WPF - World Photography Forum
Home Gallery Register FAQ Calendar Search Today's Posts Mark Forums Read

Welcome to World Photography Forum!
Welcome!

Thank you for finding your way to World Photography Forum, a dedicated community for photographers and enthusiasts. There's a variety of forums, a wonderful gallery, and what's more, we are absolutely FREE. You are very welcome to join, take part in the discussion, and post your pictures!

Click here to go to the forums home page and find out more.
Click here to join.


Go Back   World Photography Forum > Photography Equipment > Cameras


Cameras Discussion on Cameras of all types

To you guys, it may seem a silly question....

Reply
 
Thread Tools
  #1  
Old 03-01-11, 12:11
Cookie Cookie is offline  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 88
Thumbs down To you guys, it may seem a silly question....

Hey guys Cookie here,

This may seem like such a stupid question to you 'pros' and I feel embarrased to ask it really.. but my 'photographic life' will come to some sort of end if I don't get this sorted. Many people have commented on my photos and it looked like this is critical

How do you change the depth of field on an Olympus EPL-1 camera?


I'd appreciate a simple step by step guide. I know its on the aperature setting but after that I AM CLUELESS You must think I am so stupid.
__________________
Photography is beautiful, it not only broadens your creative horizon, it captures the essence of life.
Please check out my gallery, I upload photos daily - some on there at the moment!
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 03-01-11, 12:15
Nemesis's Avatar
Nemesis Nemesis is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Old Coulsdon
Age: 54
Posts: 287
Default

Mate I do not have one of these but Im guessing you are able to change the F number ?
In apeture mode you should have numbers from a small number to a larger double figure number.. The higher the number the greater depth of field.. I always see it to remember as backward Small number = large aperture large number small = aperture
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 03-01-11, 12:31
Tugboat's Avatar
Tugboat Tugboat is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: Minnamurra.NSW.Australia
Posts: 18,263
Default

hi Cookie just remembered a great thread in General Photography Technique by Duncan,it is a great read, I printed it out so I can read up on it when I need to.
__________________

Trena
.............................................
Creativity is allowing yourself to make mistakes. Art is knowing which ones to keep. : Scott Adams
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 03-01-11, 12:44
Cookie Cookie is offline  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 88
Default

Nemsis,
Thank you! I have done just that and sort of know my way know..

Tugboat (Trena)
Thank you too. I will check out this.
__________________
Photography is beautiful, it not only broadens your creative horizon, it captures the essence of life.
Please check out my gallery, I upload photos daily - some on there at the moment!
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 03-01-11, 13:18
Nemesis's Avatar
Nemesis Nemesis is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Old Coulsdon
Age: 54
Posts: 287
Default

I was also once told that it is pointless going any higher than f11 on a digital ????
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 03-01-11, 13:51
miketoll's Avatar
miketoll miketoll is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Suffolk
Posts: 7,477
Default

If you stop way down, say beyond f16 you will get diffraction effects which actually lessen the sharpness of the shot. This is true for all cameras as it is an effect of optics but my understanding is that it is more evident with digital cameras and that the smaller the sensor and the greater the pixel density the worse it is. Fortunately with a compacts tiny sensor you have great depth of field anyway so no need to stop down markedly for great DOF, indeed compacts like my old G5 will only stop down to f8 anyway. The problem for compacts is if you want shallow DOF. On my Canon 7D with my macro shots I tend to go no further than f16 although how much deterioration would actually be visible on normal viewing if I shot at f22 I do not know.
To go back to the original question: big hole = small f number eg f1.8 = shallow DOF; small hole = large f number eg f22 = greater DOF.
DOF also increases with a wide angle lens and decreases with a telephoto lens. The nearer a subject is to the camera the smaller is the DOF, the further away a subject is the greater the DOF.
The size of the sensor has an effect too, the smaller the sensor the greater the depth of field (everything else being equal) so your Olympus will be harder to achieve shallow DOF shots than a full frame camera, conversely it will be easier to obtain shots with great DOF. Hope that little lot helps!
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 03-01-11, 14:08
Cookie Cookie is offline  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 88
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by miketoll View Post
If you stop way down, say beyond f16 you will get diffraction effects which actually lessen the sharpness of the shot. This is true for all cameras as it is an effect of optics but my understanding is that it is more evident with digital cameras and that the smaller the sensor and the greater the pixel density the worse it is. Fortunately with a compacts tiny sensor you have great depth of field anyway so no need to stop down markedly for great DOF, indeed compacts like my old G5 will only stop down to f8 anyway. The problem for compacts is if you want shallow DOF. On my Canon 7D with my macro shots I tend to go no further than f16 although how much deterioration would actually be visible on normal viewing if I shot at f22 I do not know.
To go back to the original question: big hole = small f number eg f1.8 = shallow DOF; small hole = large f number eg f22 = greater DOF.
DOF also increases with a wide angle lens and decreases with a telephoto lens. The nearer a subject is to the camera the smaller is the DOF, the further away a subject is the greater the DOF.
The size of the sensor has an effect too, the smaller the sensor the greater the depth of field (everything else being equal) so your Olympus will be harder to achieve shallow DOF shots than a full frame camera, conversely it will be easier to obtain shots with great DOF. Hope that little lot helps!
Wow! Thank you miketoll for that little lot! I shall re-read it all and see if I can improve my pics with DOF.

Nemesis, hmmm I wonder - I haven't heard that - where did you hear it from?
__________________
Photography is beautiful, it not only broadens your creative horizon, it captures the essence of life.
Please check out my gallery, I upload photos daily - some on there at the moment!
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 03-01-11, 14:22
Nemesis's Avatar
Nemesis Nemesis is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: Old Coulsdon
Age: 54
Posts: 287
Default

Can't remember perhaps I read it ??? lol
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 03-01-11, 14:23
Cookie Cookie is offline  
Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 88
Default

LOL. It could figure, maybe we should all try it out! LOL!
__________________
Photography is beautiful, it not only broadens your creative horizon, it captures the essence of life.
Please check out my gallery, I upload photos daily - some on there at the moment!
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 03-01-11, 15:54
petrochemist's Avatar
petrochemist petrochemist is offline  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2010
Location: Clacton, Essex
Posts: 390
Default

Quote:
Originally Posted by Nemesis View Post
I was also once told that it is pointless going any higher than f11 on a digital ????
As with all generalizations it's only part true.

The diffration problem with small apertures will soften the entire image, but DOF increases. In some cases the increased DOF heavily outways the softening. Macro & pinhole photography are examples where you might want/need to go smaller. (Typical pinhole 'lenses' are f/145 or smaller)
__________________
Mike

Pentax K5ii & Panasonic G5 user (with far too many bits to list)
Member of North Essex Photographic Workshop
Also online with PentaxUser.co.uk, Flickr, MU-43, MFLenses...
Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
guys, question, silly


Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)
 
Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is Off
HTML code is Off
Forum Jump


All times are GMT +1. The time now is 23:28.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.7.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.