Canon 400d - Depth Of Field Help?

Gerty

Hello there everyone,

I'm very new to all this but have a project to do and really would like to use the Av setting to take pictures with it. Its nothing to do with the project but really want to.

I know this may be out of my ability but want to give it a shot.
Its something along the lines of the pictures in the manual of the chessboard where the front is in focus and the back is blurred.

Everything i'm taking is just blurred completely and i'm pretty sure its to do with camera shack but would really appreciate any help Thanks.

And apologies for my absence of knowledge, just want to learn.

charybdis

You should post an example shot of what you mean, preferably with its metadata intact, so we can try and help.

Failing that, tell us what exposure settings (shutter speed and aperture value, specifically) were used for a shot you think didn't work out.

duffman85

Something like this:



Press the focus point button(zoom in icon is below it) and press the set button.
you should see a set of nine squares in a diamond shape on the screen. when you pressed the set button you can manually select your focus point - it defaults to the centre focus point but you can choose a different one using the arrow buttons(around the set button)

half press the shutter button to exit

set a wide aperture i.e. f/1.8,2.8,4 or as close to these as you can get.
a wide aperture will give you shallow depth of field.

place the centre focus point over the object you want to keep in focus in the viewfinder. half press and hold the shutter button. a red light should show in the centre focus point.

keeping the shutter button half pressed will lock the focus and you can recompose the shot if you want to.
when you're happy take the shot.

A quick example at f/2.8

The cup is the only thing in focus. You can see the keyboard but its not in focus even though its right behind the cup.

Mr. Grieves

Setting the focus point will help as mentioned above, otherwise the camera will choose for you giving you unpredictable results.

Make sure your subject is not less than the minimum focussing distance (prob about 2 foot, depends on the lens you're using) away from the camera.

The Snipe

Use manual focus and choose yourself what you want to focus on.

Gerty

Thanks very much. I think the lens is efs 18-55 mm?

DutchGuy

What shutter speed are you using (the camera will set it for you but you'll be able to see it). Anything slower then 1/30s you'll start to see a lot of camera shake especially at close focus distances.

If the shutter speed is too slow, try increasing the ISO setting or putting the camera on something sturdy.