What You DON'T KNOW About Depth Of Field, Lens Magnification, And Field Of View!

[@davewomack2216]

Excellent Steve. You are promoting "thinking" before you just blast away. We excited when we see things we want and often shoot before really thinking about the outcome.

[@philmckinney147]

Good stuff Steve - as always! Well laid out, explained, and demonstrated. We appreciate what you do.

[@brucegraner5901]

You're a valuable resource to the photographic community, especially for those of us into wildlife photography. Much thanks for what you do.

[@ausiliapiperni5572]

Awesome video! Thank you for using visuals to provide definition and practical uses in the field. Will definitely use this information everytime I'm taking pictures going forward. Thank you so much!

[@dougstead1956]

Thanks very much for the setup cheat sheet. Now I can focus on training my mind/mussel memory to get more and better images using the incredibly flexible firmware within the Z8 & Z9 Nikon's. Keep up your great work! I would encourage everyone who finds these training videos to join Steve's website and the photography communities within. The products he makes and sells are worth every penny, and this is how he feeds his family. Please note, I have never met the man, and I have not received nor anticipated anything expressing my 2 cents worth of opinion.

[@janettemitchell6864]

It took me a little while to understand this video, but once I got it, it made a lot of sense & is a great tip, thank you

[@wolfy7531]

Excellent presentation - easy to follow and to understand!

[@tomdearie5165]

One of the best practical little talks I’ve seen on shooting. 👍 Love to see the empirical connected to practical daily use. This applies to our earlier discussion re the choice between the 400 4.5 and the 180-600 6.3. 😎 Cheers!

[@shaunpollington2106]

Awesome. This is so cool. This is really going to cause some thinking when shooting stuff. Thanks Steve.

[@cryptographerchris4856]

Always packed with valuable info.

[@shazzam532]

What can I say, I learnt so much with this video. Thank you 😊

[@randyschwager2515]

Great job of explaining this! Very helpful! Thank you!

[@annedewinnaar3285]

Wonderful visual explanation, thank you Steve! A great refresher on this subject, and you made it easy to understand.

[@minuteman2006]

This is information I already knew. Somehow, this video taught me all over again the key differences between using various focal lengths to achieve different results. Thank you Steve for another great educational video.

[@Interbeing_CDN]

Very well presented Steve!

[@ddunnum]

Very good information. I never thought about these details. Very good information.

[@duncanmcinnes5613]

Nicely demonstrated, as always Steve.

[@christopherchall7056]

Really good stuff. Thank you. Using longer lenses to isolate individual subjects (in landscapes with models/formations) in panoramas utilizes all your suggestions.

[@MrRudyc]

i really appreciate your photo skills and what a great teacher/instructor you are. Thanks Steve. BTW, The Z8/Z9 book is the best learning tool i have. Big change going from the D850 to the Z8. Its like learning a new operating system. You made it less complicated.

[@Bassmunchkin1]

Hi Steve and although I have two of your Ebooks, Secrets To Stunning Bird-in-flight & Secrets To Stunning Wildlife Photography, I best re read them again, as this video shows how priceless your knowledge really is. I'm even going to re watch this video again, because although I have just experienced light bulb moments, I want to have everything I learn as an automatic responce without having to re think or trying to remember what I heard or saw somewhere. Steve, I have 3 x RF trilogy lenses from 15mm to 500, so to say this videos info is exactly what I need, really is a complete understatement... Priceless and thank you millions

[@patrickmolloy6994]

Very useful insights. Thanks Steve !

[@MatthewRaifman]

Really interesting and well said. Thank you for sharing.

[@mstorey83]

Thank you Steve! Excellent instructional video as always.

[@nealschneider6554]

Excellent tips, Steve. Now, all I have to do is remember them when I’m out shooting.

[@irapp]

Great information Steve!

[@AndyMillerPhotoUK]

Great job Steve.

[@anandbhargava667]

Sulerb, tx fr sharing Steve ❤

[@flemmingmorgan1929]

Thanks Steve. Brilliantly explained.

[@cambodiabird]

Very interesting... I was always depth of field make the ban ck ground blur. Thank for sharing.

[@davidhuth5659]

Great lesson! Thanks much!!

[@merkin22]

Great stuff, as always. Thanks, Steve.

[@19Photographer76]

Expressing ideas clearly is a rare gift, which you possess. Thank you!

[@seantomlinson3320]

Well said. He’s a terrific teacher.

[@prodadrla]

You kind of know this but it is great having it laid out and explained. Well done.

[@Snapshott1]

I learned most of this information shooting macro. For me it's much more apparent in macro than other shots. So I take those lessons to my other nature photography.

