Is depth of focus symmetrical, and is my depth-of-field diagram correct?
Asked 10/1/2023
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I drew a thin-lens diagram to understand depth of field and depth of focus. After reading more, I learned that depth of focus can mean the tolerance in image-plane (sensor/film) placement relative to the lens. That made me wonder whether my diagram is wrong: should the image-plane distances on either side of best focus be equal if depth of focus is “symmetrical”? In my sketch, the distances from best focus to the two image points are not equal. Is that actually correct? I’m mainly trying to understand the geometry and the difference between depth of field and depth of focus.
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
2y ago
2 Answers
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i1-i and i2-i should not be the same. What makes them symmetrical w/in the depth of focus is that their resulting blur radiuses are the same size at the image plane... i.e. o1 and o2 record equally out of focus.
And be careful when referencing depth of focus in regards to focus tolerance, which is manufacturing error tolerance... it is either tolerance for displacement of desired focus (front/back focus) or for sensor tilt/film curl. In this sense it is not considering points/distances that are out of focus in relation to the point of best/desired focus.
Originally by user70370. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user70370
2y ago
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Your diagram is essentially correct. The key point is that depth of focus is not “symmetrical” in the sense that the image distances on either side of best focus must be equal.
What is symmetrical is the acceptable blur size: points displaced on either side of the best-focus image plane can produce blur circles of equal radius. That does not require the distances in image space to be equal.
Using thin-lens geometry, the near and far image locations generally will not be spaced equally around the plane of best focus. Likewise, in object space, near depth of field is usually smaller than far depth of field. As magnification increases and the subject approaches the focal distance, the near and far portions become more nearly equal, but not generally identical.
Also, be careful with the term “depth of focus.” It is often used for image-plane tolerance (sensor/film placement, tilt, film curl, front/back focus tolerance), which is different from depth of field in object space.
So: your unequal distances are not necessarily a mistake; the confusion is in assuming depth of focus means equal distance on both sides of focus.
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