it relates to all Photography and I am not talking about depth of field I am talking about curve of field. I agree that its not the format but rather the Photographer. this is an issue we can all agree on and the basics are always worth repeating.
all the books refer to the "image circle" as two dimensional but optically the "image sphere" is three. this is why wide angle close up Portraits distort and are in general unflattering. for that reason I don't think I was that far off topic (hate when that happens!)
dickwilber wrote:
Wow, how esoteric! And how unrelated to portrait photography. 1) I'm using Nikon lenses with great fat "sweet spots"; 2) I may need to defocus or use a diffusion filter to obtain the most attractive portrait of my subject (obscure the pores and blemishes). Your argument is strong, and persuasive, for document copy, and similar uses where exacting precision is important, but not for portraiture. My statement stands: "It ain't the format, it's the photographer!"
I have great respect for Hasselblad, their technology is second to none. I have sat through presentations by Hasselblad Reps and don't remember discussion of the circle of acceptable focus being a primary issue. They did emphasize their square format for viewing and for versatility, cropping easily to either horizontal or vertical.
I'd love to follow up on your argument, that the APS-c format provides some image quality advantage, but I don't believe this thread is the place. The question that started this was which format would give kwbybee the best portraits. And I stand firm: the format kwbybee has! Worry about lighting, posing, etc., etc., not format!
Wow, how esoteric! And how unrelated to portrait ... (
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