Why does the viewfinder show more depth of field than the final photo at f/2.8?
Asked 10/21/2012
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I’m shooting flowers on a Canon T3i with a lens set wide open at f/2.8 to get a soft background. The final images show shallower depth of field than what I seem to see through the optical viewfinder.
I expected an SLR viewfinder to show “what you see is what you get,” especially since I’m already at the lens’s maximum aperture. Is it normal for the optical viewfinder to make more of the scene look in focus than the finished image, or should depth of field match more closely?
Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
Photography Stack Exchange contributor
13y ago
2 Answers
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As Mike Johnston explains the viewfinders, the focusing screens used in modern cameras tend to be made super-bright in order to accommodate the slow zoom lenses that often get connected, but this brighter construction (like an array of miniature lenses, or a bunch of very short fiber-optic cables) also makes much of the image to appear in focus, much more so than on final image. So the apparent depth of field is larger than on resulting photo by design.
If you want a truer representation, use Live View or a custom focusing screen (tuned for manual focusing, usually with split prisms).
Originally by user4390. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0
user4390
13y ago
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Generated from our catalog & community — verify before relying on it.
Yes—this is normal. An SLR optical viewfinder is very good for framing and composition, but it often does not show depth of field as accurately as the final image.
Two main reasons:
- Focusing screen design: Modern DSLR focusing screens are made very bright so slower kit zooms remain easy to use. A side effect is that they make more of the scene appear in focus than it really is, especially with fast lenses like f/2.8.
- Viewing conditions: Depth of field depends on how large the image is viewed. The viewfinder image is small, so blur is less obvious there than in a larger final image on a screen or print.
So even at f/2.8, it’s common for the final photo to look shallower than the optical finder suggests.
If you want a closer preview, use Live View or the camera’s depth-of-field preview button. Some cameras also accept alternative focusing screens that show shallow DOF more accurately, though they usually make the finder dimmer.
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