 Dorothy Neumann |
Letting the Camera Select the f-stop
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Nirmal Hasan |
Hi Dorothy, The "correct" depth of field is based on how you wish to compose the picture and what you want to see in it, i.e., it is entirely subjective. So, given that a wider aperture gives you a lower depth of field and vice versa and that this particular scene mode appears to make your camera choose f3.2, I would have to say, yes, you would have to override the fstop value if you require greater depth of field in your picture. Why the camera chooses f3.2 in this mode likely depends on what kind of photography this particular mode is programmed for (plus, it is quite likely that the people who defined the program parameters for the camera were more engineers and scientists than photographers and working based on laws of physics rather than aesthetic considerations). I am not familiar with your camera, so I took a quick peek at the description of your camera posted at this site. It looks like your camera has 6 Scene modes, so it is possble that the particular Scene mode you have chosen is for the type of photography that typically does not require a large depth of field (e.g. portraits) or requires a large aperture (e.g. low light photography). If you haven't already done so, you may want to look into the other Scene modes and see if any of the other modes is more suited for pictures like this. One last thing. You metion that nothing is in focus in the first picture. I can think of a couple of things that could have possibly caused that, rather than the fstop setting. It could be camera shake or it could be that you are not allowing sufficient time for the camera's autofocus mechanism to complete focusing before clicking the picture. Just a couple of things to consider... Hope that was of some help... Cheers and keep shooting..
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Dorothy Neumann |
Thank you for your insightful suggestions, Nirmal. After posting this, I spent about a half hour on the phone with an Olympus technical person. He advised me that selecting a mode, such as Scene Mode, restricts the camera's settings more than Program Mode (which I have not explored yet). The scene mode I selected was for "mountains," which I thought would give me the depth of field needed here. Also we explored the topic of whether there might be some camera shake because of longer zoom length (although I don't see anything obviously showing in this regard). Your suggestion about not allowing sufficient time for the autofocus to work might have validity. Anyway, I'm going to be setting the camera up on a tripod over the weekend, taking test shots in several modes, and sending them back to Olympus for their closer examination. As the camera is still under warranty, I want to know if it is the camera...or my newness to the camera...that may be the problem. Thanks for your helpful suggestions.
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Nirmal Hasan |
Hi Dorothy, It does seem a little strange that a mode for "mountains" would routinely pick f3.5. One other thing, since you are looking to use a tripod. I have had camera shake in my pictures on occassions, despite a tripod due to the very act of depressing the shutter button. Perhaps I was overly enthusiastic or the tripod set up was less than robust... In any case, since you are conducting a controlled experiment of sorts, you may want to consider using a remote shutter release if your camera has one or the self-timer mode if it does not have a remote... Good luck. Hope you are able to figure out what the issue might be.
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Dorothy Neumann |
Hi Nirmal, I can't use a remote shutter release on this camera, so will try out the self-timer mode. The rep explained that it is easy to get camera movement with the long zoom possible on this camera (10x optical), and even the pulse in one's thumb, or one's heartbeat, can be enough to cause camera movement that will affect the image...so the tripod and self-timer are both going to be used in the "controlled experiment." Thanks for checking back.
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- Gregory LaGrange Contact Gregory LaGrange Gregory LaGrange's Gallery |
Scene modes and program modes have an emphasis on picking a shutter speed that is high enough for the assumption that average people don't hold the camera very still. So I would think iso 64 isn't going to get a program to pick a small aperture, even if it's a "mountain" program. If you came up to 100 or 200, I would think you'd get a smaller aperture selected, with the shutter speed always trying to stay above 125.
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Dorothy Neumann |
Thanks, Gregory. Left to its own devices, the camera never picks an f-stop higher (numerically) than 4.5. It can go to 8. I've always let it pick its own ISO speed. Now you're sending me back to the owner's manual to find out how to pick the ISO. I went back to the scene of the first image above this morning with my tripod and freshly charged batteries. I used the self timer to activate the shutter and manually selected f 8. Later, I will be checking the results. I appreciate your helpfulness and the treat of viewing your website. Great stuff!
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