boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

With all the automatic features built into current DSLR cameras why is there no screen showing DOF info at various settings. all of the data is well known and covered by formulas. If a subject is moving to fast either toward or away from the camera then a NA (not available) notation could be shown. Seems to me that with the technology today this info should be easily included. Any thoughts?

banjonut Loc: Southern Michigan

Sounds like a great idea.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

How about the DOF preview button?

emmons267 Loc: Arizona, Valley of the Sun

I had a Canon T2i and 60D, and I didn't think either of the DOF previews worked that well. I'm sure there are some that have no problems at all.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I'm sure it varies according to the lens and the lighting.

joer Loc: Colorado/Illinois

Older lenses had this on the barrel. Apparently lens manufacturers thought most people would not miss it if eliminated otherwise they would have left it alone.

DOF preview is much better than a menu table or barrel scale.

BboH Loc: s of 2/21, Ellicott City, MD

Nikon's D3, D800 and D7100 have DOF preview buttons. Looking at the cameras from the front, it is the top button on the left

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I don't feel too stupid. I guess I should learn what I am talking about before I shoot my mouth off. There is a DOF preview on my Canon 7d. Please Ignore my previous post. RTFM comes to mind

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

LOL - don't be so hard on yourself, we all have those days :)

SonyA580 Loc: FL in the winter & MN in the summer

In the "old days" almost all lenses had a depth-of-field guide built into the top of the lens. It showed DOF for each f stop. I found it very handy but apparently it was felt to be unnecessary, or too expensive, by the manufacturers. Shame.

boberic Loc: Quiet Corner, Connecticut. Ex long Islander

I know, But I seem to have more of them the older I get

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

mfeveland,

Canon DSLR cameras do have an "Aperture Preview" button, it is on the body, on the left side near the bottom, where the lens attaches to the body.

It works in the same way as the older 35mm film cameras performed Aperture Preview, through the optical viewfinder. Normally, when your aperture is between f/2.0 - f/5.6 you will not see much of a change when pressing the button, but above f/8 you will notice a darkening of the scene, and if you have a split ficus screen, the center spot will turn black.

Young photographers with perfect vision can use the Preview bottom to gauge changes in DOF, but those in the senior years may have visual problems distinguishing the difference in DOF with elements in the far range.

Until lens manufactures get the message, and start including the DOF scales on their lens assemblies, like in the early 35mm years, we have an alternative, use older lenses with the scales and in manual mode.

There are several third party sources for adapters to attach various lens manufactures to our modern digital camera bodies, and that will take away the income source from stubborn lens manufacturers.

Michael G

Linda From Maine Loc: Yakima, Washington

Welcome to my world :)

Armadillo Loc: Ventura, CA

That depends on an individuals eyesight, and the size of the optical viewfinder. On most cameras the Aperture Preview button will not operate if the camera body is using "Live View".
Michael G

emmons267 Loc: Arizona, Valley of the Sun

[quote=Armadillo]"...
Young photographers with perfect vision can use the Preview bottom to gauge changes in DOF, but those in the senior years may have visual problems distinguishing the difference in DOF with elements in the far range..."


Apparently my eyes fall in the later category...chkl.