# Bluring



## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

How do i take photos where lets say its a person, there face is the focus, but the surroundings is slightly blurred?

_Thanks In Advance_


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## robj20 (Jan 20, 2009)

larger aperture


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## Archer189 (Jun 28, 2010)

If you have an SLR then you need to select a low 'F' no. f5.6 and below on your lens. This will limit the depth of field. A high number f22 or above etc will give a large amount of depth of field. A high number will slow shutter speed down. If your camera is not an SLR then try and select portrait option or something similar.


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Its not a SLR, but the TZ10 does have Exposure on it, and you can clearly see it goes below f.5.6

As shown on the video here. At 14:00 mins


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## silenec (Apr 11, 2010)

Use maximum zoom and the lowest f x.x value possible:thumb:


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

so drop it as far as it goes and you'll maybe get the DoF you want. Be careful, though, as you might only get the nose in focus and not the ears..... I had this on a 7D in video mode last week at f4. OK, we were working pretty close, but still...

I'll demo this in a sec with f2.8 and f8 at working distances from the end of the lens to the object of around 1 foot. Distance also makes a difference. If you want minimum DoF, get up close. If you want maximum, walk away and use zoom.

Bret


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

So, the samples:



















Bret


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Thanks guys, so i need to play around with the Fx.x then?


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## bretti_kivi (Apr 22, 2008)

yes. the top pic is f8, the lower one f2.8. You can see that the text is already blurred on the f2.8 one - and the countersinks in the bottom left of the pic are for an M4 screw. So the word "input" is around 15mm / 3/4" long.

Bret


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## David 1150 (Jun 6, 2009)

It'll also help to have some distance between your subjuect and the background, space permitting.


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Done a little more reading tonight after having a play with them both today.

The Maximum Lens Aperture on the HX5 is 3.5-5.5

On the TZ10, it is 3.3-4.9

Will this be sufficient to take photos where it focus's on the face and background is a little blured?


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

use portrait setting it will automatically do it for you.

Test shot in Jessops last week with gf1 and 20mm pancake lense focused on grid infront of 4 of 42.


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)




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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

3.5 will get a little blurring. It'll only shoot at 3.5 at the wider focal lengths though. At 5.5 I don't think you'll get what you're looking for. You can always add a little in your image editing software however :thumb:


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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

vxrmarc said:


> Test shot in Jessops last week with gf1 and 20mm pancake lense focused on grid infront of 4 of 42.


That's a good sharp image. Is that unprocessed?


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Heres a few from my 35mm f1.8. Awesome for shallow Depth Of field and Bokeh












































Phil


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Those photos you have done, will i be able to something like that with the Aperture stated in the OP?


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## mattsbmw (Jul 20, 2008)

Some great advice above, you could also cheat and blur them in photoshop


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## Guest (Dec 5, 2010)

You might have problems due to your sensor size. Depth Of Field (DOF) is also affected by the format (size of the sensor) used. Your point and shoot camera will have a much smaller sensor than a DSLR, and will thus require a much larger aperture (at the same focal length as the DSLR) to give the same DOF.

A small snippet from Wikipedia:


> Advantages and disadvantages of greater DOF
> The greater DOF with the smaller format when taking the "same picture" can be either an advantage or a disadvantage, depending on the desired effect. For the same amount of foreground and background blur, a small-format camera requires a smaller f-number and allows a shorter exposure time than a large-format camera; however, many point-and-shoot digital cameras cannot provide a very shallow DOF. For example, a point-and-shoot digital camera with a 1/1.8″ sensor (7.18 mm × 5.32 mm) at a normal focal length and f/2.8 has the same DOF as a 35 mm camera with a normal lens at f/13.


The TZ10 has a 1/2.3" sensor, which has a crop factor scaling of 5.6. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image_sensor_format. This means you aperture will need to be around 5 1/2 stops smaller (wider) than a 35mm camera to get a similar effect. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number. 
For example, you probably could not reproduce the images that GIZTO29 has posted because your camera could not get a wide enough aperture.


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## butcher (Sep 3, 2010)

wiki said:


> For example, a point-and-shoot digital camera with a 1/1.8″ sensor (7.18 mm × 5.32 mm) at a normal focal length and f/2.8 has the same DOF as a 35 mm camera with a normal lens at f/13


I never knew this. In that case you're probably screwed.

The images that Gizto posted up are at f1.8. Which is pretty fast. Without spending quite a lot of money, you'll only get that kinda speed with an SLR and a prime lens (non-zoom). Which is exactly the route that Gizto has taken.

You'd get a less pronounced, but similar, and still quite satisfying effect at around f2.8, f3.5, which you'll find more common place in the more affordable range of lenses. At least those with shorter focal lengths anyway.

But with the sensor size having it's opinion on the matter, as Phisp pointed out, it looks like you might struggle to get close with a low-end point and shoot. Maybe a bridge camera would do better?


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## Katana (Mar 31, 2007)

If you had a camera that could accept screw in filters i'd normally recommend a cheap (£10) set of +1/2/4/10 close up filters, though the +1 is usually good enough. That is usually the cheapest way of getting shallower depth of field with a smaller aperture lens, you could probably just buy a cheap +1 and +2 close up filter and hold it in front of the TZ10 and get the effect, though i haven't tested this myself.

The only way to improve the chances of doing it normally are to stand back and zoom in with a tight focus on the object you are shooting, but like the others have said it's quite hard due the camera's sensor limitations.


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

I bought this lens specifically for bokeh, blurring and shallow depth of field.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
This is the sort of photo i like...

__
https://flic.kr/p/4760375372

Once you get to such a large aperture (small f number) its easy to mess things up like in my 3rd photo where one eye is out of focus lol. That was me trying it for the 1st time....
I have to say though i have a TZ7 and it can do it but not to this degree. It does it for example if i take a photo of beading on my roof in Macro setting. 
Phil


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

Phil, basically what your saying is, i need to get the F.no as low as possible, and to a certain extent i will get a little bluring?

It is not a major thing for me to get blured pictures, i just thought if i was speding £200, would either camera be able to do it?


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

mattastra said:


> Phil, basically what your saying is, i need to get the F.no as low as possible, and to a certain extent i will get a little bluring?
> 
> It is not a major thing for me to get blured pictures, i just thought if i was speding £200, would either camera be able to do it?


Also try and get some depth between the subject and the background and use the zoom. Theres vids on youtube showing you how for example if it were a portrait get the person to stand away from a background and use the lowest f setting. 
Phil


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

Heres another off the 35mm Prime f1.8








Phil


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## Matt. (Aug 26, 2007)

On which camera Phil?


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## HeavenlyDetail (Sep 22, 2006)

If its a prime lense at f1.8 it wont be a point and shoot compact  id hazard a guess on a redring.


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## nickfrog (Nov 29, 2010)

Or a Tilt-shift lens on a SLR would help.


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## GIZTO29 (May 8, 2009)

mattastra said:


> On which camera Phil?


Sorry, its the same lens as the others on my D5000 DSLR.


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## Katana (Mar 31, 2007)

Yeah i got the same D5000 + 35mm 1.8 combo, couple of ones with the effect, second one is slightly unreal but apart from cropping/resize it's unaltered. The camera on the tripod is a agfa billy record ii (6x9 folder).


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## MARKETMAN (Aug 22, 2006)

Heres and example of using Canon 7d and 70-200 shot a f2.8 and zoom at 200, will give the desired effect too.








[/URL] IMG_9009 by cmwimaging, on Flickr[/IMG]


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