Landscape w/ portrait shot @ f8 18mm not sharp...


Kai2810

New Member
Jun 8, 2009
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Hi guys,

Just got back from New Zealand and was quite surprised some of our shots with the background are not sharp.

I was using my D7000 with 18-105mm. I thought setting the aperture to F8 at 18mm (widest end) should get both the person and landscape to appear sharp. Attached is one of my shots, you can see the landscape is looks sharp, but the subject is not...:(

Anyone has any advice on taking sharp portrait against landscape?

Thanks in advance!

TKW_4432.jpg
 

Hyper-focusing.
 

Hi guys,

Just got back from New Zealand and was quite surprised some of our shots with the background are not sharp.

I was using my D7000 with 18-105mm. I thought setting the aperture to F8 at 18mm (widest end) should get both the person and landscape to appear sharp. Attached is one of my shots, you can see the landscape is looks sharp, but the subject is not...:(

Anyone has any advice on taking sharp portrait against landscape?

Thanks in advance!

TKW_4432.jpg

It depends on where you focus. You might not have enough depth of field to cover everything in the scene.
 

looks like the focus is not on the guy.
 

ur focus is probably not on him and even f8 might not give u enough dof for everything...
i use viewNX but i couldn't c where ur focus point was on...
 

There are a few things you might want to look at.

It seems the focus is on the lighted patch of slope. That is quite far away and the DOF might not had been enough to cover the person that is right infront of the camera. More likely due to hyper focal distance.
 

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Nice, learned about hyperfocusing today.

So according to the calculator, the guy have to stand more than 1m to be sharp.

But 1m?? I remember the guy was standing farther than that when the shot was taken.

But anyway, thanks guys for clarifying. :)

Will watch out for this in future shots.
 

Kai2810 said:
Nice, learned about hyperfocusing today.

So according to the calculator, the guy have to stand more than 1m to be sharp.

But 1m?? I remember the guy was standing farther than that when the shot was taken.

But anyway, thanks guys for clarifying. :)

Will watch out for this in future shots.

I think the guy should be on exact or more or less 1 meter, that's the idea of having a hyperfocal distance. But I haven't done this also before, any sifus can clarify this?
 

That's the problem with the new lenses....they don't mark the depth of field scales below the focus distant window anymore. It will give its user an idea of what falls in focus at different F-stops. Too bad. U could solve this by pressing the "depth of field" button beside the lens to check visibly.
 

Nice, learned about hyperfocusing today.

So according to the calculator, the guy have to stand more than 1m to be sharp.

But 1m?? I remember the guy was standing farther than that when the shot was taken.

But anyway, thanks guys for clarifying. :)

Will watch out for this in future shots.

That's assuming you are using hyper distance focussing. You probably focussed at infinity so the range will differ.
 

That's the problem with the new lenses....they don't mark the depth of field scales below the focus distant window anymore. It will give its user an idea of what falls in focus at different F-stops. Too bad. U could solve this by pressing the "depth of field" button beside the lens to check visibly.

Zoom lenses never had a useable scale, new or old alike.
 

Using older lens with dof marking is to focus your foreground subject and set the distance to the near point of the dof scale for the aperture you've set. Then see if infinity is within the far side of your dof scale. I think you can calculate the near point and far point using the hyperfocal formula. Not sure, though.

One method is to focus on your near point and read the distance. Then focus on a point midpoint on your focusing ring (not actual distance) between infinity and your near point. Then shot at f8. Review, zoom in on lcd. Not sharp? F11. Then 16.
 

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Using older lens with dof marking is to focus your foreground subject and set the distance to the near point of the dof scale for the aperture you've set. Then see if infinity is within the far side of your dof scale. I think you can calculate the near point and far point using the hyperfocal formula. Not sure, though.

One method is to focus on your near point and read the distance. Then focus on a point midpoint on your focusing ring (not actual distance) between infinity and your near point. Then shot at f8. Review, zoom in on lcd. Not sharp? F11. Then 16.

Got it...thanks for the tips!
 

D7000, 18mm, f/8: hyperfocal distance is 2.04m
(i.e. focus at 2.04m, objects from 1.02m to infinity will appear acceptably sharp)

18-105 has no focus scale, so can try to focus on something that's about 2m away, or get subject to stand 2m away, lock camera, lock focus, then re-position subject (without causing change in focus) to anywhere from 1.02m and greater from the camera.

sounds easy? :)
 

Nice, learned about hyperfocusing today.

So according to the calculator, the guy have to stand more than 1m to be sharp.

But 1m?? I remember the guy was standing farther than that when the shot was taken.

But anyway, thanks guys for clarifying. :)

Will watch out for this in future shots.

Yes, but you need to be focusing on the guy, then the rest at the back will be sharp also... if you focus at the back, there is no guarantee that the guy will be in focus...
in the charts, read up on Focus distance...
 

D7000, 18mm, f/8: hyperfocal distance is 2.04m
(i.e. focus at 2.04m, objects from 1.02m to infinity will appear acceptably sharp)

18-105 has no focus scale, so can try to focus on something that's about 2m away, or get subject to stand 2m away, lock camera, lock focus, then re-position subject (without causing change in focus) to anywhere from 1.02m and greater from the camera.

sounds easy? :)
just attach a string on the camera and make a mark the 2m length, so your subject just hold the string and move himself to 2 meter mark, very simply.

and it is not joking, this method has being use for many years by cinematographers to get the distance and also some portrait studio to get the aperture setting, it is a low cost and low tech but a proven method.
 

Yes in this case, the person in the foreground in more critical. You need the background to be reasonable focussed so that you have an idea of where you were. You don't need critical sharpness for the landscape in this context.
 

just attach a string on the camera and make a mark the 2m length, so your subject just hold the string and move himself to 2 meter mark, very simply.

and it is not joking, this method has being use for many years by cinematographers to get the distance and also some portrait studio to get the aperture setting, it is a low cost and low tech but a proven method.

Yup but most don't bring string along on a holiday.
though granted, it is a very small item to pack in the camera bag :)
 

just attach a string on the camera and make a mark the 2m length, so your subject just hold the string and move himself to 2 meter mark, very simply.

and it is not joking, this method has being use for many years by cinematographers to get the distance and also some portrait studio to get the aperture setting, it is a low cost and low tech but a proven method.

Interesting! Thanks for the tip! But I think I'll agar agar judge the distance. 1-2 m should be easy to judge.

BTW, I have posted some landscape pics from my trip.

Please go to the following, appreciate your critique!
http://www.clubsnap.com/forums/land-city-scapes-travel/1189962-some-shots-my-new-zealand-trip.html
 

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