7D DOF - is it satysfying?

So, as promised I will write about a first thing I checked once my 7D was here. Is DOF shallow enough?

I really wanted it to be! So lets check it out.

SETTING

I decided to use dices to mark distance. Our object - a silver key - is our reference point.

First white dice in one centimeter behind the key. Second - with two dots is 2 cm behind the key and obviously 1 cm behind firts dice with one dot. The distance between the key and each white dice is marked by amount of dots.

Two red dices are 15 cm behind the key - one dot and five dots - simple right?

A book I'm reading now is 50 cm behind the key.

NON METRIC?
If you don't use metric system, then please know that 1cm = +- 0.4 inch, so 15 cm (red dices) are more or less half a feet away from the key, and the book is nearly 20 inches away.

QUESTION?
Can you guess what I read?

TEST 1
Let's use Canon EF-S 17-55mm 2.8 IS USM lens. I believe it is the best EF-S lens Canon made so far. I really like it and it is my favorite lens since I bought it yesterday. It costs around 1000$. That is 3300PLN if you live in Poland.

Important shopping tip: Never ever shop in your local store or any kind of media market. They tell you that they are cheap. Well... they lie! Especially big media markets. Go online and use some price comparison engine - you can really save a lot of money this way.

Ok - lets see a movie! Aperture wide open at 2.8. Focal length is 55mm. Watch in Full HD or at least 720 and make it full screen.





As you could see - a total range of sharpness is about 1cm (0.4") forward and backward. That gives us a 2 cm (0.8") wide DOF. Not bad, ha? Once we got to the red dices - nothing in the front was recognizable!

Also I have to say that manual focus ring is very comfortable on this lens - it's big and well placed - close to the camera's body. Really nice.

By the way - you could not recognize the title of the book, right?


TEST 2

But I can't spend a 1000$ on a lens! Sure - I would never spend that amount of money when I was starting my photography adventure. So let's try some cheaper glass. Let's say: EF 50mm 1.8

It cost 10 times less then the previous one - 100$ or 330PLN. Not very expensive.

Let's see a movie, but before we will let me say this: Buying photo equipment is like buying drugs. The longer you do it, the more yo need. One day you will buy 1000$ lenses! For sure. It is only a matter of time. Ok, you've been warned.

Apperture wide open at 1.8. Focal length 50mm.



As you could see with aperture at 1.8 DOF is even narrower. I would say it is 0.5 cm (0.2") forward and backward. That is 1 cm (0.4") total DOF! Neat.

Of course you must have noticed that a whole video was much more shaky. That's because this lens is much lighter. Light is bad. Memorize it. You want your equipment to be heavy! Why? More stable shooting and of course heavy gear is much cooler when you hand it to your friend:)

The problem with this lens is also this that it has a focus ring far upfront, like most lenses do. Bummer. But for this price? It's ok and with half a decent tripod you should have it stabilized enough to follow focus nicely.

And of course you have not recognized what am I reading!

TEST 3

Ok. But what if you don't want to buy an additional lens? What if you want to go with a 7D KIT lens? Well I don't own it but I have an old EOS 500N KIT lens. It is 28-80mm 3.5-5.6.

With focal length 50mm it has an apperture open to 4.5. It should be somehow similar in terms of DOF to this new 7D KITs. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Here we go.



Ok. Now we now know why KIT lenses are called that ugly. I don't know what KIT originally stands for but kit is a polish word for something rubbish or an obvious lie - like bullshit. I think you will agree with me that DOF with KIT lens is... well. Not so good.

It is obviously at least 2 cm (0.8") each way. 4 cm (1.6") total. And by the time we got to red dices you could have read the author's name on the cover. Then I showed it to you fully as the fun was over either way.

Yes - it was Hunter Thompson's Rum Diary! Good book I must say. I intend to finish it by the end of a week. Maybe I will drop a line about it.

CONCLUSION

So? Is DOF od 7D nice? Yes it is, especially if you pick a right lens. And with all this money you can save buying 7D instead of 5D you can get this fine 17-55 2.8 IS USM lens from TEST 1. That's what I did.

But well honestly - even with some straight awful KIT DOF is still not so bad. Remember that when you make a movie a few cm each way is not that much. You can always tell your actor to take a step or two away from the background. In my opinion a 5D DOF is not something you would miss.

7D is a winner!

Next test coming soon. What will it be about? I was told that my Rapid Fire and Z-finder are going to be delivered to me by the weekend. :)