Opinions on photos for a depth of field project!!

. . . . Having said that, there is a whole other argument about what represents critical focus, and whether focus scales on lenses are true indications of sufficiently critical focus for demanding images, but let’s not go there! It is also possible that your lens does not have a focus scale (what are the manufacturers thinking?) . . .

The Manufacturers are thinking that a Focus Scale for a modern DSLR Lenses are almost superfluous.

All the research I have done on Lens Development leads me to conclude that the Focussing and DoF Indicators on Lenses were primarily (if not exclusively) USED for one of these purposes:

1. ZONE FOCUSSING techniques and similar when, for example, Photographers were Shooting from the Hip or 'Hail Mary' style at Doorstops and similar candid situations

2. PRE-FOCUSSING for Street-style Candid work.

3. as an indicator of SUBJET DISTANCE after focus had been achieved through the Viewfinder, Waistlevel Finder, Ground Glass to adjust other tools that are predicated on Subject Distance (e.g. Aperture for Manual Flash or Manual Flash for Aperture

Given that modern cameras and flash units have such sophistication and automaton the above uses have all but disappeared.

Additionally and most relevant, modern Lenses typically have a particularly short Focus Turret Rotation, some around only 90 degrees. Previously it was not uncommon for the Focus Turret Rotation to be around 270 degrees: such a short Rotation renders any Focussing and DoF Scales quite squashed and relatively useless anyway.

The added complication with the 'squashiness' of these Scales comes with ZOOM LENSES, which are far more common and popular now than previously, because different Scales are required as indicators for the Key Focal Length that the Lens is zoomed - for example a 24 to 70 might have the Scales indicted at 24; 35; 50 and 70mm FL

WW

The added complication with the 'squashiness' of these Scales comes with ZOOM LENSES, which are far more common and popular now than previously, because different Scales are required as indicators for the Key Focal Length that the Lens is zoomed - for example a 24 to 70 might have the Scales indicted at 24; 35; 50 and 70mm FL

In the days of manual focus "one touch" zoom lenses, a DOF scale was actually fairly easy. The focus scale was placed at the base of the zoom/focus ring, and the engraved DOF scale lines would be curved so that that they matched the calculated DOF for any given focal length/aperture.

Of course, we've also muddied things up a bit these days. Most photos weren't viewed beyond a 4x6 print, and the few that did get enlarged rarely went larger than 8x10. Your typical 90s 400 speed print film wasn't that demanding of lens performance, and 200 speed film in the 70s and 80s was even worse. Folks shooting Tech Pan and looking at it under a 10x or stronger loupe(or even shooting more common films like K25) knew that DOF scales started falling apart, but rarely did you need that degree of enlargement.

Now, it's common for folks to have 24mp+ digitals and routinely look at them at 100% magnification. On my D800, it doesn't really matter what aperture I use-it's pretty clear that there's EXACTLY one plane in sharp focus, and sharpness falls off rapidly beyond that. Of course, if I were to print to a shot at a reasonable size(even 16x20) and look at it from a reasonable distance you would still see a decent amount of DOF at smaller apertures but looking on the computer is just too easy. I'd venture to guess that the makers don't want to deal with complaints on this.

As DOF scales go-I still like the ones on my Hasselblad lenses, which are two red "flags" that physically move as the aperture changes. I've been told some Kodak Retinas do this also.

The Manufacturers are thinking that a Focus Scale for a modern DSLR Lenses are almost superfluous.

 

All the research I have done on Lens Development leads me to conclude that the Focussing and DoF Indicators on Lenses were primarily (if not exclusively) USED for one of these purposes:

 

1. ZONE FOCUSSING techniques and similar when, for example, Photographers were Shooting from the Hip or 'Hail Mary' style at Doorstops and similar candid situations

2. PRE-FOCUSSING for Street-style Candid work.

3. as an indicator of SUBJET DISTANCE after focus had been achieved through the Viewfinder, Waistlevel Finder, Ground Glass to adjust other tools that are predicated on Subject Distance (e.g. Aperture for Manual Flash or Manual Flash for Aperture

 

Given that modern cameras and flash units have such sophistication and automaton the above uses have all but disappeared.

 

Additionally and most relevant, modern Lenses typically have a particularly short Focus Turret Rotation, some around only 90 degrees. Previously it was not uncommon for the Focus Turret Rotation to be around 270 degrees: such a short Rotation renders any Focussing and DoF Scales quite squashed and relatively useless anyway.

 

The added complication with the 'squashiness' of these Scales comes with ZOOM LENSES, which are far more common and popular now than previously, because different Scales are required as indicators for the Key Focal Length that the Lens is zoomed - for example a 24 to 70 might have the Scales indicted at 24; 35; 50 and 70mm FL

 

WW

Nicely put, and very interesting. There is another use for the dof scale, and that is as a teaching aid for novice photographers. I think it might have assisted the OP and others to help understand how dof, aperture and focus distance are related, but I understand why they are becoming less common.

. . . There is another use for the dof scale, and that is as a teaching aid for novice photographers. I think it might have assisted the OP and others to help understand how dof, aperture and focus distance are related,

I agree. I didn't think of that yesterday, yet I believe that have used it, years ago.

I now better understand the nuance of your original reference to DoF Scales on Lenses. Thank you for explaining.

WW

Reminds me of not so long ago, with my Panasonic camcorder. At one point, I notice a strange image on the view screen, with spots all over, but nothing like I was looking at.

It seems that, at wide angle, it managed to auto-focus on dust on the skylight filter. That is with enough depth of field, as the lens doesn't actually focus that close.

Otherwise, for scenery my favorite is leafless trees in the foreground, which shows depth, and needs enough DoF.