Narrow DOF with FA 50 f/1.4

2007-09-18

1/160 sec, f/2.5, 50mm, iso 200, 0Ev

1/125 sec, f/2.0, 50mm, iso 200, 0 Ev

1/160 sec, f/2.4, 50mm, iso 200, 0 Ev

Though I aim the focus at the white flower in the 1st and 2nd shots, I get soft focus on the white flower but the pink leaf in front of it is sharp. I am forcing myself not to think of the possibility of front focusing as I do get much sharper pictures in my 2nd copy of Pentax FA 50 f/1.4. And my 3rd picture seems sharper than first two and looks reasonably well in sharpness.

I have yet to try manual focusing on Pentax FA 50 f/1.4 which I find to be very decent due to the wide focusing ring in the lens. Other critical suggestions include using tripod and smaller aperture like f/8.0 for macro on flower shot, but the amateur in me still likes to play with narrow DOF as I find it most challenging and it helps in creating a unique story about the flower which is being singled out in the picture.

Links:

Nikon D70 Test Chart -- good reference on lens testing
FocusTest Chart PDF -- PDF print document for download
Manual Focus Lens -- good read on manual focus lens
DOFMaster -- excellent site for learning Depth Of Field
Fast Glass -- technical article on Fast Glass from Dante Steller

2 Comments:

At 9:31 PM, billgo said...: Hi Hin,
In the last paragraph, "..using tripod and larger aperture like f/8.0" I believe that you mean a smaller aperture (larger number)??
At 9:51 PM, Hin Man said...: Billgo, thanks for the correction.