Focussing distance for greatest depth of field

Patrick · Post by **Patrick** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 2:00 am

Howdy, I was wondering what distance setting I should set the focussing ring on my Minolta XL 400 (in feet) in order to gain as much depth of field as possible. The working aperture will be roughly between f8 and f5.6. What Im doing is holding the camera firmly against the handlebar of my bike while riding through city streets shooting at 1 fps. I have never seen the whole 'video clip' of Madonna's Little Ray of Light song but I would love to recreate that same effect. obviously, doing this on a bike wouldnt be as smooth though.[/i]

Post by **Actor** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 4:37 am

My Elmo 612 has a "Fixed Focus" feature which locks the focusing ring at 15 ft and limits the zoom lens to less than 15mm. This is supposed to give a depth of field that extends from a few feet in front of the camera to infinity. I'm guessing that these settings would give similar results for your camera or at least provide a starting point for experimentation.

Post by **tim** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 8:59 am

There are tables of depth of field as functions of lens aperture and distance in the Articles section of this site!

Post by **souper8** » Sat Jan 04, 2003 10:38 am

My Nizo 801 macro fixed focus is also at 15 and 15mm. The 15/15 markings on the lens is colored red instead of green as a reminder.