Portrait shots.

[THANG0359]

Good Morning Everyone,
I have a question to ask, maybe some of you are able to help me.

I've noticed with my D50 alot of the shots i've taken so far come out looking like a portrait shot (where the background is really out of focus and the subject is really focused). I used to have a sony point and shoot dsc -p10 and i can never do portrait shots, the background and the subject would all be in focus. How can i accomplish this shot (i want subject and background in focus) with my d50 with the lenses i have.

thanks,
La

[Prospero]

There is a huge difference in sensor size between your old camera and the D50. The Sony has a smaller sensor and therefor needs lenses with a small focal length to get the same field of fiew of a D50.

The depth of field of a lens, the region which is in focus, depends on a couple of things. The larger the apperture, the longer the focal length and the closer the focusing distance, the shallower the depth of field becomes. With your D50, the physical focal length you use is larger than that of the Sony, and this is what makes the depth of field a lot more shallow.

To compensate for that you will have to stop down. In other words, increase the f-stop / apperture. That way you will increase the depth of field.

The f-stop you have to get the whole scene into focus depends on the apperture. At 18mm you can sometimes get the whole scene in focus at f5.6. If there are things close to you in the foreground f/10 will usually be sufficient.

At 55 mm you may need to stop down more to f/11 or further to get the whole scene into focus.

One thing to take not of is that stopping down to much is also not desirable. Beyond ~f/13 you will get serious issues with diffraction. This causes softness of your picture.

[THANG0359]

Prospero,

thanks for the advice. I went home and tried what you told me and you are right... i tested it in the bedroom, i guess not too good of a place to test it huh?? but once it stops raining here I'll give it a try outside.

thanks again,
La