Increasing DOF

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Thanks,
Ron

wrote:
What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Look up "Scheimpflug" on google. It doesn't increase DOF, but it puts the
DOF where you want it in some cases.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article . com,
" wrote:

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Sensor sensitivity has nothing to do with depth of field. More depth of
field means a larger aperture. The physics remain the same regardless of
the format of camera you use.

David J. Littleboy wrote:
wrote:
What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Look up "Scheimpflug" on google. It doesn't increase DOF, but it puts the
DOF where you want it in some cases.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan


I am still processing the Scheimpflug principle but I have been
thinking more about it and it seems like the trick lies in increasing
the amount of parallel light striking the sensor. So a sensor with
more surface area should increase DOF with a larger aperture. Or even
a flash that emits coherent light. Is that correct?

Thanks,
Ron

Shawn Hirn wrote:
In article . com,
" wrote:

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Sensor sensitivity has nothing to do with depth of field. More depth of
field means a larger aperture. The physics remain the same regardless of
the format of camera you use.

I agree that the sensitivity is not a factor but I am not convinced the
format (sensor size) is not important.

Thanks,
Ron

wrote:
David J. Littleboy wrote:
wrote:
What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Look up "Scheimpflug" on google. It doesn't increase DOF, but it puts the
DOF where you want it in some cases.

I am still processing the Scheimpflug principle but I have been
thinking more about it and it seems like the trick lies in increasing
the amount of parallel light striking the sensor.

No. In a normal camera, the plane of focus is parallel to the film/sensor
and stopping down simply increases the depth of that plane. When you
Scheimplug, the plane of focus occurs at an angle to the film/sensor.

At which point, if the subject _happens to lie_ in that angled plane, then
you get the whole subject in focus despite it being at a range of distances
from the camera. This only works for flat subjects, like sides of buildings
or flat fields.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

In article . com,
" wrote:

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Thanks,
Ron

Shorter focal lengths. Shoot at 10mm and watch all the focus points
light up at once. Unfortunately, people are going to complain that
their portraits look like cartoon characters.

An extremely sensitive sensor and strobes would let you close the
aperture a lot more.

David J. Littleboy wrote:

No. In a normal camera, the plane of focus is parallel to the film/sensor
and stopping down simply increases the depth of that plane.

But isn't the increase in depth of plane a result of eliminating
non-parallel light?

wrote:

Shawn Hirn wrote:
In article . com,
" wrote:

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF?
Do large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Sensor sensitivity has nothing to do with depth of field. More depth of
field means a larger aperture. The physics remain the same regardless of
the format of camera you use.

I agree that the sensitivity is not a factor but I am not convinced the
format (sensor size) is not important.

The format is important only in that it contains enough information to
pass along to the output and retain sharpness. DoF is really a measure
of sharpness on the *print,* not the sensor.

A huge print (wall-sized, say) from a 35mm slide isn't likely to be as
sharp as the same sized print from a 4x5 negative. Basically, the DoF
starts to reverse itself if it's enlarged beyond it's limit.

Kevin McMurtrie wrote:

In article . com,
" wrote:

What ways, other than decreasing aperture, are there to increase DOF? Do
large format cameras or huge lenses help? What about an extremely
sensitive sensor or a bunch of strobes?

Shorter focal lengths. Shoot at 10mm and watch all the focus points light
up at once. Unfortunately, people are going to complain that their
portraits look like cartoon characters.

An extremely sensitive sensor and strobes would let you close the aperture
a lot more.

This is why magazine ads look so sharp: All lighting is controlled.