Depth of field comparison EX1 and Z1. Please help! at DVinfo.net

Silas Barker · April 14th, 2010, 11:51 PM

I am looking for some still images that show the depth of field on the EX1 camera.
Does anyone have some nice headshots of an actor from different distances away with a nice DOF?

Please email some samples to silasbarker@ymail.com

Thanks in advance!

Tom Hardwick · April 15th, 2010, 02:53 AM

You want to see the dof on an EX1 camera Silas? You mean minimum dof when you say 'nice'? Seems an odd request because it depends on focal length, aperture, closeness of subject, distance to background and so on. Same applies to the Z1. The Z1 can have less dof than the Ex1 with just a small difference in any one of the above settings.

tom.

Harry Christensen · April 15th, 2010, 03:31 AM

I suspect that his question is more related to any difference between the 1/3 and the 1/2 inch chips in these cameras. I believe that any differences are made up by the settings Tom related in his post. My experience between the Z7 and the EX3 has been similar. In other words I could control DOF with both cameras to my satisfaction.

Piotr Wozniacki · April 15th, 2010, 04:21 AM

Heck, even with my old good V1E (just 1/4" sensors) I could effectively control DoF...

Tom is quite right that apart from the sensor size, a lot of other factors influence the DoF at any given moment, on any given camera.

Tom Hardwick · April 15th, 2010, 04:26 AM

Thing to remember is that the smaller the chip, the harder you've got to work to limit your dof - and that's the bottom line. With 6x6 cameras you were always struggling to get enough dof; with 1"/8 chipped phone-cams you'll never differentiate the foreground from the background.

tom.

Kevin Spahr · April 15th, 2010, 06:30 AM

Silas, here's an example done with my EX3. It's not a head shot but show a pretty small DoF:

Depth of Field

(You can download the full size file for a closer look.)

Silas Barker · April 15th, 2010, 10:49 AM

Thanks everyone,
I realize that shooting at different distances changes the DOF.

I am really looking to just see still image samples.

Please email a few at silasbarker@ymail.com

And yes I want to see the difference with the 1/2" chips.

Love to see how much DOF you can get in an outside shot (howevere far the actor is)

Vito DeFilippo · April 15th, 2010, 11:30 AM

Silas, are you asking how easy it is to get a short depth of field on the Z1 in comparison to the EX1?

And for the record, it's confusing when posters ask "how much depth of field can I get?" when really what they mean is "how little." If you want to have your subject in focus and the background blurred, you're looking for a SHORT depth of field.

Silas Barker · April 19th, 2010, 05:37 PM

Thats correct, how shallow of depth of field, sorry.

Anyways email images to
silasbarker@ymail.com

Gotten nothing from anyone yet.....

Also does anyone see an increase in business from having the EX rather then Z1 or Z5 or similar?

Annen James · April 19th, 2010, 08:27 PM

Are you looking for a measurement, or a number?? Back the camera up, zoom it in, open the iris, and pow.

Silas Barker · April 19th, 2010, 08:33 PM

Wow.

I am not sure how many times I need to say it:

I am looking for some still images that show the depth of field on the EX1 camera.
Does anyone have some nice headshots of an actor from different distances away with a nice SHALLOW DOF?

Please email some samples to silasbarker@ymail.com

Thanks in advance!

Annen James · April 19th, 2010, 08:41 PM

Wow.
Not a headshot but an example of DOF on an EX1. Picky...

David C. Williams · April 19th, 2010, 08:56 PM

Shooting different distances, but maintaining the same frame on the subject doesn't change DoF by more than a few percent. What it does is narrow the field of view, and a slightly blurred background stretches to fill the frame giving the illusion of less DoF. It's not a true increase, but it works. Zooming does decreases DoF, but DoF increases with distance to subject in focus, so they almost cancel each other out.

There are plenty of head shots on my website, the galleries shot with my EX3 are clearly labelled.

Tom Hardwick · April 20th, 2010, 12:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Silas Barker

does anyone see an increase in business from having the EX rather then Z1 or Z5 or similar?

Give up on the dof quest Silas, there are just too many variables, really there are. But that's a good question of yours (above). I'm guessing the answer will be not many. My clients buy my interpersonal skills as much as my knowledge of mic techniques, camera control, editing and distribution. A Z1 looks very little different to an EX1 on the tripod, though of course we (the pixel-peepers) all know it produces startlingly better results.

tom.

Serena Steuart · April 20th, 2010, 02:08 AM

DOF depends on magnification, f/stop, and the diameter of the circle of confusion. So if you keep the last two constant, magnification is the variable of interest. Your head shot (subject) is a given size, so the magnification (to fill the frame to the same extent) is related to the sensor size. The relative magnification for the EX1 to the Z1 is 0.5 inches to 0.333 inches (0.50/0.333). Applying the usual formulas tells you that the ex1 will give you a DOF 44% of the Z1's DOF (all apertures). Of course the Z1 will suffer more diffraction softening, so at smaller apertures the difference may appear greater.
The native resolution of the sensor and how the camera processes the image also affects the perceived DOF, as does the quality of the lens, subject lighting, and viewing conditions.

April 14th, 2010, 11:51 PM	#1
Silas Barker Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 577	Depth of field comparison EX1 and Z1. Please help! I am looking for some still images that show the depth of field on the EX1 camera. Does anyone have some nice headshots of an actor from different distances away with a nice DOF? Please email some samples to silasbarker@ymail.com Thanks in advance!

