When is it practical to shoot at f/1.4?
Asked 2/17/2012
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I’ve heard that f/1.4 is hard to use because depth of field is so shallow. In portraits you often want both eyes sharp, with moving subjects it seems hard to keep focus, and with close-up subjects like food only a tiny area may be sharp.
In real-world photography, when does shooting at f/1.4 actually make sense, and what factors make it easier or harder to use successfully?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
14y ago
2 Answers
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There's several practical cases here. Your depth of field isn't only a function of the aperture so if other factors suite, then its still fine.
If you're sufficiently far away from your subject, then using f/1.4 would result the majority of your subject being in focus.
If you have a high performance AF system (something like the 7D perhaps), then you're more likely to keep the point of focus exactly where you expect.
If the scene is so dark, you may need to shoot at a wide open 1.4 in order to get enough light - you're willing to trade extreme subject isolation and possibly not get the exact point of focus for noise and proper exposure.
You do see it in portraits some. Its a very trendy thing to do to. The eyes should be roughly on the same focal plane, so you should be able to get them in focus and the ears will be blurred out.
Frankly though, I don't - nor do most people I know - use f/1.4 all that often.
Originally by user1917. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1917
14y ago
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f/1.4 is practical mainly for two reasons: gathering more light and creating very shallow depth of field.
It makes the most sense in low-light situations where flash isn’t allowed or you don’t want the look of flash, such as photojournalism, events, or some portraits. The extra light can let you use a faster shutter speed or lower ISO.
The shallow depth of field is also useful for subject isolation. It can work well for portraits, provided the subject’s eyes are on roughly the same plane and you focus carefully.
The key point is that depth of field is not determined by aperture alone. It also depends heavily on camera-to-subject distance. At close distances, f/1.4 can be extremely thin and unforgiving. From farther away, much more of the subject can be acceptably sharp even at f/1.4.
So f/1.4 is less suitable when you need a lot of the scene in focus, or when you are very close to the subject and precise focus is critical. But it is very useful when light is limited, when you want strong background blur, or when your subject distance and composition still give enough depth of field.
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