DEP function and 5D

[alioffe]

I used it on my Elan II (until it was recently stolen) and found it very useful

particularly for some landscapes with foreground and group portraits when zoom

lens in use. I've never taken a shot in this mode, but used it to figure out

maximum possible aperture and then set it in the manual mode.

 

Now I'm looking for a digital replacement, particularly 5d. Reading the manual

to my surprise I found that this highly computerized camera does not have this

simple function. Am I correct?

 

Also reading forums I've never seen a complaint about someone could be missing

it. Seems to me everyone is happy without DEP.

Unfortunately I cannot use DOF preview as I have poor eyesight (uncorrectable)

and completely rely on auto focus. Tables or calculator? I don't think this is

a practical option.

 

I would like to hear how other people (if any) with similar problem (or without

it) could solve this.

 

In any case I won't change my mind about buying 5d.

 

Thank you.

[m_barbu1]

I think you're out of luck.

[robin_sibson1]

The A-DEP function still found on quite a number of Canon DSLRs is pretty generally agreed to be completely useless. The 'proper' DEP function (where you generate two distance settings) is something I occasionally used to use on my film SLRs, but I find it very easy to live without it, and I would be a bit surprised if it was reinstated on a future body. So I think you are right to reconcile yourself to losing it. DOF preview is not all that easy to use even if you do not have an eyesight problem. If you AF on an intermediate point, closer to the near rather than the far point you want to be in focus, and stop down to f/11 (using a high enough ISO setting to produce an acceptable shutter speed) then you should get a decent percentage of results with enough in focus at standard focal lengths, and with experience you'll learn when you can afford to open up a stop or when it is worth trading off a bit of diffraction for greater DOF by closing down a stop. Should produce about as many keepers as using DEP.

[sgpix]

I never used the A-DEP function on my 20D as even as a beginner I have always found it as easy to use a stopped-down aperture and th DOF preview if necessary... it's even faster!

[yakim_peled1]

My 1D has it but I never used it. It's likely that other models have it as well.

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[PuppyDigs]

I must be among the few that miss DEP mode. The old EOS 5 had shiftable DEP mode:

focus on near and far points and the camera selects the optimal focus and aperture.

However if you want to go one better, you could spin the main dial to increase or decrease

DOF! Oddly Canon removed the shiftable function in subsequent models (Elan 7 and EOS

3). So I'd set DEP, note aperture, disable AF, select AV mode and stopdown one or two

stops more.

 

Setting a small aperture is something anyone can do. However, selecting the optimal focus

point between a near and far point--hyperfocus--is a bit more tricky. I once used DOF

scales but they're missing from zooms, so DEP mode was a welcome and oft use mode for

me. Now with a 5D I stop down and merely guesstimate hyperfocus. The DOF preview is

too dark at

F11 or F16 to be useful. But I do miss DEP. However I miss ECF even more...

[colin carron]

Another vote in favour of DEP mode. I found the A-DEP mode on my old 300D useful for wide angle landscaoe shots and would use it on the 5D if Canon had provided it. But they haven't so I use a mixture of focus confirmation and dof preview get the depth of field I want.

[frank_dzambic]

Puppy Face said it all. Canon just seems bent on eliminating all the features that made their cameras great. ECF and DEP are great to have in a camera. I wish I could stick a digital sensor into my old A2e, the camera by which all others are judged (by me).

[jeff_conrad]

For practical purposes, DEP mode performed the same function as lens DoF

scales, but did so much faster and required less effort. Quite a few EOS 5

owners (myself included) used the same procedure as Puppy Face on later

models without shiftable DEP mode (which also, in effect, allows one to use

a smaller CoC than Canon's 0.035 mm).

<p>

Quite a few people have lamented the elimination of DEP mode (beginning

with the EOS 1D Mk II), but I suspect that they constituted a tiny fraction

of Canon owners. I've known quite a few fairly advanced photographers who

had no idea what DEP was for—possibly because they never learned to

use DoF scales on manual-focus lenses.

<p>

The elimination of DEP mode is sad, because an $8000 digital wonder now

affords less control over DoF than did a $150 Pentax K1000—hardly

progress, in my opinion. Although it's possible to estimate the correct

settings using the DoF preview, it's almost impossible to see what's really

sharp and what isn't in a viewfinder that's a small fraction of the final

image size. Moreover, with DEP mode, obtaining settings that give the

minimum f-number for a given DoF is deterministic. using DoF preview, the

process is iterative, while still not ensuring optimum settings. It's hard

for me to see how this could be faster.

[bobatkins]

The DEP mode was at best an approximation for subjects at an "average" distance and was inaccurate for closup work or when the far point as set to infinity (though in that case it was "good enough"). See http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/eosfaq24/9miscellany.html#q27 for the technical details.

 

A-Dep is essentially useless. DOF preview is also pretty useless for setting DOF at small apertures since you can't really judge sharpness accurately at small apertures.

 

A DEP mode that actually did the calculation properly could be a useful addition.

[jeff_conrad]

My testing (described in <a

href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=00EJPZ&tag=">this

thread</a>) indicates that DEP mode works far better than Chuck Westfall's

explanation would suggest.

<p>

Using an EOS 5 and an EOS 1v, each with several lenses, I could not

substantiate the "7/17" rule. Rather, DEP appears to set the focus halfway

between the near and far image distances—a far more sensible result,

and much like lens DoF scales. I can't be certain that focus is set to the

exact midpoint of the focus spread, but I can say that it's <em>much</em>

closer to the midpoint than to 7/17 applied either to the object or image

sides.

<p>

The testing also indicates that DEP slightly underestimates the required

f-number (by about 1/3 step, assuming a 0.035 mm CoC) at normal subject

distances.

<p>

At closeup distances, the focus still seems reasonable, but DEP appears to

overestimate the f-number. Quite honestly, I've hardly ever used DEP for

closeup work, though I've met a few people who swear by it.

[jon_austin]

I've never owned a body with DEP mode, but I'd like to have this feature. My two dSLRs have each had A-DEP, and I've never used it for the reasons already stated.

 

If Canon was really listening to its customers, none of its dSLRs (with the possible exception of the Rebel series) would have PictBridge buttons on them, or at least, the button would be reprogrammable. So don't hold your breath.

 

Alternatively, an argument can be made that when -- and only when -- the digital technology has fully matured (however you care to define "fully"), and there are no more significant new digital features to add to its dSLR line, Canon may go back to its film body feature list (including DEP and ECF), and slowly reintroduce them to the line, to coax further sales out of its customer base.