Take Better Photos Episode 4 - Depth of Field

[@tangaficionado]

Found those webinars recently when looking for resources for my new Leica Q2 and must say they are absolutely amazing. I'm a seasoned amateur, so I thought I know my gear and how to expose etc. but Nick Rains is fantastic. So much of no nonsense information presented in an easy going fashion! Congrats, just great, thanks for making that available.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you like them!

[@ramonparnau197]

Really the didactic quality of this series of episodes is of master level. My most sincere thanks. And already waiting for the next episode.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@HatefYaminiOnline]

“…some clever computational…business.” Very diplomatic. Haha! Great presentation Nick, as always. But clearly you’ve taken it up a notch.

[@KeithHodgkinson]

A very complex topic; i have looked at this previously but never in such depth.A fantastic job Nick I bet you had a quick drink after this one which was well deserved.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Thank you kindly!

[@seattlevkk]

Excellent video. As someone who used to shoot film this is a great reminder of how things work with the larger more dense sensors we have now

[@AnilPatel-tu2qj]

Another great training video Nick. You are a very good teacher. Thank you.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

My pleasure!

[@joshatyt]

Terrific, very informative!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Glad it was helpful!

[@salvamando1]

Thank you for this great presentation! I learned so much and look forward to more sessions!

[@GigglesForYou]

Nick - thank you so much for this series. Just received the Leica CL for my birthday and really starting from the beginning as far as using it. Also...well done on the presentation, very clear and polished!

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Great to hear!

[@hedleywrightphotography]

I found this channel after buying my first Leica, a Q2 Monochrom. I’ve watched and read several tutorials on DOF over the years, this is absolutely the best. Logical, easy to understand and done at just the right pace. Thank you. I just wish my Q2M had lower gearing for focus with more markings on the DOF scale. There’s nothing between 2m and infinity. My workaround for zone focussing at f8 for street is to set the 2m marker on the left hand f4 marker.

[@julibito2328]

Very helpfull. Thanks for this episode. I'm looking forward to the next focussing session. You do a great job.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Awesome, thank you!

[@zipfelchefchen6816]

Sensor size in and of itself does not have any effect on depth of field. The reason the two pictures at 18:40 have different depth of field is that the two lenses are completely different. The 28 mm equiv. iPhone lens at f/1.8 has a tiny aperture hole, which actually causes the high depth of field. With your argument at 26:12 one could even conclude that smaller sensors have _less_ depth of field: Since a smaller sensor will basically crop in on a picture that could have been taken on a larger sensor, the image is essentially getting enlarged when viewed.

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Different sized sensors will most definitely product different DoF results *when the subject appears the same size in the frame*. However, to achieve that framing equivalence many other things must _also_ be changed, such as lens, subject distance etc. Therefore you are correct in your statement, but changing sensor size means you are forced to change other factors to maintain the same framing, so the visible result is different DoF with different sized sensors. Apologies if I was not clear. DoF is a very slippery subject !

[@goldfinch2283]

Hi Nick. Thanks for another great great tutorial! Despite the fact that I think that I already had a pretty good level of understanding of the topic, I still learned quite a bit more about it. Well done and very well explained! 👍👍👏

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Great to hear!

[@pmgalves1977]

Did a few masterclasses and consumed a lot of videos, and the amount of stuff I've been learning here is amazing

[@carlosmcse]

Nothing beats just going out and taking a lot of pictures

[@willilaufmann38]

Hi Nick congratulations as always vert much enjoy your presentation

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

Thanks again!

[@ac4pres310]

Thank you again!

[@Narsuitus]

@13:40 Don't these two factors also have an effect on depth-of-field? Image Plane Shape (curved plain-of-focus vs. flat plane-of-focus) Image Plane Position (swinging and/or tilting the large format view camera lens to alter the plane-of-focus)

[@robifleming]

I’ll have to pause this and come back bc I think I should take some notes!

[@harrywmueller4625]

Looks great1

[@markoehlschlager3862]

Could use some advice. As a serious beginning student who wants to exploit narrow DoF and have a useful wide to tele range, would I be happier with a 47MP Q2 with its f1.7 28mm (and simulated crops for 35, 50 & 77mm), or with a 24MP CL with an f3.5-5.6 / 18-56mm?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

For limited DoF, either the Q2 OR the CL with the 35mm Summilux which is amazing. Fabulous portrait kit.

[@mengzaa55]

If I adapt Leica M lens on medium format (MF) camera, Will I get same DoF compare with native MF lens(at same focal length and f value)?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

The DoF is usually increased or reduced by the same crop-factor as you would apply to the focal length. But if all the lens specifications are the same (true focal length, f-stop) you will get the same DoF as a MF lens of the same true focal length. The difference will be the image circle - that might be smaller than that of an MF lens and this will not full cover the bigger MF sensor.

[@mengzaa55]

What is the diffraction effect limit for leica S3?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

You'd have to calculate it but around f8 would be my guess. It's not a 'hard limit', remember, just a gradual softening and loss of resolution towards f22 etc. Sometimes it's not even that obvious - depends on the subject.

[@harrywmueller4625]

How does hyperfocal work with DoF work?

[@michaellfquist3098]

Does the feature you showed @48:28 for showing back focus distance, focus distance and front focus distance on SL2 top display also work when using M-lenses and if so (as I can’t seem to get it to work) how to enable this?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

There is no linkage between the body and the lens so this feature cannot work with M lenses. You will have to 'interpret' the lens DoF engravings instead!

[@michaellfquist3098]

@@LeicaCameraAustralia Thanks for the reply. That's kind of what I suspected. Which brings me to the question how does the camera when using m-lenses know the aperture (it writes it to the EXIF - Exposure meta data)? Does it estimate it based on lens type, shutter speed and amount of light hitting the sensor?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

There is actually a small light sensor on the front of the camera (top right as you look at the camera) that broadly measures light levels. Then the aperture used can be closely estimated for non-linked lenses. It works pretty well.

[@cheffrodo3266]

17:48

[@carlosmcse]

For my photos everything should be visible.

[@jaybee70]

Yes, but what is depth of field 🤔

[@alexandruvedes]

The interval in front of the viewer in which the focus fools your eyes and everything looks sharp in it. It may be larger from meters to infinite, or smaller, centimeters to meters in case of close shots, most portraits or product presentation are good example for those. It's a complicated concept, not because of definition, but because it is a concept based on 5 variables as Nick explains. These webinars are far the best tutorials of photography ever made. I hardly wait the next focus video!

[@markdankel191]

Optimum est!

[@cyranox90]

Would you mind sharing the link that explains in details (mathematically)?

[@LeicaCameraAustralia]

This link is to a comparison between the SL2 and a medium format camera in terms of DoF (different sensor sizes) but it also explains the maths behind it all. kzbin.info/www/bejne/pGGZiJ9mgdSie6s

[@jonlieberman997]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/i4jMh6uXdpamma8&ab_channel=mathphotographer. This is also a great lecture but pushes my brain to the limit.