Christian Photographers Community

Photography~Technically Speaking => Cameras~Digital or Film => Topic started by: kittykins on September 01, 2010, 02:12:41 AM

Title: Help - SDOF with point & shoot?
Post by: kittykins on September 01, 2010, 02:12:41 AM
I haven't posted here in a LONG time! But I just bought a Canon Powershoot SX120 IS. (someday I will get a DSLR!)

I've noticed that if I want to do portraits, the automatic setting does not have a very shallow depth of field. Is there anything I can do to manually set it to get this effect? I'm not sure if this is much more difficult than it would be with a DSLR.

Also, I'm trying to photograph a very active toddler. lol Is it more difficult to get clear focus when shooting SDOF when the subject is moving quickly?
Title: Re: Help - SDOF with point & shoot?
Post by: ChevyGal on September 06, 2010, 01:09:03 AM
Get out your instructions and see if you can adjust your f-stop. For example, your f-stop might be at f5.6 that you are shooting at right now. See if you can set the number higher which would increase your depth of field.

The bigger the number the more depth you get. However remember the bigger the number the smaller the opening becomes letting less light in. So if you are shooting in a low light situation, adjust your shutter speed and ISO as needed. Less light means movement can become blurred easier and you can suffer from camera shake.

As for the moving toddler, having a point and shoot will make it harder from the get go. They all have a little delay. Some worse than others. If you have a wider depth of field, you'll probably have better results. My advise use some of the steps from above to adjust as needed. You really won't know what works best for your camera until you see what the settings do. Then you can match settings to results and go from there.

Hope this helps.  :)
Title: Re: Help - SDOF with point & shoot?
Post by: JudyB on September 06, 2010, 09:42:35 AM
Thank you for the help here.  I too have a point and shoot and have wondered how to make it work better.