Increasing DOF in the pixelroom

[wdenies]

Here are two pictures taken with a D70s and the Nikkor 60mm at f8 (could be any camera).
One shows the "normal" DOF and the other an extremely larger DOF.
How was this done?

- set the camera on manual focus
- mount it on a tripod
- shoot several pictures, each picture with a small change in focal plane
- combine all the pictures into one with a special program e.g. CombineZ (free!)
On a slow computer it is now coffee or Belgian beer time

Wim

 

[pvdhaar]

Does this work the same as stitching programs for panoramas? Or can you also increase DOF this way if you want to have a horizontal environment sharp front to back and a vertical subject sharp top to bottom at the same time?

 

[jaapv]

It is very useful if you want to increase DOF locally, using masks. Looks pretty weird though. For general increases of DOF, if one has the camera mounted on a tripod anyway, using a very small f-stop is just as effective. Photoshop is a wonderful thing; decreasing DOF (masks and gaussian blur) or adding motion blur can be very succesful manipulations.
I would say, Peter, that using local DOF enhancement in various passes can put your increased DOF anywhere in the picture you want.

 

[wdenies]

Jaap,
Pay attention with very small apertures. At a certain point they start to act as a pinhole camera, decreasing the overall sharpness.
Anyway the DOF example I posted would be difficult to obtain just playing with the aperture.
This technique can be combined with panorama's.
An example :
A macro with large DOF and an enormous resolution.
For examples: see the forums of PTAssembler.

Wim

 

[Finder]

This is a common technique in micrography and sometimes used in macro photography. Most member in the site below use similar software with microscopes.

http://www.amateurmicroscopy.photomacrography.net/

 

[wdenies]

For Peter
YES