Focus Issue on small object

kbc6790

New member
Hi thereI have been using DLSR's for quite some time now but this issue has me stumped lolI am trying to take a picture of a pen on simple white background. However, the issue that I am having is that I can not get the whole pen into focus. I can either focus on the lid, central body or bottom of the pen. I have played around with the focus settings with no real luck.I just wanted to ask if anyone had some advice as to how to get the who pen in focus?Many thanks
 

jwstl

Senior Member
What lens are you using and what f/stop? What you are probably seeing is the limited depth of field when the camera to subject distance is short. Here are some options:

1. Shoot at the smallest aperture possible. Not a perfect solution as at close distances you still may not get the entire pen in focus. Check the hyper focal distance to get the most DOF.
2. Focus Stacking.
3. Tilt/Shift lens.

 

kbc6790

New member
Hi thanks for the quick reply. I'm shooting at f5.6 at 1/50 second. The photos are being taken in a product photography tent so I have adequate lighting. I only have access to the standard 18mm-55mm kit lens. I will try shooting with a different aperture and see how I get on with that.

Thanks again for the advice :)
 

Rexer John

Senior Member
The smaller the aperture (higher number) the greater the depth of field.
Depth of field is the distance from the closest perceived focussed point the the furthest.

For slow shutter speeds, a remote release is worth having, even with a sturdy tripod.

If you do use a smaller aperture your shutter speed will be a lot slower. Accept the fact you will be shooting at slower shutter speeds instead of increasing the ISO which would result in "noisy" pictures.

EDIT: Oh, and if you are tempted to go to the smallest aperture, you wont get pictures as sharp as around f8 to f11. You may also get star points from bright reflective points on your subject at very small apertures.
 
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