How can I get very large depth of field without softening from diffraction?
Asked 9/1/2011
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I’ve seen landscape-style images where almost everything appears sharp from foreground to background. I know stopping down increases depth of field, but very small apertures can introduce diffraction and reduce overall sharpness. Aside from focus stacking, what techniques can help achieve this kind of front-to-back sharpness? For context, the example I saw was reportedly shot on a Canon 5D Mark II (full frame).
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
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Unfortunately, Facebook strips the EXIF data from images, a terrible practice, so I can't get his actual settings. However, a wide angle lens with a reasonable aperture that is focussed to the hyperfocal can put a huge portion of the scene in focus. For example: a 16mm lens at f/8 focussed 3.55 feet away effectively puts from just under two feet away to infinity in focus and f/8 isn't going to wipe your sharpness out.
You can understand the concept, and play with some numbers, using the online depth of field calculator to see what I mean. They make a mobile version for various devices too and that can be handy out in the field.
Originally by user472. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user472
14y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
You usually don’t need the smallest aperture to get that look. A common approach is:
- use a wide-angle lens
- stop down to a moderate aperture such as around f/8 or f/11
- focus at or near the hyperfocal distance
With a very wide lens, this can put a large range—from quite close to infinity—acceptably in focus without the extra diffraction penalty of extreme apertures.
The key is compromise: very small apertures increase depth of field, but eventually diffraction makes the whole image a bit softer. So the sharpest result is often not at the minimum aperture, but somewhere in the middle.
Other options:
- tilt/shift or tilt-capable lenses: these don’t increase depth of field directly, but they can tilt the plane of focus to better match the scene, making much more of it appear sharp.
- focus stacking: still the main solution when one frame can’t cover the needed depth.
A full-frame camera like the 5D Mark II doesn’t magically create more depth of field, but paired with the right lens and focus technique it can still produce very deep-looking images.
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