[@antonoat]

Yet more proof if it were needed why photographers virtually freak out the first time they use a long fast prime (600 mm f4, etc), best way to make the subject pop and standout! Good one Steve 👍😀👏

[@gregorymcauliffe4577]

Very well done with some GREAT practical information and tips! Thanks Steve!!!

[@osbornecropfield4058]

Great video, Steve. Very useful insights. Much appreciated.

[@relaxingtherapeuticnaturevideo]

Great info Steve 👍

[@thomaschamberlin2485]

Vincent Versace blew my mind by saying that, though the f stop changes the range of acceptable sharpness, there is still only a very narrow plane of actual tack sharpness that doesn't change when you change your aperture.

[@backcountrygallery]

I talk about that in my BIF book, how DoF and critical sharpness aren't really the same thing. DoF is an interesting animal :)

[@Skye_the_toller]

play for the first time with my new 800 pf (nikon)… never realized how much the back ground is improved compared to shorter lens!

[@abhijnanchaturvedi8234]

Wonderful and insightful video. Even when we know that longer focal lens have more compression and give more blur but we never think like this But one doubt that it is said laaya that get closer to your subject in wildlife which is contrary to this concept as to use longer focal lens we need to go back more to use them

[@BillyVerden]

Great video.. maybe you can do a video about how the focus depth gets thinner and thinner with increased zoom.. if it does I mean.. I'm no expert.. lol.

[@stevethompson8154]

Spot on. I am still waiting for a Nikon Z mount 200mm micro for exactly the reasons you stated in this video.

[@backcountrygallery]

Same here - I'd LOVE to have a 200 macro again! I'm not sure if they'll do it (I don't recall seeing it on the roadmap), but fingers crossed!

[@markturriff994]

A very expensive episode for me Steve. I have heard myself say many times going on game drives in Botswana “a 100-400mm will be perfect for everything”. Now, having watched your explanatons, I need a 600mm or maybe an 800mm 😮

[@Dkount1111]

Perfect as always!!! Steve what's your opinion about a canon r10 with a 300f4 with 1.4x even if you have used NEITHER of the aforementioned?

[@backcountrygallery]

Thanks for the kind words :) I honestly don't know - as you mentioned, I haven't used either of them and haven't really heard anything about them regarding field performance. I'm not much for guessing.

[@brucekraft744]

Yikes! My mind is blown! Actually, this provides a lot of fodder for thinking about lens selection while in the field. Thanks!

[@dw.imaging]

Awesome guidance and explanation! But now going to need this video re-filmed and released with the 180-600 in the comparison :) LOL

[@helenbrecknell3930]

Thanks for this. Definately a ah ha moment!

[@SandysTravels]

I Always work on composition, the other 5 , well when I remember I'll do em

[@philroberts166]

An excellent tutorial. Thank you. I have to admit I didn't believe it until I saw your demos. I'm a bit puzzled by something though. I plugged some numbers into PhotoPills, which has a depth of field calculator. I started off at a focal length of 600 mm, distance to subject 75 m and calculated the DOF, then progressively reduced the focal length and distance, keeping the magnification constant. Indeed, the DOF in front and back remained fairly constant until 50 mm or so focal length. Then the DOF in front progressively decreased and in back increased. Of course, this could be due to how DOF is defined in PhotoPills, but it makes me wonder, is there some focal length/distance at which the constant DOF begins to break down? Thanks, Phil

[@backcountrygallery]

That actually makes sense. The depth of field can stay the same, even if it's shifted a little back (which is typical of wider lenses). Basically if you have 1 inch of depth of field, it's 1 inch even if it's shifted back a bit.

[@oldskoolbronco]

Thanks!

[@paulbrooks7738]

Most people say there are 3 ways to control depth of field: aperture, distance to subject, and focal length. But, if you look at the physics, there are actually only 2 factors: reproduction ratio and aperture. One controls the reproduction ratio with a combination of focal length and distance to subject. So, if you change the distance to the subject by a factor of 2 and change the focal length by a factor of 2, you have the same reproduction ratio. It is correct to say that one changes depth of field by changing distance using the same focal length, but what is being done is changing the reproduction ratio. As long as the reproduction ratio remains the same and the aperture remains the same, a photographer gets the same depth of field with any combinations of distance and focal length as long as the reproduction ratio remains the same. Using the same aperture, at 10 feet with a 100mm lens the depth of field will be the same (approximately) as 20 feet with 200mm, because the reproduction ratios are the same for both setups.

[@raylander6329]

Excellent, excellent teaching, Steve, as always; Many thanks, Sir Quick question about Costa Rica, looks like Dennis is taking over from you? How can we contact him? Wanted to go to the Crocodile Bay resort; I don't see it anymore scheduled; Thank you, Steve

[@backcountrygallery]

We'll be announcing our 2024 workshops in our newsletter soon. I'm traveling quite a bit and we haven't had a chance to get them out there yet, but it's coming.

