Problem obtaining adequate depth of field with field camera

[Andrew Bennett]

Hi
I would be very grateful for any advice on how to obtain adequate depth of firld with my field camera. I am using a Tachihara 5 x 4 camera and on this occasion a Fuji 135mm f 5.6 wide-angle lens. I attach a photo taken with my phone of the subject. The camera to subject distance was about five feet. The camera was pointed down at an angle of about 40 degrees. The exposure was 1/15 at f32 and was taken on Ilford FP4+. The focus point was on one of the central logs.

When I processed the negative I was disappointed to see that the foreground was not adequately shorp and the background even more so. The centre section was pin sharp.

I have read the relevant section Ansel Adams' book 'The Camera' until I think I could recite it word for word ! Initially, I tried levelling the back plate until it was vertical, as suggested in the Master's book as the correct technique when the camera is pointed down. However, I was totally unable to acquire any kind of satisfactory focus when focusing on the ground glass. In the end I gave up trying to use movements at all and simply hoped that f32 would provide sufficient depth of field. I tried stopping down the lens when checking the focus, but obviously it's hard to see clearly at f32.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

Andrew Bennett

[Mark Stahlke]

It sounds like you needed a little front tilt.

[fotopfw]

Indeed front tilt, but putting you film holder vertical makes it more difficult to obtain Scheimplug's planes. You are going to need even more front tilt. It is mandatory if you want to retain the right perspective, but in landscapes, who notices that?

[Peter De Smidt]

Keeping the back plumb is important for photos with parallel vertical lines, but it's not very important in other situations. In this case, it wasn't needed. So, point the camera straight at the subject, and then use some front or back tilt to give the plane of focus that you desire.

[Vaughn]

I agree...just a little front tilt was all it needed -- and be focused at the proper place in the scene. A visual method of noticing if you have the focus plane in the best place is to look carefully at your GG and start reducing the aperture -- both far and near should come into focus at the same time. If the far comes into focus first, you are focused to far out...etc.

[Alan9940]

When pointing the camera down at your subject, do not move the rear standard; tilt the front standard forward (a little tilt goes a long way.) To obtain focus, what I do (taught by my mentor) is focus on the background before beginning the tilt, then slowly tilt simultaneously refocusing to keep the background sharp. When the foreground is sharp, you're done. This is harder to write, then to do. If the subject plane is mostly flat, as in the attached image, then you can choose whatever aperture you want/need. If there are some vertical elements, then you'll need to adjust focus and stop the lens down to obtain DOF. Depending on the height of vertical elements, you may not be able to obtain critical focus over the entire subject; at which point you need to decide what's important and needs to be in sharp focus or, maybe, camera movements won't work in this instance and you need to resort to neutral standards and using DOF to obtain best focus. It's a learning process, but once you have it down it will become second nature.

[Bruce Watson]

Keeping the back plumb is important for photos with parallel vertical lines, but it's not very important in other situations. In this case, it wasn't needed. So, point the camera straight at the subject, and then use some front or back tilt to give the plane of focus that you desire.

Exactly this.

There are learning curves associated with learning camera movements. Initially it can be frustrating, but at some point most of us have an "aha moment" where it all clicks together. After that, it's just fun stuff, and your image is an illustration of the kind of image that's fun after you've learned movements.

And you if you stick with it, you'll find images that demand it all. That is, movements to get near and far points in the same plane of focus, then moving the whole plane to a mid point between spaces front and back that you also want in focus, then stopping down to bring the front and back points into focus. Those images are more challenging. But to get to them, you have to master your example.

I'm just sayin' to keep at it. It'll all make sense in the end. If you make enough photographs, it'll become automatic. Sorta like looking at the ground glass and having it look normal to you instead of upside down and backwards.

The more LF photographs you make, the better you get at LF.

[Andrew Bennett]

Hi
I would be very grateful for any advice on how to obtain adequate depth of firld with my field camera. I am using a Tachihara 5 x 4 camera and on this occasion a Fuji 135mm f 5.6 wide-angle lens. I attach a photo taken with my phone of the subject. The camera to subject distance was about five feet. The camera was pointed down at an angle of about 40 degrees. The exposure was 1/15 at f32 and was taken on Ilford FP4+. The focus point was on one of the central logs.

When I processed the negative I was disappointed to see that the foreground was not adequately shorp and the background even more so. The centre section was pin sharp.

I have read the relevant section Ansel Adams' book 'The Camera' until I think I could recite it word for word ! Initially, I tried levelling the back plate until it was vertical, as suggested in the Master's book as the correct technique when the camera is pointed down. However, I was totally unable to acquire any kind of satisfactory focus when focusing on the ground glass. In the end I gave up trying to use movements at all and simply hoped that f32 would provide sufficient depth of field. I tried stopping down the lens when checking the focus, but obviously it's hard to see clearly at f32.

Any advice would be most welcome.

Thanks

Andrew Bennett

[Andrew Bennett]

Thank you to everybody who has replied. It always astonishes me how quickly people respond on this forum and the care and thought which goes into the replies.
The answer seems to be-forward tilt and don't worry about levelling the back unless you have parallel verticals.
It's easy for me to retake this photo so I will persevere with these new insights.
Thanks again.

Andrew Bennett

[Bob Salomon]

Thank you to everybody who has replied. It always astonishes me how quickly people respond on this forum and the care and thought which goes into the replies.
The answer seems to be-forward tilt and don't worry about levelling the back unless you have parallel verticals.
It's easy for me to retake this photo so I will persevere with these new insights.
Thanks again.

Andrew Bennett

Whenever you tilt or swing the back you change the shape of the subject and control the plane of sharp focus. Doing the same on the front does not change subject shape.
Photographing buildings is only one reason to use back tilts.