Thought some here might enjoy this.Beats guessing and its free.Go to http://www.vangargoyl.com/dof.html

-- Al Henry (J Henry@provide.net), December 15, 2001

Answers

OUCH! Try this http://www.phototeck.com

-- Al Henry (J Henry@provide.net), December 15, 2001.

Sorry, Al. Couldn't get your link to work...? What is it? An online applet such as this here: http://www.photozone.de/depth.htm or an offline (aka "field") tool such as mine? BTW, I find photozone quite an instructive place for basics as well as information on equipment. There even is an online lens poll, with some slots to fill in the Leica section...;o) Cheers.

-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), December 15, 2001.

Well, Al

Good news, if the "all this and brains too"-trio is for free... but the guessing about where the "depth" lies, is still on. ;o)

-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), December 15, 2001.

Someone I met at a show had made a DOF calculator from a small pocket sliderule (remember those!). He'd sanded off the engravings and replaced them with tracings from 28, 35 and 50mm Leica lenses and used it in conjuction with the 1st-version Tri-Elmar. One of these days I'm going to make one for myself. It was a *lot* less confusing than the spiderweb lines on the 2nd version 3E.

-- Jay (infinitydt@aol.com), December 15, 2001.

Jay, what you describe sounds like the Kelly DOF-Guide (cinematography) design principle. What I didn't like was the unability to compare two focal lengths with the Kelly Guide. That's why I came up with my own. It's calculated for cinematographical circles of confusion and focal lengths but the design is universal and could easily be adapted for Leica primes. Provided hords of massively interested leicaphiles came banging against my door...;o)

-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), December 15, 2001.

OK On Atlantic Worldwide Models and photographers forum about 10 or 12 post down there is a post DOF calculator.This is where I came acrost it. Have it on my favorits even have a shortcut on my tool bar works fine. Just can't get there from here.Maybe you can. Athantics URL http://www.vangargoyle.com

-- Al Henry (J Henry@provide.net), December 15, 2001.

I don't use a calculator so much as a small table I create for lenses I want to pre-focus in zones when street shooting. I'm usually only really interested in DoF zones from 5' to infinity at f/11 ... everything else can be fudged from there. Here's two of mine:

Rollei 35S (Sonnar 40/2.8 lens)

f/11@focus	near	far
6 ft	4.9	9.5
18 ft	10	infinity

Fuji GA645 (Fujinon 60/4 lens)

f/11@focus	near	far
5 ft	4.2	6.1
7 ft	5.2	9.0
10 ft	7.0	17.0
30 ft	13.5	infinity

I find a little table like this to be incredibly simple, handy and fits on a tiny card stock which I laminate and keep in my pocket when I'm carrying a camera. I make one up for every camera/lens combination I might be zone focusing with. For more precision, heck, that's why the camera has a rangefinder, right? ;-)

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), December 17, 2001.

Well Godfrey, Some come without a rangefinder, like the wonderful Rollei 35 you mention... and sometimes the light changes (f11 is a wonderful aperture to stop worrying about dof, isn't it?) and so does the distance, not to mention the lens...;o) That's when my (see above) dof calculator comes in.

BTW, here's the back of my Plaubel Makina 67 which provided ample space for a dedicated dof table. I have one ready to print out from my hard disk for whoever might be interested. Cheers.





-- Lutz Konermann (lutz@konermann.net), December 17, 2001.

If you like using a PDA such as the Palm Pilot as a field tool, you might also find Bob Wheeler's Vade Mecum program useful. Although aimed at large-format work, it includes a DOF calculator, as well. It can be downloaded from the Software section on Mr. Wheeler's site.

I've found it to be very handy.

-- Ralph Barker (rbarker@pacbell.net), December 17, 2001.

Whew, Lutz!!! That's a heckuva table... Thank gods the Plaubel is big enough!!! ;-)

Seriously, my goal in having a DoF table is to remember the most used coverage when focusing by scale. I simplify my focus habits to "Lots of DOF" and "Little DOF", do the table just for f/11 because that way I can remember it easily.

I used to have one of the DoF calculators in my Palm, but I found I never used it. Too clumsy. If focus zone is that critical, I use an SLR to manage it directly...

The Kodak Pocket Photoguide is another excellent resource for a DoF calculator that is very handy. Lots of other handy info in there too. It's always in my kit bag.

-- Godfrey (ramarren@bayarea.net), December 17, 2001.