Depth of field

Depth of field

Depth of field is the amount of distance between the nearest and farthest objects that appear in acceptably sharp focus in a photograph.

What affects depth of field

The f/stop

The smaller the f/stop (the larger the number, the smaller the diameter of the aperture), the more depth of field there is.

At f/2 (small number, big aperture), you will have comparatively narrow depth of field, with little in focus on either side of your focus point...

The focal length of the lens

The shorter your focal length, the more depth of field you will have.

A 20mm lens will have more depth of field than a 50mm will have more than a 100mm.

With really short lenses, like 4 mm, you will have immense depth of field. With long lenses, like 400mm, you will have miniscule depth of field.

The distance to the subject

The closer you are to your subject, the less depth of field there will be.

The further away you are, the more depth of field you will have.

The subject distance to the background.