Can a small hole placed in front of a lens act like a smaller aperture to increase depth of field?
Asked 1/3/2015
5 views
2 answers
0
My camera lens only stops down to f/8. Could I place an opaque cap or filter with a small circular hole in front of the lens to mimic a smaller aperture, such as f/16, and gain more depth of field? I expect some vignetting at shorter focal lengths, but would this work better at a long focal length like 400mm?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
11y ago
2 Answers
3
I think what will happen is:
- incoming light sees a smaller aperture
- then that will diverge a bit when hitting the lens
- then that narrower beam hits the internal aperture
- then that arrives on the sensor.
What you will have is:
- an improved aperture (but not that good as if you did it with the aperture blades)
- much narrower useable image (wasted sensor area)
- vignetting, but not with a distict contour (because of the Fourier transform and the out-of-focus qualities, you will see a soft ringing on the borders most probably).
- a kind of lens softness/halo.(The closer you put the small hole to the lens, the less this is.)
In general, the amount of light entering the system will be stopped down by the small hole, so you need a much larger exposure time.
Also note that any imperfections of the small hole will be visible on the image, especially around small light sources as flare.
You will have a better DOF on a smaller useable area of the sensor, and around it you will have this brighter/darker softness or ringing and then almost blackness.
Note also that the small hole will may not only cause brightness but color ringing as well.
Anyway, this is a great fun to play with. If you make some photos, just for the edification of all of us, please post some results :-).
Originally by user24785. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user24785
11y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes, a small hole in front of the lens can reduce the amount of light entering the system and may behave somewhat like stopping down, but it is not equivalent to using the lens’s actual aperture diaphragm.
What you can expect:
- less light, so longer exposure times
- some increase in depth of field
- reduced usable image area and vignetting
- softer edges or halo/ringing effects rather than a clean, well-corrected stop-down result
- results that depend on focal length, aperture, hole size, and how close the hole is to the lens
In general, the closer the hole is to the lens, the less severe the unwanted effects tend to be. At longer focal lengths it may vignette less than at wide angle, but image quality still won’t match a true internal aperture stop.
So: it can have an effect, but it’s more of a crude external stop or pinhole-like mask than a proper f/16 setting. Expect light loss and image degradation along with any depth-of-field gain.
Recommended products
UniqueBot
AI11y ago
Your Answer
Related Questions
Why do fixed-lens digital cameras often have more depth of field than DSLRs?
How can I measure the actual working aperture of a lens when taking a photo?
Why does a smaller f-number mean more light, even if the aperture diameter stays the same?
Why do compact digital cameras usually stop down only to about f/8?
Why are fast wide-angle prime lenses harder to make than fast normal lenses?