Depth of Field – The Three Rules | Photography | DOF |Camera

Posted on January 5, 2014 by ShutterBug

This is a short and simple lesson on the three ways to control Depth of Field, or DOF. This lesson was brought to you by: http://www.michaelthemaven.com.
Video Rating: 4 / 5

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25 Responses to Depth of Field – The Three Rules | Photography | DOF |Camera

  1. TheRedGrant says:
    January 5, 2014 at 9:59 pm

    You are being pedantic. ‘Deep’, ‘Shallow’ must have a beggining refernce
    point for accurate meaning. When I’m taking pictures, I need know ‘thick’
    DOF is so that the subject would be in clear focus. I don’t need to know
    where DOF begins and ends. Just whether the subject would be within DOF.

  2. sornostrasse says:
    January 5, 2014 at 10:25 pm

    this is a real tutorial, short but it has something! less talk straight to
    the point! thanks man keep up the good work!

  3. AnferStudios says:
    January 5, 2014 at 11:20 pm

    Yes! 50mm it’s normal, anything below that is wide, anything under 24mm
    it’s super wide angle, and anything over 50 it’s telephoto, anything over
    100mm it’s super telephoto. Hope that helps, cheers

  4. mileylovatox says:
    January 5, 2014 at 11:41 pm

    So you WONT see the picture blurred in the background WHILE your taking it?

  5. oemcleod says:
    January 5, 2014 at 11:43 pm

    Great post… thanks! I’ve visited your website and I’ve bookmarked it.
    Thanks again for both mediums.

  6. RSBSTEADICAM says:
    January 6, 2014 at 12:27 am

    The problem with the concept of thick or thin is that it does not denote a
    starting point or an ending point. This makes things more not less
    confusing. So while the “range” might be thought of as thickness (still
    confusing) the element of where the DOF starts and where it ends is a much
    more concise way of thinking. Further this “range” of thickness (DOF) may
    be moved and “placed” over a given image. I mean we don’t talk about “way
    back there” or “really right here.”

  7. RSBSTEADICAM says:
    January 6, 2014 at 1:20 am

    I agree with that concept since with my students over the years the goal
    has to be to get them shooting at any and all costs and discuss and resolve
    from there.

  8. Faisal ahmed kutty says:
    January 6, 2014 at 2:07 am

    Doesn’t he look like Johnny Bravo? :p

  9. mars vergara says:
    January 6, 2014 at 2:09 am

    thank you for sharing..: )

  10. John Harding says:
    January 6, 2014 at 2:49 am

    is there something on the camera lens that lets you know how wide the lens
    is?

  11. shane S says:
    January 6, 2014 at 3:21 am

    Thanks for posting this video, i wonder whether if i buy nikon 50mm/1.8F
    will this lens allow me to take out door shooting (shallow depth field)
    like eg; spider web cos i kw i will be able to get good shallow depth field
    for indoor portrait out of this lens where my 18-55 & 55-200 5.6F lens
    couldnt. tks

  12. Jackson Welch says:
    January 6, 2014 at 3:40 am

    It’s shallower, not thicker!

  13. Jim Bell says:
    January 6, 2014 at 4:20 am

    @martinaxman I did not miss the point. If people are going to try and teach
    then they should use the correct terminology.

  14. shownine says:
    January 6, 2014 at 5:19 am

    the best mentor i found on the entire you tube for digital photography.you
    are amaizing for a beginer like me.

  15. Tom Tubbs says:
    January 6, 2014 at 5:31 am

    There are 3 rules. And sensor size? hehe

  16. Rendy Sormin says:
    January 6, 2014 at 6:28 am

    Michael, I want to buy compact camera that using AA batteries. But I want
    it has the ability to take some depth of field camera (both shallow DOF and
    thicker DOF).. Can you suggest what is the best choice for me. My budget is
    maximum 1.500.000 IDR (Indonesian Rupiahs). It equal to about 163.5 USD.
    Thanks Michael. Nice Video!

  17. Runawaygeek says:
    January 6, 2014 at 7:17 am

    Kinda, to hold a smaller F (say f2.8) you really need a bigger peice of
    glass to aloow the light to maintain the speed through the zoom.. see the
    Canon EF-s 17-55 this can maintain a f2.8 though the lens, however there
    are limits. if the zoom range is to long then the light just get get
    through the lens so the f stop has to take a hit. The widest zoom range i
    know of with a fixed f stop is the Canon 70-200 with f2.8, it has a huge
    front & some light bending glass to maintian speed inthe lens

  18. semfoster says:
    January 6, 2014 at 8:13 am

    thanks great vid once again .

  19. Josh Cunningham says:
    January 6, 2014 at 8:32 am

    no its because they didn’t put in the technology in order for it to have a
    constant aperture. that’s why most of the l series (pro) lenses have
    constant apertures. the 18-55 that comes with your camera is a terrible
    lens.

  20. Utuberinboca says:
    January 6, 2014 at 9:22 am

    Very helpful. Thanks.

  21. robert madden says:
    January 6, 2014 at 9:43 am

    WTF Thicker??????? Add annotations please I dont understand.

  22. RSBSTEADICAM says:
    January 6, 2014 at 10:27 am

    I would agree with you if part of photography weren’t about control and
    knowing how to superimpose this “layer” of control over the “mission” of a
    photograph. So it’s not always about having the “subject” in focus as out
    of focus might be saying just as much say a dominate out-of-focus flag
    waver with an in-focus speaker or vice versa.

  23. Bloated Sensations says:
    January 6, 2014 at 11:20 am

    @BloatedSensations And, I’ll ask you: Have you tried it? If not, I’ll offer
    the words of the legendary physicist Richard Feynman: “It doesn’t matter
    how beautiful your theory is, it doesn’t matter how smart you are. If it
    doesn’t agree with experiment, it’s wrong” When I was first told about the
    DoF/focal-length myth, I refused to believe it as well – until I actually
    set up, and carried out, an experiment and saw it for myself.

  24. MichaelTheMentor says:
    January 6, 2014 at 12:19 pm

    @priestfielddom What you are essentially saying is that an object shot from
    2 different lenses with the same focal length will have the save depth of
    field, which is correct. This is not true however when we are talking about
    the more wide focal lengths, which is the point of the 3rd rule.

  25. brandy1000sissy says:
    January 6, 2014 at 12:26 pm

    a 50mm lens has the same depth of field as a 200mm lens. If you keep the
    size of the person the same in both photos of course this means you would
    have to be alot further away with the 200mm. The 50mm lens would have more
    background but depth of field is the same.

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