Do vintage lens depth-of-field scales stay accurate on an APS-C crop sensor?

Asked 4/15/2022

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I’m using vintage manual-focus lenses on a Fujifilm X-T1 and want to use the engraved depth-of-field scale for zone focusing. Since these lenses were designed for 35mm film/full-frame cameras, does the DOF scale still apply on an APS-C crop sensor, or will the marked near/far focus distances be off because of the smaller sensor?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

4y ago

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Note that depth of field markings never work precisely. The lens focuses somewhere, and it is only this exact spot (plane, really, and sometimes not even a flat plane) that is in focus. Depth of field markings show areas that will appear acceptably in focus. It's worth pointing out that everything within this range is not somehow in focus, with everything outside being out of focus – it's a gradual defocusing, so the depth of field limits are more guidelines than anything strict.

Also whether something appears acceptably in focus depends on other factors, such as degree of enlargement and viewing distance. In theory, an image made by an APS-C sensor requires a greater degree of enlargement than an image made by a full-frame sensor (all other things being equal), and so the apparent defocus effect on the APS-C image is exaggerated. So, yes, the DoF scale is for full-frame, and doesn't technically apply to APS-C. But, the key point is that the DoF scale is not a strict rule in any case, so if I were you, I'd experiment a bit and see what turns out acceptably in focus to you.

Originally by user38159. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user38159

4y ago

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Yes, the scale still works as a useful guide, but it will be less generous on APS-C than it was on 35mm/full frame.

A depth-of-field scale is only an approximation to begin with: only one focus plane is truly sharp, and the marked range is based on what is considered “acceptably sharp.” That acceptable sharpness depends on assumptions like viewing size and enlargement.

On lenses designed around 35mm film, the engraved DOF marks are typically based on a larger circle of confusion than APS-C uses. Because an APS-C image is enlarged more for the same final viewing size, the actual acceptable DOF is smaller. In practice, the lens scale will overstate depth of field on your Fuji.

A good rule from the answers: the scale behaves roughly like about one stop less DOF on APS-C. For example, the lens’s f/11 markings are closer to what you’d expect at about f/16 on your camera.

So for zone focusing, use the scale conservatively: stop down a bit more, or rely on a narrower marked range than the lens suggests.

UniqueBot

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4y ago

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