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I have a Nikon d60 and looking for the depth of field preview button and can't seem to find it. From what I have been told, all DSLR's should have one. Can you please advise me where I can find it.
Many Thanks
Joanne
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In Live View mode, evaluative metering is always used to determine correct exposure, though exposure compensation is available. The Exposure Simulation function will attempt to recreate the exposure level that would be obtained with your current settings on the LCD display. This may raise noise levels of the live view feed beyond what could be expected in the final image, since it must operate with a fast enough shutter speed to achieve its required refresh rate. The aperture also remains open by default, and so the exposure simulation doesn't indicate the areas in focus unless you configure the Set button to provide depth-of-field preview, and then hold it down during live view. Exposure Simulation will attempt to continue even with depth of field preview active, though this may raise the live view noise levels even further. If you pass outside the range where the live view feed can simulate your exposure, the "Exp. Sim" icon near the bottom right of the LCD will blink, as a warning.
This is a very odd problem. I wonder if you've got the depth of field preview button activated. As you look at the camera from the front there is a button on the left below where the lens meets the body roughly at 7 'o'clock That is usually the the DOF preview button. Try a little fiddle with that.
It's normally referred to as a depth of field preview. It's used to stop down the lens to whatever aperture you've set it to, so you can preview the depth of field to see how much of your scene will be in focus at any given aperture. It's not often used, but can be important in macro and portrait photography when a shallow depth of field and critical point of focus are both necessary.
The small lever on the inside of the mirror box is what controls the aperture. If the lever on the outside is sticking, it would only hold the lever on the inside down so you would be stopped down all the time. You can try a small amount of lighter fluid at the base of the outside lever and work it back and forth to see if it would free up.
You are dealing with "depth of field", or simply put (?), the range from near to far of an image that appears in focus. To increase the depth of focus, the camera must be set to a smaller aperture (higher numbered). Using a wider angle lens helps also. Focusing on the mid-point (near to far range) will also increase the apparent focus range. This is one of the most complicated photographic issues, and much has been written about it. Google "depth of field" for about 4 million explanations.
Check the depth of field preview with the lens on and the camera on. If the aperture does not react, it may be a problem with the lens rather than the camera. Check the camera with another lens if you have one.
One problem is that a D70 viewfinder is dark to start with. I don't notice this when shooting with mine unless I pick up my old Pentax Spotmatic for some reason, and then I am reminded how bright an optical viewfinder can be. So, in many cases, you will find the DOF preview useless not because it isn't working, but because the scene is simply too dark for you to see the differences.
Second thing is to notice what DOF you are seeing when you DON'T have DOF pressed. I think all modern cameras give you viewfinder at wide open aperatures -- so until you press DOF, you are seeing the focal depth produced by your lens' widest aperature. So don't expect to see much difference if you hit DOF with the aperture set at 2.2 on a F/1.8 lens -- you're comparing very similar lens apertures.
In fact, I notice that with my F/1.8 lens, I don't see any differences in where my focus lies until I have closed the lens down to maybe F/8. But beyond there, I can clearly see that more and more of the scene is in focus.
If you're still curious but not seeing it, try some test shots. Change the aperture and using shutter time to compensate, and see if your photo DOF matches the preview.
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