Guest Debbie F. Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I recently purchased the 50MM/1.4 lens for my Nikon D60. I read a lot of the posts here on this and thought it would be great, but obviously I have not figured out how to use it. I have been trying to take pictures w/o using the Auto mode and using the Aperature settings. I am finding that my whole picture is blurry a lot of the time. If I move it to Auto then everything is clear, including the background that I'm wanting to blur. Is there a simple explanation as to what I'm doing wrong. I've even switched to manual focus and it looks good when I look through the eye piece. TIA, Debbie F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 When you have your lens wide open (aperture 1.4) the depth of field is really shallow, so you have to make sure that what you want to be focused is in focus. (Even a face might not be totally clear at this aperture -- a nose or cheek bones might be in focus, but the ears might be blurry -- the depth of field is REALLY shallow at this setting.) With your D60, what you see through the lens should be what your picture looks like. When you set your camera to aperture priority mode, is your shutter speed 1/60 or faster? Anything slower than that requires a flash or a tripod to get a clear picture -- if your subject is moving with shutter speeds under 1/100 or so, it will be blurry, too. You are right that if you want to control depth of field, auto mode is not the way to go. I usually use aperture-priority mode for most of my shooting, too. I guess I would start with checking to see what your shutter speed is when you are shooting and if that doesn't fix it, post again and we'll figure it out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 This is an example of how shallow the depth of field is at 1.4: You can see how just my daughter's eyes, apples of her cheeks and some of her lips are in focus, but farther from that narrow focal point -- even before her ears, and closer than that narrow focal point -- the tip of her nose, she starts to get blurry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catinkeri Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 Debbie - don't you just LOVE SG. You put out a question and someone like Jennifer comes along and not only do they explain it to you, but they give you an example!! Wow!! Anyway - I don't have a Nikon or a 50mm/1.4 lens, but when I read your original post my immediate thought was 'write it down'. What you could do is take a photo on auto and see what settings it's using ... make a note of everything and then try it yourself on those particular settings. With such a great lens, you really want to make the most of it. The wonderful thing with digital though is you can take 300 photos and only use 2 or 3 of them! Play around and have fun. Look forward to seeing what you come up with and good luck with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debbie F. Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 This is an example of how shallow the depth of field is at 1.4: You can see how just my daughter's eyes, apples of her cheeks and some of her lips are in focus, but farther from that narrow focal point -- even before her ears, and closer than that narrow focal point -- the tip of her nose, she starts to get blurry. How far away were you from your daughter? Deb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debbie F. Posted January 31, 2010 Share Posted January 31, 2010 I didn't think about checking shutter speed. I thought that would take care of itself, but I will check that also. I also didn't think about checking the settings on Auto and trying to duplicate. A very good idea. Debbie F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 How far away were you from your daughter? Deb. Probably three or four feet -- no more than five. (With a 50mm fixed lens, the only zoom is "foot zoom" lol) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Debbie F. Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 How far away were you from your daughter? Deb. Probably three or four feet -- no more than five. (With a 50mm fixed lens, the only zoom is "foot zoom" lol) OK, maybe that's my problem. I'm up too close. I knew from reading here and other places that a foot was about was close as you could get and I guess I was thinking I should be that close. I'm going to have to try and move back. Thanks. Deb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenniferZ Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 That's a thought -- unless you have special macro lenses, your camera cannot focus on objects too close to the lens. I would say about two feet from an object would be the closest that my camera (Nikon D70s) can focus. And it's more like 3 or 4 with my little P&S. You have a great camera and a 50 mm 1.4 prime lens is a great one to have and use. Your camera will automatically set the shutter speed in Aperture Priority Mode, but it will not compensate for lighting, so along with making adjustments to your distance, take a look at your shutter speed. And if you can afford it, I would highly recommend purchasing a Nikon Speedlight as opposed to using your camera's onboard flash (or buying an off-brand flash that fits your camera). I have an SB-600 and I love it! I almost never use the onboard flash for photographs. When you get to this point in your photo-shooting career, let me know and I'll tell you all about the joys of bouncing light! LOL Let us know how you make out with your lens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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