Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2006/03/25

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Subject: [Leica] Question: Depth of field for a Noct. on a digital M
From: shino at panix.com (Rei Shinozuka)
Date: Sat Mar 25 22:01:49 2006
References: <4cfa589b0603251704w12ccf72dk8d6b7241dccdc097@mail.gmail.com> <1svb22tla4b8sjukl0765fb4k94jotqgvo@4ax.com>

yes.  i think the most intuitive way of thinking about it is that the 
noctilux exhibits its pronounced depth of field characteristics at close-
focust distances, say 5 feet, where at a DOF of about 2 inches you will
need to be thinking in a portrait about which eye you want in focus.
with a camera with a smaller format (or sensor), which would effectively 
make the lens a 75mm, you would need to move back to 7.5 feet to get the 
same portrait size image in the final print.  at 7.5 feet, the DOF of
the noctilux is about 5 imches, which renders most of the face in focus.
the images therefore, would have a different look, becase of the increased
depth of field in the second image, and the flatter perspective of the 
greater distance.

moving in the opposite direction, consider the f2.8 150mm xenotar in 4x5.
a 150mm is a "normal" focal length for 4x5, and f2.8 does not in an absolute
sense sound like a "fast" aperture, though at focusing distances of 5 feet,
the depth of field is 2 inches, just like the noctilux.  

here are some samples of my kids i took a couple of years ago with the 
xenotar, largely to reinforce in the intuition that the DOF tables say:

http://www.shinozuka.org/20040914-xeno/

everyone is correct when saying that a 150mm f2.8 lens in 35mm mount
focused at 5 feet would have that same 2" DOF, but you'd get such a tight
crop of the subject you'd need to back up about 15 feet to get back to
head-and-shoulders, at which point your DOF would be about 20 inches.

-rei


On Mar25 20:46, Eric wrote:
> Adam:
> 
> > will the depth of field be identical?
> 
> Yes.  Cropping doesn't change depth of field.
> 
> The 50/1 on a 1.4x crop camera has the same look and depth of field as a
> 70/1.4 on a "full frame" camera.
> 
> You'd need a 35/0.7 on a cropped camera to get the same, razor-thin DOF as
> the nocti on film.
> 
> 
> 
> --
> Eric
> http://canid.com/
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information

-- 
Rei Shinozuka shino@panix.com
Ridgewood, New Jersey


In reply to: Message from abridge at gmail.com (Adam Bridge) ([Leica] Question: Depth of field for a Noct. on a digital M)
Message from ericm at pobox.com (Eric) ([Leica] Question: Depth of field for a Noct. on a digital M)