D-lux 4 & Depth of Field

[Steve66]

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I own a d-lux 4 bought in November 09 and am a happy and proud owner.

Inevitably their is one issue....... how to achieve a shallow depth of field with the out of focus elements in the image as blurred as possible, a la Wallander [bBC 2 tv show}

 

I realise that I am asking for something that the camera can maybe not offer. I realise that to an existent the effect could be achieved on the computer [i use aperture 3] but would prefer to achieve the effect in camera.

 

The other alternative would be to buy a second hand slr and appropriate lens but which one ? I went on flicker and was surprised at the quality of image that the Nikons and Canons offered in comparison to the superb images on the d-lux 4 flicker pages.

Thanks For Any Help,

Steve.

[mjh]

Depth-of-field-wise, f/2 to f/2.8 with the D-Lux 4 is equivalent to f/9 to f/13 with a 35 mm camera – no shallow DOF attainable I’m afraid. You would need a camera with a bigger sensor (not necessarily a DSLR).

[earleygallery]

Time to upgrade the Digilux for an M9 and Noctilux!

 

The wider the aperture the less depth of field you will get, so if you do want to experiment buy an SLR (film or digital) and a wide aperture lens - try a 50mm 1.4 or 1.8 for example.

 

The benefit with an SLR is that you get to see the effect in the viewfinder (wide open anyway, you need depth of field preview to see the effect as you stop down).

[farnz]

Steve,

 

Contrary to the informed opinions above, it is possible to achieve shallow depth of field with the D-Lux 4 when shooting close-up in macro mode as shown in the picture below.

 

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[barnvelder]

Steve,

 

Contrary to the informed opinions above, it is possible to achieve shallow depth of field with the D-Lux 4 when shooting close-up in macro mode as shown in the picture below.

 

[ATTACH]193283[/ATTACH]

 

Good pic - and good point! Quite a few good compacts can fooled into shallow DOF by zooming in using macro. It works on my DL4 and also Canon G11.

You just need to focus on a close subject with the lens zoomed out. Had this demo-ed to me on a photo course recently and most participants could get shallow DOF on their compacts.

[mjh]

Sure enough, DOF shrinks with the subject distance. But I don’t think this will help: if you are doing macro shots with your D-Lux 4, chances are you are already well aware of the shallow DOF, but for portraits etc. getting closer is not an option.

[regedit]

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this is the same answer just a copy/paste from another thread:

 

Hi there!

 

Here is another tip. If you want to the shortest focus area zoom to max and get as close as possible to the focus subject (sometimes you need to enable macro focus to extend focus area, or even better to switch to manual focus). If the difference between subject and background is consistent you will get blur effect on background. Using manual focus it's a bit harder on DL4 but you have visual control over your DOF (red bar) which is important if you are looking for that kind of pictures.

 

at max zoom with 2.8 A you'll get at 0.3 meters (min focus distance) a very short focus area and the bluriest [sorry for this non-english word] background.

 

hope this will help.

enjoy your camera!

[griffster]

Yes, this is the only drawback of an otherwise fabulous camera. I'm finding it increasingly frustrating.

[zenonzinonos]

Get close enough and the results can sometimes be pleasantly surprising!

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[Promethus]

My feeble attempt...

 

[griffster]

Yes, I'm sure there's some relationship between sensor size, aperture and distance to subject. Thus a small camera with a small sensor will give nice images of small things with lovely bokehs.

 

If you're taking pictures of real people however, you'll literally need to get in their face in order to get an interesting photograph. This is something I had never dreamt of. I thought I was buying a high quality image shooter that will last me the rest of my life.

 

As it turns out, for most of my shooting, I need to look for something with a bigger sensor. Trouble is, all modern day DSLR's are all god-awful ugly bricks (and way too big), Leica M's are too expensive, the X1 too limited, the Sigma has only mediocre reviews. It will have be a m4/3 for me next, unless someone will make a digital version of my Pentax MX...

 

To quote someone from the forum a while back, I think it was Kalina: "I don't need the whole universe to be in focus"

[Steve66]

H Guys,

 

Thanks for all the input.

Had a limited play with a friends D90 over the weekend and very easily obtained something like the bokeh images I was looking for. So I was maybe thinking of buying a used Nikon/ Canon with the appropriate lens say 1.8/2.0 50/70/90 focal length. say £4/500. I then paid my local Leica shop a visited and had one or two clicks on an M8.

Fatal.

So I think I will try for a pre- loved M8 and due to funds a old film Leica ideally or Zeiss/Voitgner 2.0 90 lens.

My question, I could probably afford £400 ish, give or take what options would be open to me in respect of vintage or brand and indeed suppliers ?

 

Thanks Again,

 

Steve.

[Symeon]

Use the long zoom setting (60mm equiv.) and get close to your subject, open lens to f2 using A priority mode (make a Custom setting of these), or try the close-up (macro) setting on the lens too. That's what I would do.

 

regards.

[regedit]

Use the long zoom setting (60mm equiv.) and get close to your subject, open lens to f2 using A priority mode (make a Custom setting of these), or try the close-up (macro) setting on the lens too. That's what I would do.

 

regards.

 

if I could manage to keep A wide at f2 at 60mm would be great