April 15th, 2010, 04:21 AM	#4
Piotr Wozniacki Inner Circle Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Poland Posts: 4,086	Heck, even with my old good V1E (just 1/4" sensors) I could effectively control DoF... Tom is quite right that apart from the sensor size, a lot of other factors influence the DoF at any given moment, on any given camera. __________________ Sony PXW-FS7 \| DaVinci Resolve Studio; Magix Vegas Pro; i7-5960X CPU; 64 GB RAM; 2x GTX 1080 8GB GPU; Decklink 4K Extreme 12G; 4x 3TB WD Black in RAID 0; 1TB M.2 NVMe cache drive

April 15th, 2010, 11:30 AM	#8
Vito DeFilippo Trustee Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Montreal, Quebec Posts: 1,585	Silas, are you asking how easy it is to get a short depth of field on the Z1 in comparison to the EX1? And for the record, it's confusing when posters ask "how much depth of field can I get?" when really what they mean is "how little." If you want to have your subject in focus and the background blurred, you're looking for a SHORT depth of field. __________________ . http://www.nosmallroles.com

April 19th, 2010, 08:27 PM	#10
Annen James Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ogden Posts: 161	Are you looking for a measurement, or a number?? Back the camera up, zoom it in, open the iris, and pow. Attached Thumbnails

April 19th, 2010, 08:56 PM	#13
David C. Williams Major Player Join Date: Jun 2008 Location: melb.vic.au Posts: 447	Shooting different distances, but maintaining the same frame on the subject doesn't change DoF by more than a few percent. What it does is narrow the field of view, and a slightly blurred background stretches to fill the frame giving the illusion of less DoF. It's not a true increase, but it works. Zooming does decreases DoF, but DoF increases with distance to subject in focus, so they almost cancel each other out. There are plenty of head shots on my website, the galleries shot with my EX3 are clearly labelled. __________________ www.davidwilliams.com.au

April 15th, 2010, 02:53 AM	#2
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	You want to see the dof on an EX1 camera Silas? You mean minimum dof when you say 'nice'? Seems an odd request because it depends on focal length, aperture, closeness of subject, distance to background and so on. Same applies to the Z1. The Z1 can have less dof than the Ex1 with just a small difference in any one of the above settings. tom.

April 15th, 2010, 03:31 AM	#3
Harry Christensen Regular Crew Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Bozeman MT Posts: 50	I suspect that his question is more related to any difference between the 1/3 and the 1/2 inch chips in these cameras. I believe that any differences are made up by the settings Tom related in his post. My experience between the Z7 and the EX3 has been similar. In other words I could control DOF with both cameras to my satisfaction.

April 15th, 2010, 04:26 AM	#5
Tom Hardwick Inner Circle Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Billericay, England UK Posts: 4,711	Thing to remember is that the smaller the chip, the harder you've got to work to limit your dof - and that's the bottom line. With 6x6 cameras you were always struggling to get enough dof; with 1"/8 chipped phone-cams you'll never differentiate the foreground from the background. tom.

April 15th, 2010, 06:30 AM	#6
Kevin Spahr Major Player Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Carlisle, PA Posts: 451	Silas, here's an example done with my EX3. It's not a head shot but show a pretty small DoF: Depth of Field (You can download the full size file for a closer look.)

April 15th, 2010, 10:49 AM	#7
Silas Barker Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 577	Thanks everyone, I realize that shooting at different distances changes the DOF. I am really looking to just see still image samples. Please email a few at silasbarker@ymail.com And yes I want to see the difference with the 1/2" chips. Love to see how much DOF you can get in an outside shot (howevere far the actor is)

April 19th, 2010, 05:37 PM	#9
Silas Barker Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 577	Thats correct, how shallow of depth of field, sorry. Anyways email images to silasbarker@ymail.com Gotten nothing from anyone yet..... Also does anyone see an increase in business from having the EX rather then Z1 or Z5 or similar?

April 19th, 2010, 08:33 PM	#11
Silas Barker Major Player Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sacramento, California Posts: 577	Wow. I am not sure how many times I need to say it: I am looking for some still images that show the depth of field on the EX1 camera. Does anyone have some nice headshots of an actor from different distances away with a nice SHALLOW DOF? Please email some samples to silasbarker@ymail.com Thanks in advance!

April 19th, 2010, 08:41 PM	#12
Annen James Regular Crew Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Ogden Posts: 161	Wow. Not a headshot but an example of DOF on an EX1. Picky...

April 20th, 2010, 02:08 AM	#15
Serena Steuart Major Player Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Studio Alnitak, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Posts: 640 Images: 3	DOF depends on magnification, f/stop, and the diameter of the circle of confusion. So if you keep the last two constant, magnification is the variable of interest. Your head shot (subject) is a given size, so the magnification (to fill the frame to the same extent) is related to the sensor size. The relative magnification for the EX1 to the Z1 is 0.5 inches to 0.333 inches (0.50/0.333). Applying the usual formulas tells you that the ex1 will give you a DOF 44% of the Z1's DOF (all apertures). Of course the Z1 will suffer more diffraction softening, so at smaller apertures the difference may appear greater. The native resolution of the sensor and how the camera processes the image also affects the perceived DOF, as does the quality of the lens, subject lighting, and viewing conditions.