Nikon fe2 - Manual (Page 40)

CONTROLS DETAIL
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Depth >of-Field Preview Lever
When a lens with an automatic diaphragm is used, the image in
the viewfinder is viewed with the diaphragm of the lens wide
open. However, pressing the depth-of-field preview lever will
cause the lens to be stopped down to the f-number set, enabling
you to examine depth of field before shooting. The image in the
viewfinder “darkens” according to the selected f-number—
the smaller the aperture, the darker the image. The areas of the
picture that appear in focus when the lever is pressed will be
within the zone of sharp focus in the final photograph.
Note: Be sure to depress the depth-of-field preview lever fully. Also,
release the lever before you depress the shutter release button.
Depth of field
Depth of field refers to the zone of sharp focus in front of and
behind the main subject in the final photograph. Because the
FE2 features aperture-priority automatic exposure, you have
complete control over depth of field by varying the f/stop. The
following are important points to remember;
1) By stopping down the diaphragm to smaller apertures (indi­
cated by numerically larger f-numbers on the aperture ring),
depth of field becomes deeper and not only your main subject
but the foreground and background will also be in sharp
focus. On the other hand, by using wider apertures (smaller
f-numbers), depth of field becomes shallower and both fore-
and background will be out of focus, thus enabling you to
emphasize the main subject.
2) The farther the subject is from the camera, the deeper the
depth of field; the closer to the camera, the shallower the
depth of field.
3) Usually, background clarity is sharper than that of the fore­
ground; thus, in shallow depth-of-field situations, you can
expect your foreground images to be less clear than those
behind the subject.
4) The shorter the focal length of the lens, the deeper the depth
of field at each f/stop.
5) With most Nikkor or Nikon Series E lenses, depth of field is
indicated by pairs of colored lines on the lens f?) which cor­
respond to the colors of the f-numbers engraved on the aper­
ture ring. Therefore, the depth-of-field range can be deter­
mined by reading off the corresponding distances using the
depth-of-field scale (see example photos).
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