Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2004/02/20

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Subject: Re: [Leica] Digital DOF
From: Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com>
Date: Fri, 20 Feb 2004 11:43:11 -0800
References: <000201c3f75c$658235b0$6401a8c0@dorysrusp4> <p05100300bc5b695f858c@[10.0.1.5]> <002301c3f7db$8d202b20$6501a8c0@jbilinsk>

At 10:01 AM -0800 2/20/04, Jacques Bilinski & Barbara Bradbury wrote:
>  >
>>  I doubt it will. Sensor size, or rather the relationship between
>>  sensor size and the final image is indeed important in determining
>>  DOF.
>>
>>  Once again you are ignoring CoC considerations; ie, DOF on the
>>  negative is not the same as DOF on the print.
>>
>So Henning, a quick (practical) question.  Is it the case that a small
>sensor digital camera is not able to produce a portrait with an out-of-focus
>background the way a 35mm can (same f stop and same perspective)?  This was
>stated on the LUG a while back, but may or may not be true.

In practice that is true; you get greater 'effective' depth of field 
with a small-sensor digicam than with a 35mm camera used at the same 
aperture, but not nearly as great a depth of field as the very short 
focal lengths and medium apertures would lead you to believe from 
film experience.

The kickers are that 35mm P&S cameras generally have very slow 
lenses, so their depth of field is also rather large, whereas 35mm 
SLR's and our favourite cameras, the Leicas, have a good selection of 
lenses with considerably larger apertures than any small-sensor 
digicams, so that mayber our expectations for shallow depth of field 
portraits are rather different than the expectations of 35mm P&S 
users.

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    *            Henning J. Wulff
   /|\      Wulff Photography & Design
  /###\   mailto:henningw@archiphoto.com
  |[ ]|     http://www.archiphoto.com
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Replies: Reply from "Jacques Bilinski & Barbara Bradbury" <jbilin@axionet.com> (Re: [Leica] Digital DOF)
In reply to: Message from "Don Dory" <dorysrus@mindspring.com> (RE: [Leica] Digital DOF)
Message from Henning Wulff <henningw@archiphoto.com> (RE: [Leica] Digital DOF)
Message from "Jacques Bilinski & Barbara Bradbury" <jbilin@axionet.com> (Re: [Leica] Digital DOF)