Depth of Field - Factors Affecting Depth of Field

Factors Affecting Depth of Field

Several other factors, such as subject matter, movement, camera-to-subject distance, lens focal length, selected lens f-number, format size, and circle of confusion criterion also influence when a given defocus becomes noticeable. The combination of focal length, subject distance, and format size defines magnification at the film / sensor plane.

DOF is determined by subject magnification at the film / sensor plane and the selected lens aperture or f-number. For a given f-number, increasing the magnification, either by moving closer to the subject or using a lens of greater focal length, decreases the DOF; decreasing magnification increases DOF. For a given subject magnification, increasing the f-number (decreasing the aperture diameter) increases the DOF; decreasing f-number decreases DOF.

If the original image is enlarged to make the final image, the circle of confusion in the original image must be smaller than that in the final image by the ratio of enlargement. Cropping an image and enlarging to the same size final image as an uncropped image taken under the same conditions is equivalent to using a smaller format under the same conditions, so the cropped image has less DOF. (Stroebel 1976, 134, 136–37).

When focus is set to the hyperfocal distance, the DOF extends from half the hyperfocal distance to infinity, and the DOF is the largest possible for a given f-number.