DoF & Shutter speed Q

Johnytrout

Johnytrout

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If I set my Aperture DoF to max and want a very fast shutter speed.
How do I stop the shot from becoming dark without becoming to grainy.
I want some good clean shots of dragonflies in flight without the tail end of them being blurred
 
Johnytrout said:
If I set my Aperture DoF to max and want a very fast shutter speed.
How do I stop the shot from becoming dark without becoming to grainy.
I want some good clean shots of dragonflies in flight without the tail end of them being blurred
Click to expand...
Raise the ISO, Or add light.
 
Flash perhaps.
 
you wouldnt need max DoF as that would result in background being in focus too ( depending how close you are to subject as well ).

ideally depending on lens you want to go around 2 stops from bas for optimum sharpness while maintaining DoF and keeping subject in Focus.
also increasing ISO will help acheive Faster Shutter speed as well and of course a fast lens in the first place.

you dont state what lens or camera you are using so its hard to give specifics but generally around f/8 with a 1/1000th shutter speed ..( and the patience of a saint ) would be whats required.. shootung in servo mode too .
 
But if the OP is shooting dragon flies, he's going to have to be very close to get the subject occupying a decent part of the frame, and at those distances even f8 won't give a lot of DoF
 
depends on the lens . looking at there sig they have the 100-400 Lens so xould in fact use that at 400mm giving them some distance while filling the frame ( not the easiiest thing in the world to do thats for sure given the way the little buggers whizz around )
shooting at around f/8 with that lens would give you enough DOF to get the whole thing in focus but will be hard to get enough light in at around 1000th sec without having a high iso.
 
From my limited experience of not managing to photograph dragonflies in flight there's more to getting good shots than stopping down for max depth of field. Positioning so the insects come past side-on is one thing worth trying. There'll probably be more successful practitioners in the nature forum to offer advice IMO.
 
dean messenger said:
depends on the lens . looking at there sig they have the 100-400 Lens so xould in fact use that at 400mm giving them some distance while filling the frame ( not the easiiest thing in the world to do thats for sure given the way the little buggers whizz around )
shooting at around f/8 with that lens would give you enough DOF to get the whole thing in focus but will be hard to get enough light in at around 1000th sec without having a high iso.
Click to expand...

Which brings us right back to:...
Phil V said:
Raise the ISO, Or add light.
Click to expand...
 
doing some research on photographers who specialise in bugs and winged insects there is when shooting out in the field a lot of luck and patience involved too. angle of shot , using flash to "freeze" the moment, extension tubes, sitting patiently for hours and not staling them, watching there flight patterns, shooting continuous burst mode , ( some even preset a manual focus point ) its an art unto itself, hard enough getting them static let alone in flight. seems patience and being prepared to take plenty of shots before getting one is a huge element and one ive still yet to manage ( at least an in flight one.)
 
Without really wanting to get into another boring depth of field topic,

dean messenger said:
depends on the lens
Click to expand...

No it doesn't.

If you are,

dean messenger said:
filling the frame...
Click to expand...

Then you're filling the frame. The lens doesn't really matter. If you're magnifying a dragonfly enough to fill the frame, then you're going to have a pretty shallow depth of field without stopping down a lot. So the only option is to add a lot of light, given the OP's question of how to do it without adding noise.
 
maybe you should reread before misquoting. i stated depends on the lens in regard to the statement above that in regard to having to get very close to fill the frame.
the DOF comment was a seperate paragraph stating that around f/8 would give enough DOF to put the whole subject in focus..
honestly if your going to quote someone read through the whole thread first.
quite obviously if the object fills the whoel frame DOF is going to be the same however the longer lens will give a better chance to get the shot without causing to much disturbance hence why i stated shooting with the 400mm would be the best option and that a max dof is not required.
 
of course its relevant your hardly going to shoot with a 10-22 UWA and as the op has a Canon 18-55 kit lens > 75-300 zoom & EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM and stated using MAX DoF then distance between subject and the best DoF required is a major consideration.
having the correct DoF and lens will not only give the subject matter optimum in focus area while maintaining enough light and blurred background but also focal distance to allow the shot to be taken with minimal interference to the subject. picking the right lens of the 3 combined with the right DoF an essential part of getting the shot.
you would hardly shoot f/8 on the 18-55 lens as it would be highly unlikely you would be able to get close enough to fill the frame
 
dean messenger said:
you would hardly shoot f/8 on the 18-55 lens as it would be highly unlikely you would be able to get close enough to fill the frame
Click to expand...

That is the key point James was making. If you are filling the frame, which for dragonflies you probably want to be, the lens is irrelevant.
 
Depth of field is dependent on many things
1. Distance
2. Magnification
3. Effective aperture (which is NOT the same thing at all as the f/stop)

The focal length of the lens, make of the lens etc has nothing to do with it
 
Johnytrout said:
If I set my Aperture DoF to max and want a very fast shutter speed.
How do I stop the shot from becoming dark without becoming to grainy.
I want some good clean shots of dragonflies in flight without the tail end of them being blurred
Click to expand...

As Phil said, the answer is to add light, ie flash. There is no other option - and not at all easy ;)

Re DoF, if the subject is the same size on the sensor, then the only thing that affects DoF is the lens aperture.
 
My DoF was only in regard to the length of the dragon fly.
A lot of my close ups were only sharp in some places.
I needed to get more DoF, so I upped the F's which forced me to take down the shutter speed to keep the right balance.
But I needed more speed to take out the blur but taking the ISO up made it grainy.....Should I use flash
I'm still a novice at this so bear with me
 
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