On 23 Sep 2005 at 20:31, Shel Belinkoff wrote: > I'm using this car for a while and decided a little snap was in order. I > used the 77mm lens on the DS, and found the perspective pleasing. However, > the > sharpness of the license plate and deck emblem leaves something to be > desired. > I'm hoping someone (perhaps Paul) can offer a suggestion as to what aperture > and > focus point might best provide some sharper results. This was shot at 1/800 @ > f8.0, and the focus point was at about the rear door handle. > > http://home.earthlink.net/~scbelinkoff/bmw.html
As a snap I don't find the focus problematic, even much larger it wouldn't be too irritating but I guess it's not the type of shot you'd be wanting to make a poster from in any case. If I were out to make a shot which was sharp back to front I would be shooting using a tripod for one and probably at f16 or greater if using a camera with an APS sized sensor. The general rule of thumb for optimising focus would suggest that the absolute plane of focus should lie around 1/3 of the way into the required subject however if in this case the emblem needs to be sharp the focus plane should be brought a little more forward. I find that sharp lenses (like the 77mm) make DOF boundaries more obvious. I would have placed the plane of focus in a similar position to you in this particular shot and probably taken another at a different focal plane for a little cheap insurance. Dave told be that you'd purchased a DSLR when we caught up in Perth, he didn't have to revive me but it was a shock! BTW what's your exposure count so far? :-) Cheers, Rob Studdert HURSTVILLE AUSTRALIA Tel +61-2-9554-4110 UTC(GMT) +10 Hours [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://members.ozemail.com.au/~distudio/publications/ Pentax user since 1986, PDMLer since 1998
