Settings for shallow DOF for NX5U

[Gary Lockhart]

Hello everyone,

Would someone be so kind as to share the settings for the NX5U and a shallow DOF using the stock lens and an add-on lens?

Gary Lockhart

Not sure what you mean by settings. All you'd have to do (in manual mode) is open the iris as wide as possible, zoom in on the subject somewhat, and you'll get some very respectable shallow DOF with the NX5U.

[Gary Lockhart]

Thanks for the reply. I did as you said but could not see any sort of shallow dof. Here is what I did:

1. Set auto/manual switch to manual
2. Set focus switch to manual
3. Pressed iris button, then used iris ring and dialed iris setting to the max
4. Set the desired zoom and focus to desired amounts

Am I missing something? ND filter setting?

Gary Lockhart

[Ron Evans]

For a small sensor camera like the NX5U you will only get the shallow depth of field look for subjects that are close and fully zoomed in like a flowers from a few feet away with a background that is not too close to the flowers either. If you want to get the film look of faces close up etc the NX5U is not the camera. You will need a larger sensor camera like the NEX AE50 or VG30

Ron Evans

I did a recent NX5U shoot of a narrator standing in a field with apple orchards in the background. The DOF was so shallow that the producer I was working with thought it looked almost like the subject was standing in front of a chroma keyed background. The narrator in front was perfectly focused, so an NX5U is definitely capable of doing this.

Originally Posted by Ron Evans

with a background that is not too close

I agree. That's the other thing you have to consider. If the background is too close, you won't get the exaggerated very shallow DOF.

Here's a screen shot of another interview I did using an NX5U. It has noticeably shallow DOF, but not as much as what I described above: