Help with focusing

[xavier]

Hi donoreo


are we tailking about putting the back ground out of focas or have I missed the whole point?

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by xavier

Hi donoreo


are we tailking about putting the back ground out of focas or have I missed the whole point?

That is exactly what we are talking about, but auto or manual focus will not have any effect on that. The aperture setting does.

[xavier]

hi donoreo

I think you can get the same effect with a single focus lense like a 50mm f1.8 but gearthd79 only has zoom lenses

[ianpinion]

To get a shallow depth of field, Gareth, use your 55-200mm telephoto lens and set the camera into Aperture Priority mode. Next set the aperture to smallest possible f/number (which means you have a large hole/aperture) and then zoom in close on to your subject. The more you zoom in, the smaller you can get the f/number to be, the narrower your depth of field will be.

So if you had a lens that could open as wide as f/1.8 at a focal length of 200mm you would have a very, very shallow depth of field and too shallow for a portrait, but f/5.6 or f/6.3 will keep your subject in focus and the background all blurry. As Cutter mentioned though, it's best to keep your subject away from the background of your shot, otherwise the background may not be blurred.

[GarethD79]

Thanks i'll try that

[donoreo]

Originally Posted by xavier

hi donoreo

I think you can get the same effect with a single focus lense like a 50mm f1.8 but gearthd79 only has zoom lenses

You can do it with ANY lens. Ian's excellent instructions above are great.

[xavier]

I must try it myself