FinePix S 5200

[baylabean]

I recently bought one , and am wondering how to set the focus so that I can take a picture of an object , have it in focus and have everything in front of and behind the object out of focus. I believe its called the aperture, but have no understanding of setting it :( Please help.

[flummux]

You might need to buy a DSLR with a single prime lens for the effect you are looking for. For this you need a wide aperture, on a 50 mm lens it would be in the F 1.4 to F 2 range; for a 135 mm lens, about F3.5 -- in other words, wide open.

Amateur digital cameras are designed to avoid out of focus pictures. They do not have lenses that are as fast (wide) as single length prime lenses. However, you may be able to approximate this effect by shooting with the lens zoomed to telephoto range, and with the lens at maximum aperature. For this, you need to go into either a full manual mode, or aperture priority mode, if the camera has this. And if it is low light, you may need to use a tripod.

With the lens in wide angle, no matter what your aperature, you are going to have most things in some focus with these cameras, except if you are really close.

The most dramatic effect you are describing is achieved by serious photographers using mirror lenses, which have no diaphragm.

[surfstar]

http://www.photoxels.com/tutorial_dof.html

[rosiesdad]

That users manual has info on the settings to help acheive that. I found my S5200 users manual to be a lot of reading, but using the roatary dial on top in modes besides AUTO (and understanding what the effects are) will be to your benefit allowing you more manual control of the camera.

[photoweborama]

I use mine in mostly manual mode. put it at a lot Fstop and a higher shutter speed to make the background fuzz out a bit. I personally preferb my photos sharp, so I have it set at F8 all the time. I wish it went to 16 or 22.