Depth of field

[geti-titanium]

I bought a second hand Canon EOS 350D and I've been playing around with settings trying to get the whole ring in focus. This is the best I've achieved so far. My Nikon Coolpix 4500 was much betterin this area - is this the best I can achieve do you think?

[Emerald]

I bought a second hand Canon EOS 350D and I've been playing around with settings trying to get the whole ring in focus. This is the best I've achieved so far. My Nikon Coolpix 4500 was much betterin this area - is this the best I can achieve do you think?

Your Nikon takes far better photos than that and that is one gorgeous ring x

[geti-titanium]

Your Nikon takes far better photos than that and that is one gorgeous ring x

Thanks Jo - I'm on a learning curve with the new camera at the moment but I'll get there :-)

[wheely]

Trial and error, as it is with all new cameras. On mine there's a setting to change it from spot focus to large area focus. Just keep trying, you'll get there - and if you don't like it sell it on, you can always go back to your Nikon

[Angelic]

Hi there, my name's Richard - long time lurker, first time poster!

My main occupation is as a wedding photographer, what I'd suggest doing (if you haven't done this already) is setting your camera to AV on the mode dial - this will allow you to change your aperture and the other settings will 'fit in' around what you set. You'll need the aperture as small as possible under your light circumstances - I'd suggest start trying at F/8ish and work your way up to there. If you have plenty of light then that's always handy as constricting your aperture will allow less light through the lens, necessitating more light to expose the image properly. For the maximum depth of field put your AV setting up to the highest number it'll go (F/22 is usual, although it varies from lens to lens).

Hope that helps/makes sense - naturally I don't know how much you guys know about cameras so apologies if any of that sounds patronising - that's not how it's meant

[Dennis]

I have a slim digital camera, which does not allow me to select aperture size. As far as I know, the only way I can extend the depth of field is to have the macro off, use a large image size (7M),and shoot from a longer distance. By the way, don't judge from pictures I've posted. Many of them are scanned in from prints made before I began to store pix on computer, not so long ago. Dennis.

[Angelic]

With a compact you're about right Dennis - if you can't (or don't want to) change your aperture then shooting from a distance and zooming in is you best bet for a deep DoF. For a more shallow DoF then shoot close, it's all about what you want to achieve. Using the distance shooting technique though definitely requires a tripod - makes life *much* easier!

Personally, I prefer images with a shallow DoF - most people find them more aesthetically appealing, however I can appreciate wanting to get an entire piece in focus for more 'documentary' shots. Horses for courses