Ok, I come from a technical / physics / lens theory background and depth of focus has always had the definition contained in this Wiki entry, to me. The term is useful to people designing cameras, image sensors, lenses, etc., but not to shooters; the way I understand/use it.
So here is the dilemma. I am in the middle of "The Digital Filmmaking Handbook", and the author uses the term "depth of focus" to mean the specific distance (focal plane to subject) for which the lens is focused. At least, that is what I have determined from the context; he doesn't actually define the term, nor is it defined in the book's glossary. He definitely isn't using the term as I understand it. In the other book I finished recently (Shut Up and Shoot), the author uses depth of focus synonymously with depth of field. (I should also warn anyone reading these books that they are full of technical errors. I really wish these authors would stick to things they understand.)
Given that I don't read too many of the filmmaker books, nor do I spend a lot of time networking with real cinematographers, I'd like to know what the term "depth of focus" means to DPs in general. Is this just one of those overloaded terms that has a different meaning in the filmmaking industry than it does in science?
Doug
So here is the dilemma. I am in the middle of "The Digital Filmmaking Handbook", and the author uses the term "depth of focus" to mean the specific distance (focal plane to subject) for which the lens is focused. At least, that is what I have determined from the context; he doesn't actually define the term, nor is it defined in the book's glossary. He definitely isn't using the term as I understand it. In the other book I finished recently (Shut Up and Shoot), the author uses depth of focus synonymously with depth of field. (I should also warn anyone reading these books that they are full of technical errors. I really wish these authors would stick to things they understand.)
Given that I don't read too many of the filmmaker books, nor do I spend a lot of time networking with real cinematographers, I'd like to know what the term "depth of focus" means to DPs in general. Is this just one of those overloaded terms that has a different meaning in the filmmaking industry than it does in science?
Doug