Anyone know where to buy one of those plastic circular DOF charts? I found a cardboard one but it got wet, yuck. And don't want to make a paper one for the same reason. But cannot find one!!! Thanks
Thanks Tony. Saw those and that would be ideal...but none for a Windows based PDA. Actually there was one freeware I found with Google, and the only comments from downloaders were that it did not work on thier PDA.
$35 ? Shoot me.
Add $46.25 for Priority Air mail to Thailand. he he.
How about printing one out and then laminating it.
I used to have a Windows app that would print these for any lens you gave it. Must still be out there somewhere.
Oops. I see that link above is it for DOFMaster for Windows. Cool. Use that to print a small one and stick it inside your lens cap for each lens.
MSC wrote:
Thanks Tony. Saw those and that would be ideal...but none for a Windows based PDA. Actually there was one freeware I found with Google, and the only comments from downloaders were that it did not work on thier PDA.
I got the iphone app as well, works great for landscape shooting.. Yikes those Blackberry apps look like back from the 80s..Cannot beat the cool looking apps for the iphone
From my perspective they never give a result anywhere close to what you see on the screen or in print. For one thing, none of them implicitly takes into account the format at which the image will is viewed - the size and the viewing distance.
The viewing format affects the CoC while all the calculators assume it fixed. So when you view the same image at a web size, or print at 4x6 or 8x10 and view it from different distances the results will be different.
Yes, you can get a useful rule of thumb figure but you get the same just applying your experience.
gfiksel wrote:
...while all the calculators assume it fixed.
I use the DOFMaster linked above and it includes a CoC input.
gfiksel wrote:
So when you view the same image at a web size, or print at 4x6 or 8x10 and view it from different distances the results will be different.
What does DOF have to do with web viewing or print size?
bitmaker wrote:
What does DOF have to do with web viewing or print size?
Greg
Output format and viewing distance determine what the CoC actually is, because print size and viewing distance impact your eye's ability to distinguish between sharp focus and just a bit blurry. Call it viewing magnification. At low viewing magnification, DOF will appear to be larger than at high viewing magnification.
Really, with all the processing power in cameras these days the manufacturers ought to build in DOF calculators that would pull focal length, focus distance, and aperture information on the fly and display a live DOF range. Allow a user-input field for a CoC modifier so that people can tweak the results to their liking.
bitmaker wrote:
What does DOF have to do with web viewing or print size?
Greg
A large print viewed at a close distance magnifies the misfocus blurs, so the DOF will be narrow. At a small size and a long distance everything is sharper so the DOF is huge. Look at you camera LCD, can you judge the DOF from that? I think not, everything looks sharp.
A standard DOF calculation assumes a standard CoC based on a 8"x10" print viewed by a standard human (20-20 vision) from 10" away (or close to it, can't remember the exact figure).
Why do you folks feel a need for DOF calculation at all?
I know what it is. I understand both COF and hyperfocal distance, but I still don't get it. Can't you just use your eyes? What does knowing the distance & range help with? Do you actually walk out to your subject, counting your footsteps? - and then hope that the distance scale on your modern lens is accurate?
Isn't just using your eyes better AND faster?
I know there must be a good answer to this, but I am completely clueless.
I carry my PDA (w/ DOFMaster installed) all the time but really only use the DOF calculator for landscapes when I want to know the hyperfocal distance. For candid portraits and in the studio I don't bother... been doing this long enough to have an idea what aperture/FL/subject distance I want to shoot at to attain the DOF I want. My choice of DOF has more to do with emphasizing certain aspects of the scene while separating them from the background/foreground.
With regard to "just using your eyes"... the lens/camera doesn't see DOF the way our eyes do. Been my experience that the eye generally sees far more DOF than the lens/camera. YMMV
Saw those and that would be ideal...but none for a Windows based PDA. Actually there was one freeware I found with Google, and the only comments from downloaders were that it did not work on thier PDA. 