I have to disagree with that advice.

On the EX1 and EX3, f/4 is already approaching the outer limits of what you can get away with.

If you want sharp video, I recommend f/2.8 to f/4 and never anything smaller than f/5.6 under any circumstances.

Doug has the right of it. Diffraction limiting on green wave lengths for 1/2" starts to soften the image around F5.6, and wider than F2.8 you start to use the outer edges of the lens, which aren't as clean.

Interesting points, thankyou so much.

Never really knew that aperture could muck around with your "in focus" sharpness as much as it seems to do. Why do they even bother having f8 and below?

Who am I to doubt you Doug?

On still camera lenses the optimum aperture is usually f5.6, I would have expected the same to be true for video lenses.


I must conduct a set of lens tests for myself.

Good question Glynn, why bother with f11 & f16, even on still cameras these apertures can be soft, but they do produce a greater depth of field (not to be confused with sharpness)

Vincent, I am wrong on a lot of things, but I know I am right on this one because I saw the results first hand when I started shooting with a pre-production EX1 exactly two years ago next week. Hard to believe it has been that long!

f/5.6 might very well be the "sweet spot" for the optics of some lenses, but you have to consider the tiny 1/2" sensors of the EX1 and EX3. Yeah, they're bigger than 1/3" sensors on other handycams, but they are still quite a bit smaller than 35mm film, digital SLRs, or 2/3" cameras. The small sensor size makes them vulnerable to diffraction problems at small apertures. I'm sure someone else can explain it better than I just did, but all you need to know is to keep the iris larger than f/5.6 all the time -- and preferabally around f/2.8.

"Who am I to doubt you Doug? "

I didn't mean this as a sarcastic remark Doug, in fact far from it. I respect and value your opinions and advice, they certainly have helped me to become a better cameraman.

I will still put my lenses through a test, just so I know where the sweet spot is on my equipment.

Cheers :-)

Don't worry, I took it the right way. I'm sorry if I sounded like I didn't get it. Everything is cool.

I would be keen to see those test's screen grabs to see if my own EX is in the bounds of sharpness.

Glynn, put your camera on a sturdy tripod and shoot 10-20 seconds of material at each aperture. Use a Progressive mode rather than interlaced. On my tests I usually say the the settings so when I play back a clip I know what it was shot at. Try the same sequence of tests under soft and strong lighting.

Although all the advice is not to go beyond f8, shoot some footage at f8, f11 & f16 if only to open your eyes to what the results will look like.

Have fun.

I will post my tests later this week, have to finiish of another assignment first.

At the end of this video there are some examples of diffraction limiting.

YouTube - Aperture, Depth of Field and Diffraction. How to Guide.

I found a room, stuck a focal chart on the door and did the aperture sharpness test. Really cool to see the theory proven. f8 and f11 aren't too good.

I noticed my Mid shots at f2.8 and f4 were a bit blurry though, don't know why that could be.

Thoughts?

f1-f4

more
 

f4-f11

only showed WS of f11, cos you can see it so clearly.

These are JPEG files but they are the same res and are identical to the eye to the BMP's

Think my camera is up to scratch?

PS: I know my WB is completely out of whack - i should have reset it.

^ Results to be expected?

Hah
 

Hah, I am going to assume they are. Cheers everyone for your help in this thread. :]

Selling
 

I'm now selling this Ex3 for an overseas opportunity, but I do need to know if these are acceptable back focus images before I sell it. I don't want to sell someone something that needs a service.