Confused about DoF control - Nikon 50mm F1.8D AF

I can't for the life of me figure out how to use the depth of field control ring.

My D40 says I must lock it to F22, so what is the purpose of having a ring which moves if it should always be locked?

I turned the camera to Manual mode and tried to take pictures with different ring settings but it won't work. Found the manual online which didn't explain anything.

As the lens will not auto focus with the D40 it would be really useful sometimes if I could take pictures where the area in focus isn't so narrow. Is it possible?

that is for old cameras that could not control the aperature, so one manually did it, but with you camera, you set it via the control, not sure, why you cannot manually override, and treat it like a manual lens, but, why would want to?

The 50mm Has an aperture ring that has to be set at F22 when attached to the camera and then you will have to manually focus it as it "the lens"doesn't have an auto focus motor in it...For your camera to AF you have to purchase AF-S lens

The reason it has an aperture ring is that these older A/F lenses could be used on older manual focus cameras were you needed to set the aperture on the lens, even then on some of the M/F cameras that had program mode it needed to be locked at F22 and the camera electronics set the aperture.


As the F40 doesn't have the inbuilt focus motor, you will have to set the camera to M/F and focus manually, but you can use the electronic range finder in the viewfinder to set the focus.


Anyway set and lock the aperture at F22, and use the command dial on the rear of the camera to set the aperture needed, if using the manual mode, set the shutter speed by turning the command dial to set the speed, and then press the aperture control button on top of the camera, (It's the little button by the on/off switch, next to the "INFO" button, keep the button pressed and use the command dial to set the aperture needed ... using the electronic exposure display in the viewfinder to set the required setting.


It will be easier to start off using Aperture priority, so set the camera to mode A, and then simply use the command dial to set the aperture you need, and the camera will set the shutter speed to match, to control the DOF, simply use a large aperture (small number) to get the background to go out of focus while keeping the foreground in focus, and to get the foreground and background both in focus use a smaller aperture (Larger number) ....


Hope this helps ....

Welcome to the forum McNikon,

The aperture on the lens you have is controlled by the camera's body. You have to set it at 22 on the lens and THEN adjust with the camera control to have the aperture you want for correct DOF.

So, I don't know how this is done with your particular model, but usually, it's in a menu somewhere.

stmv said:

that is for old cameras that could not control the aperature, so one manually did it, but with you camera, you set it via the control, not sure, why you cannot manually override, and treat it like a manual lens, but, why would want to?

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I'm guessing you're not an English major.

PhotoAV8R said:

I'm guessing you're not an English major.

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ROFLMAO!! I nearly wet myself when I saw this!! LOL

Fine,, I'll take more time crafting the elegant response like others such as yourself. Jeesh, so many nice folks residing here. Glad that you got a chuckle.

Thanks everyone I followed your tips and I basically understand it now.

Shooting at f1.8 is really fast....higher numbers are OK in daylight but they really need a tripod in dim areas.

Good to know my backgrounds don't always have to be extremely blurred.

stmv said:

Fine,, I'll take more time crafting the elegant response like others such as yourself. Jeesh, so many nice folks residing here. Glad that you got a chuckle.

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hehehe...hey, don't take it personal, bud. I was laughing at what Don said, because they call me the spelling Nazi here because I'm always correcting spelling and grammar mistakes. I'm pretty sure he was taking a jab at me.