Z5-Manual Focus "Meters" Reading?

[Miggy Sanchez]

Hi there

My question relates to the meters number that appears on the viewfinder/LCD screen when manually focussing on something in the distance.

What exactly is it telling me?

Is it simply saying that the object in focus is (X) meters away?

Is it saying that any subject within that range will be in focus?

All help and advice, as always, MUCH appreciated.

Cheers,
Mig

[David Barnett]

Originally Posted by Miggy Sanchez

Is it simply saying that the object in focus is (X) meters away?

I think its more the inverse of this, that the focus is set fo xx meters and anything roughly that distance is in focus. Can be helpful for closer subject, like 2 meters vs 8 meters away. Also at a wedding, if your shooting the Ceremony from the aisle, you would hope its about 20m or 30m or whatever, not focused on someones iphone in the aisle. Same thing with first dances, more like 3m-5m away hopefully.

A rule of thumb or guide, for very specific & set up shots its useful.

[Miggy Sanchez]

Thanks David.

When you say "roughly that distance in focus", is there anyway of mathematically figuring out that distance more precisely?

For example, if the distance is say 100 meters, can I somehow work out the range of sharp focus?

Geez, writing this post really exposes just how little I understand my lens/lens per se :-|

Thanks again.

[Leslie Wand]

agree with david - it's just an indication of focus distance. dof at that (or any other point) would depend on your f-stop.