Depth of Field and Compact Digital Cameras

If your primary or secondary camera is a compact digital camera, you may be feeling a bit left out of this discussion because you may not have the exposure controls that more advanced cameras offer, and thus have far less ability to manipulate depth of field. But that might not be your only problem. Because of the small sensor size in most (not all) compact cameras, they only use the central portion of the lens — the sharpest area optically — and these two things combine to create an almost limitless amount of depth of field in most situations, as shown in my shot of Utah’s Monument Valley (see 4-22). That’s a good thing provided you want a lot of depth of field. But on the other hand, if you’re trying to limit the zone of sharpness, it ca....