D-Lux 3 –– depth of field against full frame Shift and Tilt Lens

[macgarvin]

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One feature of small sensor cameras is that they have greater depth of field that full frame (35mm) digital cameras.

 

I was interested in comparing the D-Lux 3 against the Canon 5D wide angle lens, concentrating on depth of field.

 

The D-Lux 3 image is shown first. This was tripod mounted, using the self timer 2 second delay, ISO 100, 2 second exposure, f5.6, focal length 6.3 mm (ie wide angle). Depth of field was vast, effectively all of the cup, book, and candlesticks, with the background soft.

 

For the Canon 5D, I first tried the 16-35mm 1:2.8 L USM (no image shown). Detail in the plane of focus was obviously very sharp, but the plane of focus was very limited even with the lens shut right down. The best result came with the 24mm shift and tilt (TS-E 24mm 1:3.5 L), shown in the second image, where the plane of focus included the cup, broach, book and top of didgeridoo. ISO was 100, exposure was 20 seconds at f22 (!) But even at f22, the top of the candlestick fell well outside the plane of focus. Overall, in my opinion, the D-Lux was the better picture (also with a less distorted perspective).

 

Comparisons of different parts of the D-Lux and Canon TS-E 24mm photos are shown in the third image.

 

My conclusion was that the Canon lens were obviously sharper and had better contrast – so they should, they each cost more than double that of the D-Lux. But the depth of field of the D-Lux is remarkable. If I was doing a job requiring this, I would take the D-Lux with the Canon, and it is possible that it would end up being the only tool for the job.

 

Malcolm