion is very different between
the two cameras you mentioned in your post. Sure, depth of field depends
also on focused subject distance, lens focal length and aperture.

In any case, you can find more at http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/dof/. Your
particular model is investigated at
http://www.wrotniak.net/photo/dof/c5050.html.

As a rule of thumb, the P&S cameras have a much larger DOF than a 35mm-based
DSLR camera at a given FOV (field of view).

Gregor

"JM" wrote in message
.. .
I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera, which I like very much. I know the
camera pretty well, and most often I get very good results. I've never
used a DSLR.

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a
couple of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects he
achieved on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal image
quality were comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much better than
mine, because the subject was in sharp focus, with the background out of
focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve
similar results with my camera?

Thank you,

jm

Bob Williams wrote:
However, if the DSLR bacground is out of focus and you want it sharp,
you are out of luck. All the king's horses and all the king's men
cannot bring it into sharp focus.

There are exceptions, of course. For a static subjects it is possible
to take 2 or more pictures and merge in PS.

--
Mike Warren
My web gallery: http://web.aanet.com.au/miwa/mike

JM wrote:
I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera...a relative brought down his
Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a couple of lenses. What struck me
most was the depth of field effects he achieved on his shots, as compared
to mine...Is there any way I can achieve similar results with my camera?



Read he
http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/re...hread=15548492
For those unfamiliar with the digital camera scene, Canon A610, A620, and
A95 referred to in the discussion are all point & shoot digital cameras, as
is Olympus C5050 Zoom.

--
Lin Chung
[Replace "the Water Margin" with "ntlworld" for e-mail].

"JM" wrote in message
.. .
I use an Olympus C5050 digital camera, which I like very much. I know the
camera pretty well, and most often I get very good results. I've never
used a DSLR.

Last week a relative brought down his Canon EOS Digital Rebel with a
couple of lenses. What struck me most was the depth of field effects he
achieved on his shots, as compared to mine. The color and overal image
quality were comparable, but his shots of my kids looked much better than
mine, because the subject was in sharp focus, with the background out of
focus.

Is this a consequence of the lenses? Is there any way I can achieve
similar results with my camera?

Thank you,

jm


Well, I wasn't working with all the information, and I've sinced helped
answer my own question.

I asked my relative what lens he was using, and he replied it is a Tamron
18-200mm 1:3.5-6.3 macro. He pointed out that the pictures I was so taken
with were shot from very close range. That fact, and the term "macro" in
his lens description got me to thinking about the macro/super macro modes on
my C5050, which I typically only use for specific close-up shots like ebay
items, computer parts, documents, and similar stuff. I never think about
using the modes on people.

Well, I started playing around with the modes, with and without manual
focus, and I started getting some very nice results. It appears that the
DOF affect on these pictures was simply a consequence of the close range. I
can do that with my C5050 - if I'll just remember to do it, and can do it
quickly enough before the shot disappears ; )

Thanks to all. GREAT information.

jm