Depth of field in portrait photography

noelle · 4th October 2007

i have played around with a d70 + kit lens (which is i believe after googling is the AF-S Nikkor DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G IF-ED Zoom).

to achieve shallow depth of field with model sharp and background blur with the d70, i could only shoot half body shots (about waist up). when i tried full-length, i couldn't achieve the same depth of field... am i doing anything wrong? is it possible to shoot full-length + clear model + background blur with the kit lens? or will i have to get a lens with bigger aperture or longer lens?

i have pretty much decided on 400d + 17-85mm (but it only has maximum aperture of 4 though longer focal length..) would like to know what i'm in for (i.e. would i be able to take full-length shots with shallow depth of field or only half body?)

thanks!

p7m13 · 4th October 2007

Originally Posted by noelle

i have played around with a d70 + kit lens (which is i believe after googling is the AF-S Nikkor DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G IF-ED Zoom).

to achieve shallow depth of field with model sharp and background blur with the d70, i could only shoot half body shots (about waist up). when i tried full-length, i couldn't achieve the same depth of field... am i doing anything wrong? is it possible to shoot full-length + clear model + background blur with the kit lens? or will i have to get a lens with bigger aperture? would having longer lens help?

i have pretty much decided on 400d + 17-85mm (but it only has maximum aperture of 4...) would like to know what i'm in for.

thanks!

If I'm not wrong, for full body shot + background blur you'd probably need to get a 50mm f1.8 lens. Such a lens goes for only $100+ so you can give it a shot. Otherwise that's about the best your kit lens can do.

By why get a 400D when you already have a d70?

catchlights · 4th October 2007

if you want shallow DOF effect on full body shots, you need a longer focal length lens, something like 100mm and above, the longer the better.

ExplorerZ · 4th October 2007

position your model far far away from the background...

noelle · 4th October 2007

thanks all, thought i was doing something wrong. i would be able to achieve at least half body shots + shallow depth of field on the 400d + 17-85mm right since it's possible with the d70?

i'm gravitating towards 17-85mm (since it's canon, has IS, better resale value, supposedly better quality since not a superzoom) but want to be sure that i'm not making a mistake not getting the 18-200mm tamron (not considering sigma unfortunately realised it's too ex for me).

p7m13, d70 isn't mine, borrowed it.

ExplorerZ, so position model closer to camera and far far away from background?

lukesky · 5th October 2007

the further away the background, the more blur it will be, quite logical actually.

ExplorerZ · 5th October 2007

Originally Posted by noelle

thanks all, thought i was doing something wrong. i would be able to achieve at least half body shots + shallow depth of field on the 400d + 17-85mm right since it's possible with the d70?

i'm gravitating towards 17-85mm (since it's canon, has IS, better resale value, supposedly better quality since not a superzoom) but want to be sure that i'm not making a mistake not getting the 18-200mm tamron (not considering sigma unfortunately realised it's too ex for me).

p7m13, d70 isn't mine, borrowed it.

ExplorerZ, so position model closer to camera and far far away from background?

theres a limit you can position your camera away from the model with the specific focal length if you want to do full body, so the only way is find a background that is really far.

longer focal length does help as well, but you will have to move further back...

Scaglietti · 5th October 2007

Use longer focal length. If you are using the 18-70, shoot at 70mm f/4.5. You may be standing further from the subject for full body shot, you should more or less get what you wanted.

I use 85mm for full body shot sometimes. The results is lovely.

BC

bedrock · 5th October 2007

DOF depends on 3 things

1) Fstop
2) Focal length of lens
3) Distance to subject

so using a bigger aperture, a longer lens and positioning the model further from the background will help.

ptwong · 5th October 2007

use a 50 1.8
Problem solved.
or else a 85 1.8 also can.

ronaldjace · 6th October 2007

hm, i still like to 35mm, or 50mm sometimes. well it really does not matter actually, just move closer with a 35mm, haha. cheers.

4th October 2007	#1
noelle Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 56	Depth of field in portrait photography i have played around with a d70 + kit lens (which is i believe after googling is the AF-S Nikkor DX 18-70mm f3.5-4.5G IF-ED Zoom). to achieve shallow depth of field with model sharp and background blur with the d70, i could only shoot half body shots (about waist up). when i tried full-length, i couldn't achieve the same depth of field... am i doing anything wrong? is it possible to shoot full-length + clear model + background blur with the kit lens? or will i have to get a lens with bigger aperture or longer lens? i have pretty much decided on 400d + 17-85mm (but it only has maximum aperture of 4 though longer focal length..) would like to know what i'm in for (i.e. would i be able to take full-length shots with shallow depth of field or only half body?) thanks! Last edited by noelle; 4th October 2007 at 08:43 PM.

4th October 2007	#3
catchlights Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Punggol Posts: 10,760	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography if you want shallow DOF effect on full body shots, you need a longer focal length lens, something like 100mm and above, the longer the better. __________________ Shoot to Live, Live to Shoot www.foto-u.com \| www.benjaminloo.com \| email

4th October 2007	#4
ExplorerZ Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: West Legion Posts: 6,785	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography position your model far far away from the background... __________________ multiply \|\| deviant \|\| APAD 08

4th October 2007	#5
noelle Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 56	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography thanks all, thought i was doing something wrong. i would be able to achieve at least half body shots + shallow depth of field on the 400d + 17-85mm right since it's possible with the d70? i'm gravitating towards 17-85mm (since it's canon, has IS, better resale value, supposedly better quality since not a superzoom) but want to be sure that i'm not making a mistake not getting the 18-200mm tamron (not considering sigma unfortunately realised it's too ex for me). p7m13, d70 isn't mine, borrowed it. ExplorerZ, so position model closer to camera and far far away from background?

5th October 2007	#6
lukesky Member Join Date: Oct 2004 Posts: 428	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography the further away the background, the more blur it will be, quite logical actually.

5th October 2007	#8
Scaglietti Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 1,543	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography Use longer focal length. If you are using the 18-70, shoot at 70mm f/4.5. You may be standing further from the subject for full body shot, you should more or less get what you wanted. I use 85mm for full body shot sometimes. The results is lovely. BC Last edited by Scaglietti; 5th October 2007 at 09:15 AM.

5th October 2007	#9
bedrock Member Join Date: Jun 2003 Posts: 121	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography DOF depends on 3 things 1) Fstop 2) Focal length of lens 3) Distance to subject so using a bigger aperture, a longer lens and positioning the model further from the background will help. __________________ :)

5th October 2007	#10
ptwong Member Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: Yishun Posts: 489	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography use a 50 1.8 Problem solved. or else a 85 1.8 also can.

6th October 2007	#11
ronaldjace Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: 01°45.646'N 106°37.396'E Posts: 547	Re: Depth of field in portrait photography hm, i still like to 35mm, or 50mm sometimes. well it really does not matter actually, just move closer with a 35mm, haha. cheers.