----- Original Message -----
From: "Phil Lef"
Sent: Tuesday, April 17, 2001 11:57 AM
Subject: EOS Request tips for focusing Elan 7e
|I understand how to select different focusing planes, but needed some help.
| I wanted to ask the group several questions:
|
| 1) What setting should I use to optimally focus? Is AI Focus correct?
| 2) How does one best select the different focusing squares/planes? When I
| have two people in the
| picture (one behind another) how I correctly focus both of the subjects?
| 3) How I force the camera's built in flash to fill-in a pictures? I know
| from the manual the user
| cannot do this in Auto mode.
|
| Any other tips and suggestions would be helpful. While I have used
| several Leica range finders, I
| much prefer the use of the Elan 7e. Thanks in advance for any comments or
| feedback. Regards Phil
| (NYC, USA)
|
Hi Phil
maybe I can help answer your questions, I'll answer them out of order.
1) What setting should I use to optimally focus? Is AI Focus correct?
Yes, any focus mode is correct. Manual, one shot, AI, whichever is
easiest for you.
3) How I force the camera's built in flash to fill-in a pictures? I know
from the manual the user cannot do this in Auto mode.
Set the camera to "P" mode, works the same as full auto (green square)
but now you have full control over the built in flash. Or any of the other
creative modes for that matter.
2) How does one best select the different focusing squares/planes? When I
have two people in the picture (one behind another) how I correctly focus
both of the subjects?
Ah, this ones a little more difficult. The answer is you can't, as
there is only one plane of focus and if one person is behind the other only
one will truly be "in focus" and then only that part which you focused on.
All other objects will be out of focus to a degree, depending on the
aperture which was selected and the distance from the plane of focus.
Now here's where we can learn something about depth of field (DoF).
Get a roll of film, the Reala is good for this as it's a very sharp film and
two objects (I find two of those slim vases and a single flower in each is
always good but tastes may vary :).
Place the two vases next to each other, now push one of the vases
back around 12-15 inches. This simulates the distance between your son and
the misses. Now using the 85mm lens place the camera on a tripod, or failing
a tripod a stable surface where the camera won't be moved (this is very
important as we don't want to alter the focusing distance and also we don't
want to worry about camera shake at slow shutter speeds which will occur due
to the small aperture sizes).
Another thing is the background, Make sure whatever is behind the
objects is at least 3-4 times the distance that the camera is from the
subjects. ie if the camera is ~4 feet from the flowers then the background
should be at least 12-16 feet back. This will allow you to clearly see the
effects which I'm talking about. But don't use a plain wall, use something
with a definate texture, pattern or is recognizable, such as the living
room.
Set the camera to aperture priority (Av) mode and focus very
carefully on the front most vase & flower, framing so as to fill the frame
with both vases (after focusing, make sure that the lens is set to manual
focus as we don't wont to disturb the focus setting during the experiment).
Set the aperture to f2.0 and fire the shutter, now set the aperture to f2.8
and take another frame. Repeat this again for f4.0, 5.6, 6.4, 8.0, 11, 16
and 22, being careful not to move the camera between frames as you don't
want to change the focusing distance.
Now repeat this, (each time composing and focusing so as to fill the
frame) with the 28-105mm lens, first set to 28mm and starting from f4.0
(f2.0 & 2.8 not being available with this lens) and following the same
sequence and then again, this time set to 105mm and starting from f5.6 (f4.0
also not being avalable at this length) this allows you to match up
different focal lengths with the same apertures used. It also helps if you
use a small piece of card or paper and write the aperture/focal length used
on it and place this next to the front vase (it needs to be in focus in all
frames so that you can read it :)
Get the film developed and printed and examine the results
carefully, you'll see that the flower to the rear gets sharper as the
aperture is made smaller (bigger number), this is the DoF getting
larger/deeper. Note that the flower in front is still the only object truly
in focus, but the rear flower is now apparently in focus when shot with a
small aperture.
From here you can pick an aperture for your current focal length
which will give an acceptable sharpness through out your portraits, while
still leaving the backgrounds with a pleasant blur and a fast enough shutter
speed so that hand holding is still possible.
If using flash be sure to keep an eye on the shutter speed as in
bright surounds you may find that it goes beyond the flash sync speed. Since
you have the 420EX you then need to use the high speed sync mode on the
flash (but thats another topic altogether :).
Also be aware that the DoF extends further behind the plane of focus
than in front. A good rule of thumb is approx 1/3rd in front and 2/3rds
behind the plane of focus. So for example if the rear flower was 12 inches
behind the first flower and is acceptably sharp at f8.0, then it would also
be acceptably sharp if it were to be placed 6 inches in front of the flower
you focused on with the same focal length lens.
One last thing, as the subject distance gets further from the camera
the DoF for any given aperture gets larger/deeper. Conversely, as the
subject gets closer the DoF gets smaller/shallower.
Hope this helps a little but if anything is wrong I'm sure others on
the list will correct me (don't be too brutal :).
____________
Gerhard
*
****
*******
***********************************************************
* For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see:
* http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm
***********************************************************
