On Sunday, November 24, 2002, at 01:36 PM, Cotty wrote:
Somebody hold my glasses, please. Hork, ptui. [insert sound of bodily fluid striking palms]Warning: the following statement will start a huge argument, but it's about time we had a decent technofight ;-)
I'm sorry Pal, but I have always believed (and still do) that the depth"I" use DOF quite a bit in the area it's most useful, focusing close. Using the distance scale on the lens is a PITA, which requires you to look away from the viewfinder every time you use it. And quite a few contemporary lenses have absolutely pathetic scales on them. Why on earth would anyone want to use them for anything except approximating distance shots?
of field preview on any camera is a complete and utter waste of time. If
I want to use focus and aperture to achieve wide (or indeed narrow) depth
of field, I certainly wouldn't use the DOF button on a Pentax, Canon or
any camera. I would use the distance scale on the lens. If it didn't have
one I would use tables.
How anyone would tolerate stopping the lens down to try and see what theHow could anyone possibly see the subtle nuances of the fringe area between focus and out-of-focus looking at a silly chart or table? The thing you are shooting is _right in front of you_. Look at it, focus, touch the DOF button. What's the problem? Either the elements you want to be in focus will be within the area of acceptable sharpness or they won't.
focus is like on the foreground (say) of a poorly-lit, grainy focussing
screen is beyond me. How could anyone possibly see the subtle nuances of
the fringe area between focus and out-of-focus down the viewfinder?
Let go of the button, refocus or adjust aperture if necessary and touch DOF preview again. Takes a second.
Dan Scott
