I migrated from semi pro DSLs with smaller sensors to the D750 and now I'm having to deal with 'real photography'. Depth of field was never something I worried too much about until now. I think this is the big pitfall for beginners and migrators moving to full frame. I can make mistakes with exposure but stand a chance of pulling them back in post. But bad focus is never correctable.
I have 50mm, 85mm fixed lenses and a 22-120 zoom. I put a DOF calculator App on my phone and started playing with new shots, whilst going back and looking at some poor results. Oh do I wish the camera info would show the electronic focus distance. That focus dial on my lenses is so small and obscure to use or is it just me?
Here's my dilemma. If due to lowish light I open up the lens aperture, I'm seemingly stuck with very little DOF, in some cases down to several inches. The eyes may be sharply focused but the nose might not be! I have 2 choices, increase ASA and tolerate more noise or slow the shutter/get tripod. Now cheap handy cams with IS can do a decent job even down to 1/10th second hand held, but even trying hard, I can't risk shutter speeds slower than 1/50th on the two primes. The Nikon zoom with IS is better but heavier.
So how does everyone handle DOF with a full frame camera, because it's totally different to working with even the best reduced area sensor consumer cameras. I can now understand why compact cameras have their place for point and shoot - If auto focus works, everything sharp! I am asking myself when I can use a wide aperture lens and coming to a conclusion when I am further away from the subject and get more DOF. Some say DOF calculators are not always recommended, but I've found trying my common lens/aperture/distance settings quite revealing. Where I'm confused is Auto focus picks a point on the subject and perhaps you want the to use more of the DOF in front, e.g you want head and shoulders sharp as well as outstretched hands. How can you change what Auto focus does or get around this? I've given up trying to get accuracy from the focus ring marks and realized critical focus has to come from the camera, or trial and error using the in camera preview zoom.
I have 50mm, 85mm fixed lenses and a 22-120 zoom. I put a DOF calculator App on my phone and started playing with new shots, whilst going back and looking at some poor results. Oh do I wish the camera info would show the electronic focus distance. That focus dial on my lenses is so small and obscure to use or is it just me?
Here's my dilemma. If due to lowish light I open up the lens aperture, I'm seemingly stuck with very little DOF, in some cases down to several inches. The eyes may be sharply focused but the nose might not be! I have 2 choices, increase ASA and tolerate more noise or slow the shutter/get tripod. Now cheap handy cams with IS can do a decent job even down to 1/10th second hand held, but even trying hard, I can't risk shutter speeds slower than 1/50th on the two primes. The Nikon zoom with IS is better but heavier.
So how does everyone handle DOF with a full frame camera, because it's totally different to working with even the best reduced area sensor consumer cameras. I can now understand why compact cameras have their place for point and shoot - If auto focus works, everything sharp! I am asking myself when I can use a wide aperture lens and coming to a conclusion when I am further away from the subject and get more DOF. Some say DOF calculators are not always recommended, but I've found trying my common lens/aperture/distance settings quite revealing. Where I'm confused is Auto focus picks a point on the subject and perhaps you want the to use more of the DOF in front, e.g you want head and shoulders sharp as well as outstretched hands. How can you change what Auto focus does or get around this? I've given up trying to get accuracy from the focus ring marks and realized critical focus has to come from the camera, or trial and error using the in camera preview zoom.