Is there such thing as a "DOF rule of thumb"?

[pedro.m.reis]

I know that there are many programs that i can use to calculate the DOF of a giving lens and aperture. But i was wondering if there is a DOF rule of thumb or a manual calculator that i can use. Anyone knows such thing?

 

[Axel]

Hi,

thats a quite difficult question. The best experience in my opinion is to use the scale on a manual lens.
Because the depth of field is no linear function that depends on various factors a separate table only can be handy for one format and the specific lens.

For Palm-PDAs there is a nice program that might be useful for practic photography in the field.

Regards, Axel

 

[jaapv]

This is an infomative thread:
http://rangefinderforum.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26541&highlight=dof

 

[Bill58]

I made up a set of these in the different focal lengths I have, laminated them, and carry them w/ me wherever I go. See http://www.dofmaster.com/doftable.html.

 

[Jonathan R]

I strongly recommend you read Harold Merklinger's 'In and Outs of Focus', available at http://www.trenholm.org/hmmerk/download.html.

It gives very practical rules of thumb, and will change your view of DOF completely.

 

[antiquark]

Here's a couple of rules that are useful ONLY if you're using a 50mm lens and 35 film:

- The DOF at 2 meters is the f-stop times ten, in centimeters. E.g., if you're focusing at 2 meters, at f/2.8, then your DOF is 28 cm, or about a one foot.

- If you halve the distance, then you quarter the DOF. Using the previous example, if you halved the distance to 1 meter, then the DOF would be quartered from 28 to 28/4 or 7 cm.

- Double the distance and you quadruple the DOF. Using the first example, if you doubled the distance to 4 meters, then the DOF would be quadrupled from 28 to 28*4, or 112 cm.

If you use a 35mm lens, you can use the same rule but multply the DOF by two. Thus, at 2 meters, f/2.8, the DOF would be 28*2 = 56 cm.

Hope that helps.

 

[pedro.m.reis]

Usefull tips as usual 🙂.
I have o lot to read now 🙂

 

[shadowfox]

Here's a couple of rules that are useful ONLY if you're using a 50mm lens and 35 film:

- The DOF at 2 meters is the f-stop times ten, in centimeters. E.g., if you're focusing at 2 meters, at f/2.8, then your DOF is 28 cm, or about a one foot.

- If you halve the distance, then you quarter the DOF. Using the previous example, if you halved the distance to 1 meter, then the DOF would be quartered from 28 to 28/4 or 7 cm.

- Double the distance and you quadruple the DOF. Using the first example, if you doubled the distance to 4 meters, then the DOF would be quadrupled from 28 to 28*4, or 112 cm.

If you use a 35mm lens, you can use the same rule but multply the DOF by two. Thus, at 2 meters, f/2.8, the DOF would be 28*2 = 56 cm.

Hope that helps.

Very helpful!

I never thought of the DOF as something I'd want to measure, but now I can see how this info may come in handy sometimes.

Many thanks!