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How to read this chart:

  • Select a row based on the width of composition frame at the point you are focusing, or height if you are shooting in portrait orientation. For example, if you are shooting a 25cm high bunch of flowers which take up half the height of a portrait photo, select the "50cm" row.
  • Decide how deep you want the depth of field. If you want the whole bunch to be in focus and it is 10cm thick, read along the 50mm row until you get to an acceptable depth of field, in this case 11cm at f/11. Remember that this 11cm is 5cm either side of the focal plane, so you need to focus half way into the bunch to get a sharp photo.
  • Don't trust figures in the grey areas. The four light to dark grey shaded bands show you the areas for 24mm, 50mm, 100mm and 200mm lenses where the calculation becomes unreliable because the lens is at or near its hyperfocal distance.