[@saradinduadhikary9903]

Awesome sir ❤️

[@theeclecticphotographerajr5372]

Totally unrelated topic. What rain cover solution can your recommend to use with a 70-200 2.8 thank you.

[@selectiveimagery]

This is a discussion that probably required oxygen after you got thru doing this, a lot to talk about, a lot of keen observations that many would not think about up front. This in some way is why it doesn't hurt to have a Zoom lens, while the 600 or 800mm lens gives you extraordinary subject Isolation with a small angle of view if you have the light providing a very colorful and engaging out of focus background, you might want to back off a bit to allow the color to enhance the photo vs. limiting it (of course this is very subjective). A good zoom can be a handy tool vs. a prime, your thoughts on Zoom versatility vs. Prime would be an interesting topic albeit a controversial one for many folks. Take care and thanks for another great video. - Jeff

[@kilik92]

Great video Steve! But i still have one question, which have the narrowes DOF 400 F2.8 or 600 F4 (with the same framing of the subject) Basically its 200mm of focal length vs 1 stop of light. What is the narrowest DOF?

[@backcountrygallery]

Assuming the subject's are the same size, if you shot the 400 at F/4 then DOF would be the same, as we showed in the video. However, drop to F/2.8 and the 400 will show shallower DoF.

[@jose280714]

I personally also believe that having a broader composition not only will lead to composite the subject in an maximum inclusion of its totality within the vector of DoF measurable but also can provide some additional immersion about the place where the photography took place, usually shooting for wildlife having for example birds people many times just wants the subject to fit into the frame, and guess what .... done!! .. Well ... maybe there is something around that could add that like immersion sensation I'm talking about, what about a river, lake, mountain, tree, other animal, etc... just is my opinion.... Saludos.

[@backcountrygallery]

Every shot and everyone's style is different. Sometimes including a larger slice of the environment works well, other times it's more of a distraction than anything else. All depends on the situation :)

[@therealyuweili]

Steve just makes sense in almost every video he publishes…

[@martingibbs1179]

Useful information though personally I sometimes prefer the wider angle as landscape context can also play a role.

[@_systemd]

this is exactly the reason why I usually carry with me my 200 f2, 300 f2.8, 400 f2.8, 500 f4, 600 f4, 800 f5.6 and 1200 f8 everywhere I go. I am thinking about how is my focal length going to affect my background.

[@Trafford92]

To add to Steve's information, Every thing else being equal, when you double the F-Stop NUMBER,F4 to F8, for example, you double your depth field. Conversely, when the F-stop number is halved, F8 to F4, the depth of field is reduced to 1/2 the original depth of field. In other words, each time you double the F-Stop NUMBER, the depth of field is doubled. Each time the F-Stop number is reduced by 1/2, the depth of field is reduced by 1.2.

[@backcountrygallery]

Great point. Could be part of the conversation for a general info DOF video.

[@Trafford92]

Thanks Steve. The source of my comments is contained in the book "View Camera Technique" by Leslie Stroebel. Besides information on using the view camera, the book is a tremendous reference source on photography.@@backcountrygallery

[@backcountrygallery]

@@Trafford92 Interesting - looks like a good read, I'll have to check it out. Thanks again!

[@Trafford92]

You're very welcome Steve. I can't find my copy. It might be out of print but there could be used copies available.

[@deanelliot4127]

Absolutely brilliant! Perhaps you should consider renaming your KZbin Channel - Photography Techniques with Professor Steve! 😎

[@jose280714]

There is a "distortion" "built-in" in the lens by focal length ... DoF should be the same regardless the focal length because the aperture remains the same... the only way to gain DoF is by having a higher F value for the aperture, which ultimately translate into less light therefore changes the context(changes ISO or shutter speed, etc .) ... the reason why stacking exists... the best example is extreme macro photography that I don't even do, an impossible task to achieve without stacking software and careful displacement of the DoF usually millimeters, resulting in a bunch of photos that have to be "weave" or "stitched" by a specialized software ...

[@marc5279]

very usefull way of understanding depth of field and the relationshipp between the backg and the subject. As always, you're spot on. That thing you said about macro photography is very true, i notice it almost everywhere... and i remember one time myself realizing that one of dedicated macro lense's greatest strength was not only their hability to focus close to your subject, but to handle small appertures impressively well. Even images shot at f/32 (an apperture i needed to not blur too many things out) came out beautifully, while some conventional lenses with extension tubes didnt allow me to shot nicely past f/11

[@jose280714]

8:35 so cute Cheetah..

[@backcountrygallery]

He was a cute cat :)