Why am I not getting very blurry backgrounds at f/1.8 with a 35mm lens?
Asked 1/9/2011
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I’m shooting at the maximum aperture of f/1.8 with a 35mm prime, but when my subject is about 1–2 feet in front of the background, the background still isn’t as blurry as I expect. In example photos I like, the subject is sharp but parts of the subject and background fall out of focus very quickly. I assumed f/1.8 would always give a very thin depth of field. What factors am I missing, and what would help me get stronger background blur at short distances behind the subject?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
15y ago
2 Answers
15
The subject distance is much closer in the dog picture. DOF decreases rapidly with closer subject distance.
Spend an afternoon on:
http://www.dofmaster.com/dofjs.html
Trying different settings and you'll soon get a feel for how to minimise DOF.
Originally by user1375. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user1375
15y ago
0
Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
A wide aperture helps, but depth of field also depends heavily on subject distance, focal length, and sensor size.
Why the example looks blurrier:
- The camera may be much closer to the subject.
- A longer lens (for example 85mm vs 35mm) gives shallower depth of field.
- A wider aperture (f/1.4 vs f/1.8) also helps.
- A full-frame camera can give shallower depth of field than a crop sensor at the same framing.
So f/1.8 on a 35mm lens does not automatically mean “razor thin” depth of field, especially if the subject is not very close or the background is only a foot or two behind them.
To increase blur:
- Move closer to the subject.
- Increase the distance between subject and background.
- Use a longer focal length such as 50mm or 85mm.
- Use the widest aperture available.
If you want strong blur with a background only about 1 foot behind the subject, that’s difficult with a 35mm lens unless you are extremely close. A longer, faster lens is usually the better tool.
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